Shannon Turner, owner of Fresh Market Treats, in his truck on the midway at the Johnson County Fair. Turner makes and sells freeze-dried candy.
Isaac Robinson | For the Daily Journal
Two new vendors at the Johnson County 4-H and Agricultural Fair this year bring sweet options for candy fans.
Freeze-dried delights
New to the midway this year at the fair is Fresh Market Treats, a Muncie-based freeze-dried candy shop.
Owner Shannon Turner and his wife opened up the candy store in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. They had been freeze-drying produce from their garden, and then Turner saw someone from Hawaii making freeze-dried candy. He had to try it.
“After that, it was just like a rocket, and we took off with it,” Turner said.
In addition to the brick-and-mortar shop, Turner owns a truck he takes to different fairs, festivals and farmers markets in the state.
This is his first year at the Johnson County Fair. Turner was on his way back from Louisville Pop Con, and got calls from people he knows, saying he should stop in Johnson County.
Fresh Market Treats sells pretty much any type of candy, but freeze-dried. Options include freeze-dried Skittles, Jolly Ranchers, several flavors of saltwater taffy, gummy worms, peach rings, Airheads, Bit-O-Honey, Werther’s caramels and more.
Freeze-drying the candy gives it a different type of airy texture, and enlarges the candy. But the flavor of its original form is still there. Turner loves watching people’s reactions when they try the candy for the first time.
“It’s amazing. I love watching people’s facial expressions,” Turner said. “I get the biggest kick out of that everywhere.”
The physical store remains open while Turner is traveling around. Fresh Market Treats also sells its candy online, and can ship all over the country.
“We really started doing this to put a smile on people’s faces,” Turner said.
Sour ropes from Spain
Inside Herring Hall, Ross Puryear sells sour licorice ropes he says are only found in Spain.
Puryear, or “Ross P.” as people call him, is a full-time commercial vendor from Waco, Texas. He spends his time traveling around the country selling Sour Tailz, which are long licorice-type ropes made in Spain and only sold at fairs, Puryear said. The long ropes come in a variety of flavors, including, watermelon, blue raspberry and strawberry, to name a few.
This year is Puryear’s first time in Johnson County. He decided to stop by on his way to the Ohio State Fair.
“I leaving here to go to the Ohio State Fair, then the Missouri State Fair, then the South Dakota State Fair … and then I get back to my home state fair in Texas,” he said.
He travels from mid-July to the end of March. He’s been a commercial vendor selling this candy for 13 years.
