Tennis player Maria Sharapova has launched a candy business under the Sugarpova brand, according to her website.
The athlete's candy collection consists of 12 varieties of lip-shaped sweets that feature names like chic, flirty, silly and splashy.
The candies will be sold by vendor IT'SUGAR at retail locations worldwide. Sugarpova will also be stocked in minibars at some luxury hotels and resorts and will be available online on several websites for an average of $5 per bag.
"My tennis and business schedules keep me traveling worldwide, and I confess to having a sweet tooth that knows what it wants!," Sharapova wrote on her website Monday. "When I didn't find it in the marketplace, I decided to create the type of candy that girls like me crave."
Max Eisenbud will head Sugarpova as chief executive.
A portion of sales revenues will be donated to the Maria Sharapova Foundation, which the star launched to benefit students in areas of Belarus affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Sharapova will have to compete with at least one other celebrity-backed candy operation. Dylan Lauren, daughter of designer Ralph Lauren, sells 5,000 types of sweets along with clothing, jewelry and accessories from her three Dylan's Candy Bar locations. The brand is also expanding to Los Angeles and Miami Beach this year.
Sharapova is already the world's highest-paid female athlete for the eighth straight year, according to Forbes. She earned $27.1 million in the last 12 months, $22 million of it from sponsorships, exhibitions and appearance fees.
Related articles:
