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COVID CANDIES

2020

In 2020, my entire family and I were quarantined at home with COVID. Morale was low, but my first instinct was to build something out of the moment. I noticed nobody had turned COVID into a physical, tongue-in-cheek product—and when I dug in, I realized major platforms were banning anything with “COVID” in the name. That constraint made it more interesting, not less.

I designed CovidCandies: a limited-edition Konpeito sugar candy with a spiky “virus” shape and satirical packaging featuring characters like Fauci, Trump, and Rosie the Riveter. I called the best engineer I knew, Ryan, and we spun up a website from scratch from the brand. I secured manufacturing for 250 lbs of candy, “Konpeito” overseas, sourced packaging, and capped the run at 2,500 bags at $12 each.

Because we couldn’t advertise using the word “Covid,” I cold-emailed thousands of news stations instead. Eventually, local news stations, Entrepreneur Magazine and Good Morning America picked it up, and orders started pouring in from across America. We turned Ryan’s garage into a micro-fulfillment center, hiring friends and family to help bag and ship. Within a month, we sold out all 2,500 bags, generated over $30,000 in gross revenue, donated 100% of net profits, and—briefly—became the largest Konpeito distributor in the U.S.