New Products /

PapaBubble

I recently came across the PapaBubble range of sweetened goodies and who would’ve thought that lollies — and hard ones at that — could be made to look so … ummm … interesting. And creative. And tempting. Damn. The packaging is unique, but it’s the twists on conventional lolly types that make the Barcelona-based company so cool. We spoke to founder Tommy Tang about the rise of Papabubble from Australian upstarts to international favorites: ‘Crick, my delicious partner and I started Papabubble in Barcelona in June 2003. I did, however, begin to get my hands dirty in 1997 in Melbourne where I opened my first store, called Suga. After expanding through Melbourne, we set up Sticky in Sydney with my delicious partner’s brother. And then fled the country to begin the Papabubble in Spain, where we still live and still burn our fingers’. The packaging is wonderful. Who did the illustrations and the design for it? ‘Crick studied industrial design. He is very clever and has a great eye. He controls the packaging and the labels. However, the labels are generally worked on with artists that we love, who just happen to be working at Papabubble also. The main sticker — black and white with bus stop dilema — is a painting from a Suga worker, Rachel Hooper, another Aussie lass’. What makes the sweets you sell any different to other lolly retailers out there? ‘We are lucky enough to have very good techniques and skilled workers working for us. Most mass produced candy is made in an industrial environment by machines and factory workers. We choose sculptors, jewellers and artists to work for us. We are very much interested in aesthetic and feel. By joining together with other artists, it is the perfect way to achieve our fine product. We also use very high quality tastes, and do not have to rely on the tiny margins that are in place in large industrial factories’. Which of the Papabubble cities has caught on the quickest to what you’re doing? ‘Every city has been incredibly hungry for us. Each city is different, each store is different, some of the candies are different. Barcelona is the most traditional of cities, where artesania is still very much a part of day to day life. So the market here was incredibly responsive. In Tokyo, the style of candy we make is similar to a very old traditional candy called Kintaroame, so that along with our packaging makes for a very crazy Japanese shopper. The Dutch are candy crazy and New Yorkers are incredibly happy with us’. [photo by Roboppy]