Bella Hughes & Better Sour: Candy For Foodies

Most gummy candy still treats sour like a stunt: a sharp coating, a sugar rush, and not much happening underneath. What would candy look like if sour were treated the way a chef treats acidity, as something layered, balanced, and worth savoring?

For Isabella Hughes, the key lies in building flavor from the inside out. Drawing on sour flavors from her Iranian heritage and upbringing in Hawaii, she points to everything from tart fruit and dried snacks to calamansi, guava, pomegranate, and tart cherry as inspiration for a gummy that delivers a longer, more culinary kind of sour. The result is a more grown-up take on candy, designed for food lovers whose tastes have evolved beyond the familiar sweet-and-sour formula.

On this episode of the Firebelly Social Show, Duncan Alney talks with Isabella Hughes, Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Better Sour, about turning global flavor memories into sophisticated sour candy. They discuss candy for foodies, building a true “sour from within” experience, and using flavors like calamansi, guava, and pomegranate. Bella also shares how customer feedback shapes the brand.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

• [3:07] Why mentors sparked Isabella Hughes’ belief in reinvention and curiosity
• [11:54] The idea behind Better Sour and creating “candy for foodies”
• [16:13] How vegan, high-fiber gummies are changing candy standards
• [23:47] Using familiar candy formats to introduce consumers to multicultural flavors
• [25:53] Why authentic cultural food is trending over fusion cuisine
• [31:31] Customer feedback, Costco success, and growing demand for Better Sour’s global flavors
• [37:25] Bella gives a real talk on launching a food brand in today’s tough market

About Isabella “Bella” Hughes:

Isabella “Bella” Hughes is the Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Better Sour, a modern candy brand reimagining sour gummies for today’s consumer. Better Sour has expanded to over 4,000 stores nationwide, including Whole Foods, Costco, Sprouts, and Albertsons, and won a 2026 Bon Appétit Pantry Award. 

Previously, Bella co-founded Shaka Tea, growing it to over 20,000 retail locations before its 2022 acquisition, along with Hawaiʻi Contemporary and Lezzetli Ice Cream. Her honors include Inc. Magazine’s 2025 Female Founders recognition, Pacific Business News 40 Under 40, and Hawaiʻi Venture Capital Association’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

Resources Mentioned in this episode

• Duncan Alney on LinkedIn
• Firebelly Marketing
• Isabella “Bella” Hughes on LinkedIn
• Better Sour
• Hawai‘i Contemporary
• Semira Nikou on LinkedIn
• Ambassador Cynthia P. Schneider
• Michael Rakowitz
• National Confectioners Association (NCA)
• “From Wellness To Flavor: The Pacific Soul Story” on the Firebelly Social Show
• “Spiced, Not Spicy: How Keya Wingfield Is Changing The American Snack Aisle” on the Firebelly Social Show
• “Eric Martindale: The Future Of Retail Is Digital” on the Firebelly Social Show

Quotable Moments:

• “If you decide to wait till you’re 100% there, you’ll never launch your product.”
• “I feel like early days, your customers are also part of your focus group.”
• “Like, how could we share these flavors in a form factor that there wasn’t a lot of explanation?”
• “How can food, how can art, break down barriers and bring people together?”
• “Chefs and artists are going to heal the world. They’re going to bring everybody together. They are the peace builders.”

Action Steps:

1. Launch before everything feels perfect: Waiting until a product is 100% ready can prevent founders from ever launching, while real-world feedback creates opportunities to improve over time.
2. Treat customers as an ongoing focus group: Paying attention to customer feedback can reveal product benefits, improvement opportunities, and messaging that the brand may have overlooked.
3. Make unfamiliar flavors easy to experience: Introducing culturally inspired flavors through an accessible format can help consumers connect with new tastes without requiring extensive education.
4. Look to restaurants for emerging flavor signals: Watching what chefs feature on restaurant, cocktail, and dessert menus can help identify flavors that may be ready for the grocery aisle.
5. Understand the capital demands before entering CPG: Knowing how much funding the business will require and becoming comfortable with fundraising can help founders prepare for the financial realities of building a food brand.

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