Independent retailer Vas Vekaria has begun producing his own brand freeze-dried sweets, generating more than 85% margin per bag of the viral sensation sold.
Vekaria, who operates Kegs’n’Blades in Bolton, started making and selling the Fantastic Freeze branded products himself in mid-April and has since sold 100 50g bags at £3.99 each. The sweets, which have become viral on social media platforms such as TikTok, are freeze-dried versions of popular confectionery lines.
Each bag costs 60p to produce, meaning Vekaria generates 85% margin per serving. In comparison, bags bought from third-party wholesalers have an average margin of 50%.
Explaining the process, Vekaria told Better Retailing he had purchased the freeze dryer from an agency in the UK representing US manufacturer Harvest Right. He added: “We had spent £5,000 in nine days getting freeze dried sweets from a third-party wholesaler, but had worked out a freeze dry machine costs £4,500 itself.
“It’s slightly smaller than a washing machine. We saw freeze dried sweets have become really popular and did a lot of research. Under our own brand, we stock bags with freeze dried Skittles, Fruit Salad, Drumsticks, Squashies, Refreshers and Milky Way.”
Vekaria said the machines function with a touch screen and are safe to operate. The equipment removes water from sweets without heat, meaning they retain their vitamins and minerals. It takes two hours to freeze dry 3kg of Skittles, equivalent to 66 45g bags of the popular confectionery line. On average, Vekaria said he completes eight batches in one day.
Every 24 hours, Vekaria places slices of bread in the machine, which he claims absorbs any toxins which may have previously accumulated from previous batches. The branding of Fantastic Freeze was done by one of Vekaria’s staff members, while labelling and bags are provided by an online supplier. He added he was looking to get them more professionally done as popularity grows, while stressing the importance of including the ingredients and production date on each bag.
Speaking about further opportunity, Vekaria said: “You need social media to promote these products as that’s where they gained popularity. The opportunity isn’t just in sweets. We’re looking at freeze-dried fruit such as strawberries as well, which are popular accompaniments for alcohol. There’s also a potential opportunity to supply them to other local shops in the area.”
Retailers said they had previously generated more than £2,500 per month in sales from the product.
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