STC students create unique snack shop to pay tuition

DONNA, Texas (ValleyCentral) — What began as an idea to help cover school tuition, bloomed into a successful business.

South Texas College nursing students, and sisters, Dinah and Sarai Sanchez created the unique and sweet freeze-dried candy business named RGV Sweets N Treats.

Dinah first gave the idea to her sister to create a candy business. She added they began selling their product to local markets and started expanding their business by opening their first store in January 2023.

"I had seen a video on TikTok of people selling freeze-dried candy and it was very popular up north, but there was no one here in the Valley that sold this type of candy," Dinah said.

She added that she wanted to incorporate some Hispanic heritage into their new business venture, such as freeze-dried paleta payaso, peach rings enchilados, paletas de sandia and other popular Mexican candies.

Dinah said a couple of their most popular flavors include the peach rings enchilados and Skittles enchilados.

The duo added after learning of the high number of diabetes cases across the Rio Grande Valley in their class, they began working on a sugar-free option for their customers to enjoy.

"We are a sweets and treats store, so we do sell basically sugar. Recently a lot of our clients have requested sugar-free options," Sarai said.

The sisters said juggling a business and nursing school is challenging but they rely on each other for emotional support to avoid procrastinating on their assignments.

"Sometimes it can be overwhelming but we know it's going be worth it," Sarai said.