I had forgotten that I had received an email from Jesse Cushman—my son Eric’s friend from Hamden—about his new business venture. He had written that he tried the corporate life, but it wasn’t for him. “I bugged my friends to invest and then franchised with a custom candy company out of Barcelona called Papabubble.”

Then, one day, I received a candy delivery, the blue and yellow candies with the letters BOTB. It took me a second before I realized they were the initials of Bite of the Best.

PapaBubble customizes flavors, colors and candy packaging—minimum 10 pounds—for corporate events, birthdays, gifts and holidays. Pricing starts at $36/lb and decreases with larger orders. As of today, they are the only franchise in the US.