This teen invented a teeth-cleaning lollipop so she could eat more candy
Aline Morse is CEO and founder of a $10 million dollar company — and she’s only 14 years old.
You may have seen Zolli Pops at any one of the 25,000 stores they’re sold at, like Whole Foods, Target and CVS. Aline was 7 years old when she came up with the idea of a teeth-cleaning candy.
One day she accompanied her dad to the bank. But when she wanted a complimentary lollipop, her father told her candy would rot her teeth. Aline decided to invent a healthy lollipop instead. However, it wouldn’t be easy. The development phase took two years to complete.
“I tried to make candy at home. That did not go well at all,” Aline told In The Know. “After that, I realized I can’t do this by myself. I’ll need a manufacturing facility, a team of food scientists to help me create this product. I also talked to my dentist about what I could use to create the teeth cleaning aspect. We put together a pretty solid ingredients list, including xylitol and erythritol. We did hundreds of taste tests.”
When the product was finally ready, its first retailer was Whole Foods. Aline’s little sister, who is also a majority owner, came up with the name and their parents help them run the business.
Today Zolli Candy has expanded from lollipops to taffy and gumdrops. But profits and growth aren’t the only goals here.
“We’ve always been a cause-based organization,” Aline said. “During my initial research, I found that tooth decay is actually the single greatest epidemic facing kids in America today. Which brought about our nonprofit, which is called Million Smiles. We give free Zolli Pops to kids through schools across America to teach about the importance of oral healthcare.”
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