“We are living our childhood dream of owning a sweet shop,” say Hugo Darby and Evangeline Twyford, the founders of Sugar Fix London, a company they founded during the pandemic. Pick ‘n’ Mix sweets virtually vanished from the shops, but Sugar Fix London was determined to reverse the trend; to start with, they sold via Deliveroo, getting the all-important packets of sweets to customers in London within 30 minutes.
As demand increased, the owners decided to build their own website and offer an online store with everything, from sweet subscriptions, to personalised gift bundles on offer. They became inundated with orders from all over the UK and Ireland. Influencers soon showed an interest too: Grace Beverley, Oxford graduate turned social media influencer, the made in Chelsea star, Frankie Gaff, Elliot Burton and Emily Grant – with a combined following of over 5.5 million.
Now they have launched a white label side to the business, making bespoke, personalised sweets for events and companies. And they supply wholesale to big retailers like LOVE BRAND & Co. and Fenwick department stores, as well as to car enthusiast, Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm Shop in the Cotswolds. Hugo and Evangeline would like to see their wholesale business grow as a next step and to find Sugar Fix London products ‘stocked in as many shops as possible!’.
In addition, they are doing their bit for society, with 5p from each bag of the ‘Best of British’ sweet collection sold, going towards the Theatre Support Fund, who, according to Evangeline, “are working tirelessly to keep British theatre alive, after what has been such a tough year for those in the industry.” Charity partnerships is an area the Sugar Fix London duo would like to grow, alongside the wholesale arm.
“The most exciting thing for us is receiving great customer feedback or seeing our product on the shelf,” says Hugo and they find it hugely rewarding when a new retailer comes on board and likes the products enough to want to stock them.
Marketing has been done largely via social media, predominantly Instagram, which they run themselves. Throughout the year, they offer various promotions and they have also used sponsored ads, which help to spread the word.
Pick ‘n’ mix originates from the US, back in 1886, when a high street department store called Woolworth’s, started offering ‘weigh-out’ sweets. Then, in the Summer of 1909, the founder, Frank Woolworth, searched the UK for locations and agreed a deal with a Liverpool-based confectionary company called, Barker & Dobson, that made the popular Everton Mints (black and white stripy boiled sweets with a chewy centre – designed to reflect the Everton Football Club strip).
However, most of the sweets for the UK stores still had to be imported from New York. The sweets were displayed on old-fashioned mahogany counters. Before long, the shelves were crammed full of colourful treats, and sweets wrapped in shiny foil, made in factories across Britain and Ireland. At the time, it cost less than 7p per kilo of sweets!
Today, genuine Woolworth’s Pic ‘n’ Mix can only be found in Germany, Jamaica or Mexico. But luckily companies like Sugar Fix London are keeping our cravings at bay and providing irresistible bags of goodies, not quite at 7 pence a kilo!
Recommended Reading:
Worth a mint: Barker & Dobson | Let's Look Again (letslookagain.com)
Sweets and Pic'n'Mix Candy at Woolworths (woolworthsmuseum.co.uk)
Theatre Support Fund + | The West End Standing Together
Visit the sweet shop online: Sugar Fix London
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