Sweet Mother Fluffer was inspired by a trip I took to Japan a couple of years ago. In Harajuku, there’s a candy floss store called Totti Candy where they create huge candy floss sculptures with rainbow colours. I wanted something like that in the UK. Something dedicated to fun and sugar that transported me back to my childhood.
As a creative in advertising, I knew I couldn’t just do candy floss. I thought about how I could make candy floss differently and what I could do for essentially big kids. That’s how I got the idea to infuse it with alcohol.
I had no experience with food. My kitchen was like a science experiment for a long time, and I taught myself how to make candy floss with YouTube tutorials. I went through about five candy floss machines, breaking them because I put all sorts of things in there like herbs that would burn them out.
Inspiration comes from cocktail and dessert menus. My favourite flavour is the Rhubarb Crumble Fizz, which mixes rhubarb fluff with Prosecco. Now I’m thinking seasonally, such as Christmas-inspired flavours like candy cane.
It’s just me making it at home in my kitchen. I get at least five orders a week and have an online shop where I sell gift boxes with four different flavours that you can choose. I also sell at market stalls and events.
The most exciting part for me was building the brand, which is what I’m comfortable with and love to do. But I had absolutely no idea how to start a business. It’s amazing to look back now and see that I’ve done it.
I’d love to have a candy floss shop like the one in Japan – that would be my dream.
Sarah Levitt is associate creative director at Now