Both the high sugar content and chemicals added to many popular candies make them dangerous to your ... [+]
In recent years, one of the most significant dietary trends has been eliminating sugar. Sugar is dangerous if overconsumed. A high-sugar diet has been linked to obesity, type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and even heart disease and certain types of cancer. And yet the average American consumes 77 grams of sugar per day, which is more than three times the recommended amount for adult women.
Fortunately, this sugar habit is changing. A 2022 study revealed that over half of American adults are now making an effort to reduce their sugar consumption. Furthermore, California legislators just proposed a bill that would require popular candies such as Skittles and M&Ms to change their recipes or pull their products from store shelves. This due to the fact that toxic chemicals in the candies, already banned in Europe, have been linked to cancer, neurological problems and behavioral issues in children.
Better-for-you SmartSweets candies have far less sugar and are free of the toxic chemicals contained ... [+]
SmartSweets makes a variety of candies that are free of toxic chemicals and artificial sweeteners, and also contain up to 92% less sugar than traditional candies. Founded by Tara Bosch in 2016 when she was just 21 years old, SmartSweets was early to join the low-sugar bandwagon. Today, it is one of the fastest-growing candy brands on the market, a multimillion-dollar company with products sold in 130,000 stores and over half a million loyal Instagram followers.
Bosch enjoys innovating. She began SmartSweets with gummy bears, then expanded into fish and sour gummies, caramels, lollipops and more. The company just released a limited-edition jelly bean available only via social media.
As a female founder, Bosch supports women. SmartSweets is female-founded and female-led. Over 80% of the company’s employees are women and the board is committed to gender equality.
Bosch did not hesitate to quit college when she had the idea to found SmartSweets. “If it failed, I knew I had at least followed my gut and would not be 90 years old living with the question What if?” she said in a Forbes exclusive interview.
Tara Bosch is the founder of SmartSweets.
The idea came to Bosch after a conversation at her grandmother’s kitchen table over bags of candy. When her grandmother expressed regret at having consumed so much sugar over the years because of how it made her feel, Bosch wondered, “What if you can you feel good about candy?” She immediately bought a gummy bear mold off Amazon and started recipe testing in her kitchen, as well as researching in food journals to find alternative ingredients. Eventually, she landed on a successful recipe. Less than a year later, SmartSweets were being sold in stores across Canada.
The greatest challenge Bosch faces in her career is convincing people that candy can and should be low in sugar. “Food marketing for decades has worked to deceive people by minimizing the detrimental impacts of excess sugar consumption,” she says. “There is a lot of education that is still needed!”
The greatest reward, Bosch says, is knowing that she is making a positive impact on people’s lives. “If, back when I was testing recipes in my kitchen, someone had told me that we would help people kick 5.2 billion grams of sugar out of their diets, I would’ve had a hard time believing them. It’s magic!”
Given that she didn’t love her college courses and already had had one failed start-up idea before founding SmartSweets, Bosch feels strongly that “sometimes learning what isn’t your life purpose is just as powerful as feeling like you're on the right path! Know that feeling lost is really just part of the universe's process of guiding you to the path you're meant to be on. Continue trying new things and acting on your ideas, leaning into the path your gut and intuition is guiding you towards.”
