A University of Guelph grad is making life a little sweeter in the Royal City and beyond with his company, Sugar High Candies.
It started as a way to make a little extra cash to pay for tuition, but has flourished into one of Canada’s top pick and mix candy shops.
Riley Thompson founded the company while attending the U of G in 2021. The idea struck him when he was visiting England with his dad, where pick and mix stores are popular.
“It was like a candy shop, you could go in and create your own mix,” he said. “I kind of realized there was nothing like that in Canada, and I love candy myself. I came back from the trip, and was like, I should try to do this.”
Bringing the experience of the candy store online, customers can virtually choose which candies they want in their package and have them delivered to their door.
He started by ordering a few pounds of gummy candies, chocolates and novelty sweets from places like Spain, England and throughout Canada, repackaging them himself based on what customers ordered and delivering them throughout Guelph and the surrounding area.
Years later, the business is thriving.
“It started out small, but now it’s a huge office set up filled with (at least) 1,000 lbs of candy,” he said, offering everything from sour keys to tropical sea animal gummies and vegan mixes – 50 varieties in total.
“Now we’re shipping from basically the widest point of the West Coast to the East Coast, Canada-wide,” he said. “I can get it to people that live in fairly remote regions, or they’re not even close to a city that might have a candy shop.”
It’s still a side gig right now, though he hopes the business will eventually grow enough to occupy him full-time.
One of the biggest benefits is being able to deliver to people in rural areas, or who are nowhere near a city with a candy store.
But the service also offers candy you can’t find in your average grocery store, and fresher quality than what you might find in bulk stores.
“Everything stays sealed in the bulk air-sealed packages, and once it’s been dumped out of the bag it goes back in an air-sealed bag. There’s no air that gets to the candy.
“That was the big thing, to be able to offer something a little bit better than what they could go out and get in the corner store.”
Buying a pick and mix option means you don’t have too much of one kind and won’t necessarily get sick of it while also allowing you to try new kinds, he said.
“A lot of customers love the ability to try every type of candy they might want and not have to buy an excessive amount of it.”
“The goal is just to provide the fun candy shop experience from the comfort of your home, be able to go on your phone and order a shipment of your favourite candy mix wherever you are in Canada.”
