Panda Fluff – headquarted in Ruislip – has secured 30 sites across the UK and Europe in 12 months making it the UK’s fastest growing candy floss vending machine business.
The high-tech, brightly coloured machines are capable of producing 130 different styles of candy floss, from heart shaped designs to floral patterns. There are six natural fruit flavours to choose from, including strawberry, melon and vanilla, plus two types of toppings.
Customers tap on the machine’s touch screen, select a candy floss, then watch it being made – taking just 90 seconds from start to finish.
Panda Fluff’s machines can now be found at Haven Holidays, Moto Services, and numerous theme parks and destination shopping centres.
The company was founded by entrepreneur, Kelly Poon (pictured) in 2023, when her daughter asked for a special after-school treat. She wanted candy floss but Kelly didn’t want to settle for something in a packet. She wanted to get her the real deal. Proper candy floss on a stick.
“That’s when I fell down the rabbit hole of candy floss and vending machines,” laughs Kelly. “After lots of research, I found a factory and worked closely with them to design the machine capability and branding that I wanted.”
With a natural eye for design, following a career in the fashion industry, Kelly created the unique, colourful Panda Fluff brand and set about securing sites for the candy floss machines.
“The first Panda Fluff machine went to St. Enoch, a beautiful big destination shopping centre in the heart of Glasgow City Centre,” explains Kelly. “It was so exciting to find a home for that first one, and to see the hard work paying off. Interest increased very quickly from there.
“It is still relatively unusual to see a candy floss machine – despite the fact that the British vending machine market is expanding rapidly, across the board. So, that definitely piques the interest of business customers. The opportunity to have something unique.
“The Panda Fluff machines are also very easy to maintain and they’re reliable – plus, we have support staff on the ground in the UK, should customers need anything.
“The quality of the candy floss product is also something that is mentioned a lot,” she adds. “The candy floss contains filtered water and natural sugars – nothing else – and we use 100% biodegradable sticks, so businesses can feel good about what they’re providing to customers and their families.”
As well as continuing to grow Panda Fluff across the UK and Europe, one of Kelly’s ambitions is to demonstrate to her daughters and other girls and women that owning and running a business is possible.
“One of my proudest moments has been one of my daughters telling her teacher that she wants to be a ‘candy floss boss’ like mum when she’s older.”
The Panda Fluff business model is a mixture of franchisees, machine sales and machines owned and serviced by Panda Fluff.
