“I had to make things work,” she says, adding that giving up was “not an option.”
Keshavjee created Happy Pops in 2016, as a kinesiology student at the University of Toronto. She realized many snacks marketed as “healthy” were packed with sugar and artificial colours and flavours, and wanted to create a more wholesome snack people could enjoy after a workout or on the go.
Happy Pops produces popsicles with real fruit and a small amount of organic cane sugar. Each pop contains 35 to 75 calories. The flavours, including mango, passionfruit and matcha, were inspired by her South Asian heritage and Canada’s diverse cultures, explains Keshavjee.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 70 per cent of the company’s revenue was generated through catering to schools, gyms, wellness centres and events. With non-essential services closed, Keshavjee had to find other sources of sales.
