A viral trend inspired local candymaker Alyssa Gomez to create a spiral blend.
“I saw a lot of people doing it on TikTok, and my nieces wanted me to try it,” said Gomez, whose new business—Gomez Candies—offers assortments of colorful and crunchy, sweet and spicy candy-coated grapes, pineapple rings, and other fruit-centric treats.
The Lompoc resident’s process starts with a mixture of water, light corn syrup, and melted sugar. Gomez will then boil the three ingredients together, regularly checking the pot’s temperature with a thermometer.
“Once it gets to 300 degrees, I’ll add my flavoring in,” said Gomez, who currently offers six flavor options for patrons to choose from when it comes to candy-coated pineapple rings and grapes: watermelon, strawberry, peach, cotton candy, cherry, and grape.
Who in their right mind would pass up the opportunity to try a grape-flavored grape?
After a flavor is chosen, there are a few different topping options for customers to consider adding as well. Gomez will add either Nerds or chopped-up fragments of a Jolly Rancher—depending on the patron’s preference—to the concoction before dipping either a grape or a pineapple ring into the mixture. Customers can also request their items to be wrapped with pieces of Fruit Roll-Ups or powdered with a savory add-on.
“Some people like to go spicy with Tajín,” said Gomez, who offers her candy grapes and pineapple rings in various sizes of to-go platters.
For $8, customers can get a pack of four candy pineapple rings, while a container of 20 candy grapes goes for $14. For patrons with a sweet tooth looking to cater an upcoming celebration, Gomez Candies offers party packs that range between 20 containers ($100) and 30 containers ($130) of assorted selections, with two to three flavors and up to two toppings to choose from.
For large to-go tray orders and party packs, Gomez asks patrons to request their selections at least three days in advance, while regular orders can be booked a day in advance through private messaging on the Gomez Candies Facebook or Instagram page.
Through these social media outlets, Gomez also posts a spontaneous daily special every once in a while.
“I also end up making extras when I have big orders, so I’ll end up selling the extras in containers,” Gomez said. “I’ll post those on Facebook Marketplace or on my story on Instagram to sell those.”
Gomez doesn’t currently offer deliveries, but orders can be picked up from her home in Lompoc. She’s currently in the process of customizing a food cart, as she hopes to bring her business to local farmers markets, pop-ups, and similar foodie events in the near future in Lompoc—and possibly other cities along the Central Coast, including Santa Maria.
She also hopes to work with more kinds of fruit in the future.
“I follow a lot of candy grape and other candy fruit pages on Instagram, and I’m getting a lot of ideas from them,” said Gomez, who’s thinking of experimenting with kiwis and blueberries sometime this summer.
Similar to the way Gomez found out about the candy fruit trend via social media, Gomez Candies is gaining attention from Central Coast locals through Facebook groups and community forums. Although she’s lived in Lompoc for nearly a decade, Gomez—born in Ventura and raised in Santa Barbara—said she often feels like an outsider among other residents in town. But her new business is helping her meet more of her neighbors and other new faces, Gomez said.
“I’ve been here for about eight years, but I’ve gone and moved between a lot of places within those eight years, so I still feel kind of new to the area. Nobody really knows me,” said Gomez, before revealing a new nickname she enjoys being referred to nowadays. “I’m trying to bring myself out more, as the ‘Grape Girl.’”
From this day forward, Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood is the Cucumber Kid. Send your alias to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 29 – Jul 9, 2023.