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Article 1 -Sugarpova

        Maria Sharapova is a global tennis star and the world’s highest paid female athlete. Maria Sharapova always had a sweet tooth and invested in a premium gummy candy business in August 2012. Jeff Rubin, is the co-founder of Dylan’s Candy Bar and is a consultant for Maria Sharapova’s candy business. Jeff Rubin created a corporate business name for Maria’s premium candy called Sugarpova, LLC. Jeff Rubin earns a certain percentage of sales when profit targets are met.

      Maria Sharapova invested $500,000 of her own money and opened a candy factory in Murcia, Spain. There were 250,000 candy bags sold in the first three months. In January 2013, Sugarpova went international to the following countries: Australia, UK, Canada, Russia, India and China. The CEO of Sugarpova, Max Eisenbud, has forecasted selling 1 million bags globally for the 2013 year. The premium gummy bags sell for approximately $5.99 with a $1.10 net profit for each bag. The bags are six times the cost of other gummy candy bags but provide a premium quality of gummy candies. There is no brand recognition in premium gummy candy and Sugarpova doesn’t have any major competition. There is a potential for Sugarpova to earn $1.1 million net profit for the 2013 year. The US, Europe and China gummy candy industry is $28 billion profit a year.

     There is little investment in marketing as there isn’t a big budget in marketing and advertisement.    Sugarpova is using social media, such as Facebook, as a free marketing campaign.  “Every week, everywhere she goes, people are talking to her about it,” the agent said. “It’s also the power of social media, the power of her almost 9 million fans on Facebook".[1] “We don’t really have a big budget at all for marketing and advertisement,” says the four-time Grand Slam tournament winner, who owns 100 percent of the company".[2] I commend Maria Sharapova desire to invest in a premium gummy candy business. Maria Sharapova has taken her corporate skill set from other companies that she has worked with (Nike, Cole Haan and Tag) and applied them to Sugarpova. Maria Sharapova has taken her candy business internationally in a short period of time. The Sugarpova premium candy business investment is a great opportunity for Maria Sharapova to eventually expand her investments in fashion, cosmetics and other products.

References:

[1]http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-10/sharapova-serves-sweet-ace-with-120-return-on-sugarpova.html
[2]http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-17/sugarpova-candy-sharapovas-sweet-taste-of-success