The new way Gen Z is getting their supplements? Lollipops

What do Rhea Kapoor, mahjong kitty parties, rave babies, run clubs, and Naina Bhan have in common? We’ve cast a very wide net, so take an extra moment to think hard. Guesses locked? Well, turns out, they are all having lollipops for wellness. Yes, the same candy that your dentist warned you against while growing up is now considered, dare I say it, healthy.

Don’t worry, hell hasn’t frozen over. These new-age lollipops look and taste like ultra-saccharine hard candy of the past, but they are now sugar-free and nutrient-rich. And not in the pseudo-sabotage way that Mean Girls deployed Kalteen Bars against Regina George. You can relax, this is a safe space.

Candy gets a wellness upgrade

It all started in January, when Delhi-based conscious confectionary brand Basically Healthy launched with a vegan collagen lollipop called Collipop. Soon after, in February, Indore-based hydration brand Rave introduced electrolyte lollipops to keep you alive and pumped at gigs. Since then, Mumbai-based Lickr has also joined the ranks with another healthy, electrolyte-rich candy, and earlier this summer another brand called Vyve joined the ranks with their own electrolyte-based formulation.

The founders of all these brands are strictly Gen Z (or at most zillennials), but their audience is already vast. After all, these healthy lollies fit right in with the sea of people determined to find the ‘fun’ in functional foods. They don’t just want to signal that health is a priority, they also want to emphasise that they will live large while doing so.

When protein has landed in your popcorn, your dirty martini has collagen and even your chocolates come with ashwagandha, it was only a matter of time before candy got a mindful glow-up. It helps that lollipops have such an unserious reputation. Rachana Reddy, a Bengaluru-based student doctor, explains, “Sometimes I walk around class with a Collipop in my hand just to rage bait my teachers into calling me a bad example. I love seeing their expression when I explain that it has collagen.”

But is it actually doing anything?

Just to be clear, the candy in no way replaces your pill box. A healthy lollipop a day will not keep the doctor away or make your nails and skin glow. The suckables have too little collagen or electrolyte to work that magic. Kripa Jalan, a Harvard-trained nutritionist, explains that collagen, protein, creatine, and electrolytes “have to be consumed in several grams to make a difference”. A single lollipop can only carry micrograms, creating little tangible benefit.

The expert urges people to think about whether they’re buying these lollipops as a better sweet or a supplement. “If you want a targeted outcome like bridging a deficiency or changing a marker, then, for the most part, you’re going to be underdosed,” Jalan explains. “If it’s a sweet treat, this may be a 5 per cent upgrade. Just don’t buy candy expecting a clinical outcome.”

Your dentist has entered the chat

We even got a dentist to weigh in. Dr Vijaya Bopardikar shares that these new-age lollies “contain no added sugar, and the isomalt used is less cariogenic (less likely to cause tooth decay)”. However, she adds that at the end of the day, it is hard candy and the prolonged sucking can erode the enamel. “I would position them as occasional, tooth-friendlier alternatives to sugared lollipops,” the dentist says.

Think of them more as candy that has grown up. “I loved Jolly Ranchers and cola jellies as a child; they were the best part of my day. But as I grew older wellness culture came in and layered shame on it,” explains Saniya Kumar, the founder of Basically Healthy. “I wanted to give people some of that joy back without the guilt.”

Traditionally a creative director, Kumar’s love for candy paired with the caution from her dentist mother pushed her to develop an alternative. Finally, she commissioned Thinking Forks, a renowned food and bevs R&D consultant in Bengaluru, to craft the formulation for Collipops. “The vegan collagen we use is trademarked and we use Isomalt ST, the highest grade of beet sugar, not isomalt with sorbitol or stevia [which can cause bloating],” Kumar says, “It’s mad expensive but it’s worth it.”

Meanwhile, Lickr manufactures its electrolyte candy under Chamria, a legacy confectionary and digestives brand from Haryana. “My partners’ uncle runs the company, so there’s longstanding trust,” says Rahul Parmar, one of four co-founders of the lollipop brand, who has a background in digital marketing. “Alongside their expertise, we have an in-house food scientist who refines the formulation for functional benefit and shelf stability.”

Because apparently candy needs a purpose

In a strange turn of events, these candies combine nostalgia and wellness, the biggest buzzwords of our decade, into an unexpected little treat that also happens to be ultra Instagram-friendly. Much like zero-proof cocktails and cabbage-maxxing, healthy lollies are a peak product of our algorithms. (2010 could absolutely never.)

You also must credit the present era of healthy living. Today, the approach to conscious eating is more additive than reductive. People don’t simply swear off sweets; they find zero-sugar, protein-rich ice creams to replace them with instead. The motto today is more FAFO (f*** around and find out) and less FOFO (fear of finding out).

Forecasters spent years saying Gen Z don’t drink or dance, but look at them creating electrolyte candy to replenish themselves at raves. Why healthy lollipops specifically? Why not toffees or truffles? “It doesn’t disappear in one bite and lasts longer than a drink,” says Parmar. “And everyone has an emotional connection or a memory attached to lollipops.”

Crucially, the sweets can also double as more mindful oral fixations for anyone hoping to shake off the nicotine. You know, ditch the vape at the music festival, pick up the zero-sugar lollipop. Sanjna Rao, a Mumbai-based artist who is experimenting with healthy lollies, agrees and ups the stakes. “Lollipops are also sexier,” she says. “They are the sensual chocolate-covered strawberries or peaches equivalent in the candy world. Think about it: would you rather be seen having Alpenliebe or sucking on adult hard candy?”