Calling All Sugar Babies

Afg Suga on building a brand by connecting with a community.

The Broccoli Report 
Friday, September 9, 2022
Time to read: 5 minutes, 15 seconds. Contains 1050 words.

Calling All Sugar Babies: Afg Suga on Building a Brand by Connecting with a Community.

Like many women who enjoy weed, Zuhal was tired of begrudgingly adapting to male weed culture. At the same time, she was tired of being “Stefani,” the white alias she donned when her family immigrated to the UK. She didn’t want to keep hiding her Afghan heritage, and she made the conscious decision to create something that celebrated her identity—every hot-pink, glitter-coated, hash-loving part of it. 

Afg Suga is the manifestation of this celebration of self. Every accessory and joint tip is designed with an unapologetically feminine, Y2K fashion-inspired touch that speaks to Zuhal’s bling-era nostalgia (she blogged about old-school hip-hop under the name “De La Stef” for a while). Still, operating in a country where weed is illegal makes life complicated. In this conversation, published in Broccoli Issue 15, Zuhal (who uses her Afghan first name when talking about Afg Suga) shares how her journey with cannabis brought her closer to her heritage and empowered a new community of women to embrace the plant they love.

Alongside brands like Sundae School and Mesobis, Afg Suga is a glittering celebration of multifaceted cultural identities, made possible through cannabis. By leading with her identity, the people who find her brand and resonate with it are feeling seen in a profound way—many feeling for the first time like it’s ok for people in their community to consume cannabis. It’s an empowering affirmation, and one that so many groups are still waiting to feel from a new brand that resonates with them. 

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