Australian brand selling popular item every 2.5 seconds

One item is flying off the shelves at retailers such as Woolies and Chemist Warehouse, with shoppers loving the “better for you” take on an iconic treat.

A brand new item from a beloved “better for you” confectionary company is selling every 2.5 seconds.

Funday Natural Sweets was started by Daniel Kitay, having always loved a sweet treat eating habits, he cut out lollies and dropped 25kg — but he always felt like something was missing.

And so, Funday Natural Sweets was born.

Earlier this year, the brand launched its lollipop collection, with no added sugar, made with natural flavours and sweeteners.

For the last four years, Funday had solely done gummy candy, releasing its own versions of a Party Mix, Peaches and Cream and Sour Cola Bottles to name a few.

But they decided to branch out into lollipops, with fan favourite flavours such as pineapple, strawberry and cream, cola and sour apple.

Since launch, the brand has sold a single lollipop every 2.5 seconds, stacking up to 35,000 pops a day.

Funday lollipops have a five-star health rating. Picture: Supplied

The no added sugar, gluten-free confectionary treats are made with natural flavours and sweeteners. Picture: Supplied

“More and more Aussies are looking for treats and lollies they can feel good about, but they still want the fun that comes it and the flavour — but without all the artificial ingredients and the high sugar,” Mr Kitay told news.com.au.

“What Funday has been able to do is tap into another confectionary sub category and deliver that without all the sugar but still offering the same traditional taste. The interesting thing, when we go through the scoping of a potential product, we look at the traditional product in the market and we found that in a 12 gram lollipop each has 10.3 grams of sugar.

“For us, that was a wakeup moment.”

Funday is selling a lollipop every 2.5 seconds. Picture: Supplied

Mr Kitay said he didn’t think consumers were aware of the sugar content in a traditional lollipop, as it was such a quintessential part of Australian culture. It was the perfect moment for the brand to dive into the category. He said there were countless rounds of tests and trials to deliver the best possible guilt-free lollipop.

“We don’t use any sugar to make our lollies, we use real food ingredients like tapioca starch and chicory root fibre that actually give a sweet flavour. We then add a touch of the all-natural stevia leaf to balance things out,” the Funday website explains.

Since its release, the new product has been “flying” off shelves, with Mr Kitay saying he has been hearing anecdotal feedback from customers, friends and family who are going into stores and being unable to find anything because they’re selling out.

“It’s the exact type of response we want when we launch a product. It clearly means we’re talking to what the customer wants,” he said, adding it also presents a challenge for the brand to try to keep up stock levels so people don’t miss out.

“Ultimately, it’s one of those moments when we realise and we’re onto a winner and we know it straight away.”

It’s no secret that Funday is a hit among consumers, regularly receiving letters from fans inviting the brand to their weddings, thank you cards, as well as Easter, Christmas and Eid cards.

“Everyone is blown away by how much people love what we’re doing,” he said.

Since launching four years ago, Funday can be found in 7000 stores across Australia — including Woolworths, The Chemist Warehouse, petrol stations and independent grocers. It’s also launched in New Zealand, Singapore, the Middle East and Amazon in the US — and the response has been equally great.

Daniel Kitay is the man behind Funday. Picture: Supplied

“It’s only been four years, so in the life cycle of a business we are so new and fresh so my view in running Funday from the outset has been big business mentality with how we operate — in terms of due process, hiring the right people, setting up the right culture and setting up things for the long term success,” Mr Kitay said.

“The tricky part that I spend a lot of my time on is how do we maintain a start-up mentality within a business that is growing really fast. What separates us from multinationals is the sheer smaller size and the ability to be agile, allows us to respond to market demands way faster than anyone else. It’s our secret weapon.”

Looking back, Mr Kitay said he set high goals at the outset and has done what he set out for Funday to do. But, for other people who doubted the proposition, the brand’s success has been “surprising”.

“I know there were a lot of doubters in the beginning saying that we’d never be able to do it, it takes years to work with retails — but all the negative doubts has fuelled me to make sure we double down and deliver.

“I am also equally aware of how big it’s become.”

Mr Kitay kept tight-lipped on what might come next, but did say the new drop of products over the next 12 months would be “revolutionary” for the industry and building on the same principles of the iconic lollipop. He said a lot of the products would get customers back into enjoying confectionary, adding that the ultimate goal of the business was to help people enjoy lollies like a kid again.

Originally published as Australian brand selling popular item every 2.5 seconds