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Adrick Phan, right, and his mother, Karan Phan, stand at their pop-up freeze-dried candy store, K Puffs Goodies, July 6, 2024, at Asia Times Square in Grand Prairie. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)
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One TikTok and several disappointing attempts to experience the airy, crispy treat that is freeze-dried candy led Fort Worth resident Adrick Phan to take matters into his own hands. 

“It just didn’t taste right, and every reaction I saw on TikTok looked so good. So I was like, ‘I bet if I make it myself, it’ll taste better, right?’” Phan said. 

For over a year, 19-year-old Phan has run a freeze-dried candy business called K Puffs Goodies. He got his start selling candy at salons and markets at Buddhist temples. He now has a storefront at Asia Times Square in Grand Prairie, where he sells an assortment of homemade freeze-dried Skittles, Nerds Gummy Clusters and Jolly Ranchers. Phan’s journey has helped him overcome his shyness and allowed him and his mom to become entrepreneurs. 

Freeze-dried candy is packed for sale at K Puffs Goodies’ storefront at Asia Times Square. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)

As a high school student, Phan did and didn’t know things. He knew he had a sweet tooth and had always wanted to be a scientist. But he hadn’t yet decided what his plans were after graduation. 

At the time, Phan worked part time cleaning toilets, folding laundry and wiping tables at a nail salon that his mom, Karan Phan, managed. He didn’t have immediate plans for college and his janitorial duties would soon become full time once he received his high school diploma in May 2023. 

Phan remembers feeling stuck and wanting to do something more fulfilling, he said. He also recalls seeing the toll that his mother’s salon job was taking on her. 

“He saw how unhappy I was,” Karan Phan said. “I was not sleeping. He saw how tired and cranky I was. I was just exhausted.” 

After his graduation party, Adrick Phan pitched what would become a life-changing idea to his mom: use the $5,000 he had from a culmination of graduation gifts and savings to quit their jobs and start a freeze-dried candy business. 

Adrick Phan said that the ‘K’ in K Puffs Goodies honors the support he has received from his mom, Karan — but it also honors her favorite music genre: K-pop. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)

In high school, he became intrigued with a new candy craze he saw on social media, where people would freeze-dry gummy worms, M&M’s and lollipops from gooey treats into puffy, crunchy desserts that melted in their mouths. 

“Hey, can we take this chance to get out of this?” Adrick Phan remembers asking his mom. “She was like, ‘Well if an apocalypse ever happens, I do need it for cooking anyways, so I guess you can.’”

How is freeze-dried candy made? Freeze-drying is a method of food preservation where candy is frozen in a vacuum chamber. The moisture inside of the candy turns to ice and then directly to a gas through a process called sublimation, leaving an airy, freeze-dried version of the treat.

Starting his own business was a learning experience, Adrick Phan said. He remembers watching YouTube videos on how to use a freeze-drying machine. He quickly discovered that some candies freeze-dry better than others. For instance, chocolate-heavy treats and gummies tend to melt. 

Starting his own business also helped the new high school graduate work on his shyness, Karan Phan said. Once he figured out how to transform candy into crispy, crunchy desserts, Adrick and Karan, who are Buddhist, started to host pop-up shops at salons and join markets at temples. 

Adrick Phan remembers getting nudges from his mom while holding samples in his hand, anxiously awaiting the moment he would have to talk to a potential customer. A year into the business, that’s not so much the case, she said. 

“Now he doesn’t need me anymore,” she said. “It was just a 180 where he’s like, ‘OK, we gotta do this. We gotta make this candy work.’” 

Adrick Phan makes an assortment of freeze-dried candies such as Caramel Apple Lollipops, Skystones and Fruit Inches. (Camilo Diaz | Fort Worth Report)

In addition to his stand at Asia Times Square, Adrick Phan continues to make pop-up appearances at restaurants and festivals at Buddhist temples. He is also preparing to bring his business to several Texas Rangers games between Aug. 5-7. 

Looking ahead, his goal is to sell K Puffs Goodies from a permanent storefront. 

“As long as I keep going at it, I’ll get there eventually,” Adrick Phan said. “Which is the same mindset I’ve had throughout all of it.” Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org or @marissaygreene. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.