Husband and wife team, Michael and Paola Karamallis, founders of award-winning artisan fairy floss Fluffy Crunch, never thought they would be in the candy business. The couple’s original dream was to run their own café – but landlords kept knocking them back.

“We always had a passion for food, community, great service and creating a memorable customer experience,” remembers Michael.

“After 15 years of hospitality experience, we decided to take the plunge and take over a café and start our own business. So, we applied for a handful of leases but kept getting knocked back. The agents or landlords saw us as high-risk clients as we never invested our own capital and didn’t have the experience. How did we solve the problem? We decided to get some bloody experience,” he laughs.

To market to market …

The couple decided to take a test-and-learn approach. They brainstormed some menu ideas, with everything from burgers to donuts on the table, eventually opening a stall at a local market to roadtest their ideas.

“One of the menu items we were developing for our café concept was the idea of a freakshake. That is, a milkshake topped with donuts and confectionery like fairy floss. Originally, we were going to transition to popcorn as well, but fairy floss kept us busy enough. That’s where the name Fluffy Crunch comes from. ‘Fluffy’ describes the fairy floss experience and ‘Crunch’ describes the popcorn experience,” Michael explains.

Innovating Fluffy Crunch

Fast forward six years and Michael says he is glad all the real estate agents said ‘no’. After trialling Fluffy Crunch at the markets, the couple gradually honed their vision to focus on reimagining fairy floss. Forget the sticky, sickly-sweet pink and blue floss on a stick you remember from your childhood and imagine flavour bombs like salted caramel, rose water and pistachio, apple pie and tiramisu.

“We’re excited to have been able to innovate a simple food concept by creating a fun, fancy, flavour-packed experience that shocks, excites and gets your inner child screaming for more,” Michael tells KBB.

An award-winning brand

Indeed, after one bite of their artisanal wares, more is what you’ll want. Since launching the brand in 2016, Fluffy Crunch has gone on to become Australia’s most-awarded fairy floss, regularly taking out Gold Medals at the Royal Easter Show.

“Some of our proudest moments, apart from the award-winning creations, is creating the world’s first fairy floss Advent Calendar, introducing the novelty food item ‘The Flurrito’ (a fairy floss ice cream burrito) to the Sydney Royal Easter Show, and moving from a husband and wife team to employing over ten employees,” Michael says.

While the small business has grown to include a team of workers, Fluffy Crunch is a true family affair. Three generations are involved in the day-to-day. Paola’s mother helps with order processing and supervising the team, while the Karamallis’ tweenage daughter has also been instrumental in flavour creations.

“Marielena, our 12-year-old daughter, has always been involved in our business conversation and has also seen the ups and downs while we’ve celebrated our success together,” says Michael.

A family affair

Not that there haven’t been disagreements along the way. Running a business can be hard; running a family business comes with an added layer of intimacy that can sometimes see conversations heat up.

“Most people would agree that effective communication is the key to success in a relationship. I believe that extending this approach to a family business is perhaps the most important thing for all business partners. We still haven’t perfected this, but we’re better at recognising when we feel frustrated or angry and using our emotional state to identify an area that needs improving. We no longer explode or project our emotions on the other individual but recognise it as an area that needs our attention,” Michael explains.

Michael says the business has also brought them closer together as a family.

“I remember we went to The Rocks at Circular Quay for a high tea scones experience and we walked past an alley with market stalls. Marielena looked up to me with a level of confidence and pride and said, ‘Daddy, look how far we have come’. I almost burst into tears.

“The fact that we can talk to our daughter about our business, and she can see our growth, brings the most satisfaction as we hope we are showing her what’s possible in life,” he concludes.

Find out more about Fluffy Crunch.

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