Chupa Chups is a Spanish lollipop company founed by Barcelona native employer Enric Bernat in 1958, and owned presently by the Dutch/Italian multinational corporation Perfetti Van Melle. The name is pronounced [ˈtʃuːpaˈtʃuːps] (or IPA: /ˈtʃʌpətʃʌps/ in English) and comes from the Spanish verb chupar, meaning "to suck".