Monday, May 26, 2008

The Birth of the People's Pops

When my friend Robert Lavalva told me he was putting on a one-day summermarket to continue publicizing his cause, the New Amsterdam Market, I jumped at the chance to participate. The only question: what to sell?

The only answer: ice pops. Who doesn’t love these refreshing little nuggets of fruit and sugar and ice, crystallized summertime? I even like the crappy ones.

We can do better, I think. Industrially produced ice pops are little more than water laced with high fructose corn syrup, juice from concentrate, gums and stabilizers. What about pops made just with locally, sustainably grown fruit and herbs, organic sugar, and a low proportion of water?

In a bar, my roommate suggests the name: The People’s Popsicle. It’s perfect. [update, April 2010: Just got a cease and desist letter from Unilever. Let history heretofore be rewritten: we are The People's Pops, and have been since day one!!]

The most democratic of snacks, upgraded to both taste better and be better. The people are going to love it!

The market is a month away.

love, NJ