Have you got a bit of a sweet tooth? Love nothing more than chewing on a skittle? Chowing down on a handful of musk sticks? Or devouring a bag of sourworms?

There’s no denying many of us love a sneaky lolly – but have you ever tried them freeze-dried?

Nicola Stanton stumbled across the concept in 2021 scrolling through TikTok when a business idea started forming.

“I was on TikTok all of the time and I kept seeing freeze-dried treats popping up from places all over the US – it’s massive over there. I thought this is so cool! I did a load of research and realised there weren’t many people doing it here in Australia,” Nicola said.

In February 2022, The Freeze Queen was launched.

Starting small, The Freeze Queen was Nicola’s side hustle whilst working as a support worker, but over a short period, the demand for these unique products skyrocketed.

“It was made to order back at the beginning. I had 250 orders just from that one TikTok and that took me about three weeks to fulfill.”

Now working alongside her partner, Adam – The Freeze Queen was quite the overnight success story. The garage-based business outgrew its original dwellings and finally moved into bricks and mortar space in Cardiff, opening the doors to The Freeze Queen Emporium on 23rd September 2023.

The first Australian freeze-dried lolly shop, The Freeze Queen Emporium is located on Merrion Way in Cardiff and is home to their selection of freeze-dried treats and pick-n-mix lolly wall.

“With freeze-dried lollies, you have to just try it once and then you’ll be hooked. I have this one couple that comes in every day. We have had returning customers since day one.”

The incredibly popular freeze-dried treats are currently selling out every day – so, if you’re desperate to get your hands on a certain flavour, make sure to get in early!

“Our most popular products are Skittles. We’ve also got sour worms, peach rings, red rippers, pineapple lumps, milky ways, fantails, curly wurly, wicked fizz, musk sticks – literally everything.”

You can browse the selection of treats available online, or drop by the Cardiff store Tuesday to Sunday.