Lovely Candy Co. makes gluten-free fruit chews, fudge rolls, caramels and licorice.

Lovely Candy a labor of love

The origins of Lovely Candy Co. make for a lovely story. Founder and chief executive officer Mike Nakamura developed the range of gluten-free confections for his wife, Jackie, who loves licorice but discovered traditional brands didn’t meet her dietary needs.

Creating a gluten-free licorice with an acceptable texture, however, proved more challenging than expected. After two years of development, the Lovely Candy Co. launched bite-size licorice last year in original, cherry and strawberry varieties. Before that, the company introduced other gluten-free candies, including fruit chews, fudge rolls and caramels. Mr. Nakamura said he’s open to expanding the brand into other categories through innovation or licensing.

The licorice took two years to develop.

With no artificial or bioengineered ingredients, Lovely Candy is what Mr. Nakamura calls a “smart indulgence.” But he doesn’t want to limit his distribution to the natural channel. The company landed shelf space in Target early last year, and with the recent additions of CVS and Costco, Lovely Candy is now sold in 25,000 stores.

“I’m an all-channel strategist,” Mr. Nakamura told Food Business News. “I’m not trying to bill the company as a natural candy company. We have all of these wonderful natural claims, but at the end of the day, it’s a premium, better-ingredient candy.”