Life is sweet for Wolverhampton city trader
AN entrepreneur from Wolverhampton, who spotted a gap in the multi-billion pound confectionary market for a range of premium vegetarian sweets aimed at adults has signed a deal with Harrods and is now expanding the brand across Europe.
Imran Merza, a former City trader with Merrill Lynch and Knight Capital Markets, is originally from Whitmore Reans and attended Regis Secondary School in Tettenhall. He has co-founded Jealous Sweets with Taz Basunia, a former PwC chartered accountant from London.
The pair first hit upon the idea after Merza, 34, started looking for vegetarian sweets for a girlfriend who did not eat traditional sweets as they contained gelatine, which is extracted from meat.
At the time, Basunia was considering acquiring an internet sweets company in order to ‘premiumise’ it.
The London-based pair joined forces, and spent the next year researching the sugar confectionary market, visiting sweet fairs around the world and talking to manufacturers.
They found the few gelatine-free sweets available were tasteless and boxed in unattractive packaging. They also wanted to take the natural route, after discovering the average sweet contains between 15 and 20 chemicals – including red colouring such as Cochineal.
In July 2011, they launched Jealous, a range of ‘healthier’ sweets made from 100% natural ingredients with no artificial colours or preservatives. The company has focused on keeping as much of the operation in Britain as possible. While it has several manufacturers around the world for the different types of sweets, all of the packaging and branding has been designed and made in Britain.
The sweets were first stocked in Selfridges and sold out within four days. Now, the company has agreed a deal with Harrods.
This follows success in other premium outlets including Harvey Nichols, hotels such as The Soho Hotel and the Corinthia Hotel in London, online shopping site, Ocado, and the Parisian department store, Le Bon Marche.
Over the next 12 months, Merza and Basunia are expanding the Jealous brand through a distributor into premium department stores and hotels across Europe, including Spain, France, Germany, Russia and Netherlands.
Merza, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Harrods. It is an iconic store and we are confident that they will be popular with customers looking for premium healthier sweets for grown ups.”
The sugar confectionary market is worth $5.6bn in the UK and is the third largest confectionary market in the world. Jealous, which is financed through the two founders and private angel investment from friends, predicts a turnover of £1.5m next year.
The range has 12 products with flavours including sour beans, wild cherries and tropical tang. All of the sweets are approved by the Vegetarian Society, and are gluten free.
