Alina Morse– the Young Entrepreneur who Revolutionized the Candy Market
Born on May 8th 2005, the American entrepreneur Alina Morse was born. By the age of 3, Alina already had big plans for her future, keeping all her ideas for business inventions in a binder. From peanut putter and jelly packets that squirted from the same tube to robot parents who’d play with her while her parents were gone, Alina was no stranger to innovative ideas. But her best idea came to her in the year 2012 when she was just 7 years-old. She was at the bank with her father when she was offered a lollipop. Her father stopped her from taking the candy, telling her that it would rot her teeth. So then Alina started thinking to herself about a candy that would not. And thus the idea for Zollipops was born.
It took two years of research and a hundred experiments in the Morses’ home kitchen to get anywhere close to their desired product, a candy that tasted like candy but without all the bad sugar. Alina got help from a special food scientist and her dentist for the ingredients and a formula for her candy. Once she had her set product, she invested all her money from her birthdays and holiday gifts, a total of $3,350, and got her father to match it. From there, her and her father went from manufacturing plant to manufacturing plant across Michigan until they found one with the equipment they needed. Eventually, they proposed their idea to Whole Foods Market, and that became Zollipops’ first retail placement, a huge success for the brand.
After its 2014 launch, it only took a year and a half for the business to become profitable, with seventy thousand Zollipops sold the first year and sales doubling each consecutive year until 2018. Zollipops were picked up by Kroger, America’s largest supermarket chain, in 2016 and by Amazon, an online powerhouse, in 2018.
The actual product itself is a candy made with natural sweeteners, including xylitol and erythritol. Studies show that these two sweeteners reduce dental plaque and oral bacteria. Though they are not only sugar-free, but also gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, and non-GMO. Alina sought to offer a candy that all kids could enjoy.
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I like how Alina started working on her idea when she was only 7 years old and was willing to keep experimenting until she found something that worked. I also like how she used a simple problem she experienced herself and found the solution which eventually ended in her having a successful company.
It is super impressive that this idea came to her when she was only 7! I believe I may have been given these myself as a child. I love how she wanted everyone to be included. It could not have been easy to make the candy suitable for everyone. This inspires me to be on the lookout for simple problems like this that everyone experiences.