ICE POP FAMILY LEGACY

For 34 years, the Sanchez family has been manufacturing delicious, all natural frozen ice pops in Plant City. It was started by Remi II and Margarita Sanchez on Hwy 92 in 1989 as an artisanal ice pop shop selling through street vendors. Several years later Remi III joined the company at 19 as GM. It wasn’t long before the company began to expand sales beyond the shop and street vending into retail stores. Remi III continued in the following years earning the business of ice cream distributors around Florida and other parts of the country.

In 1997, the company expanded into an industrial facility near the Plant City airport to accommodate increased sales. An automated ice pop machine was introduced into the facility with a production capacity of 40,000 pops per shift.

Saul soon joined the family company as well after achieving his mechanical engineering degree and as a family unit the business further expanded. Saul’s role as VP of operations became great asset to this expansion. Today, Ice Pop Factory manufactures for many artisanal all natural ice pop brands in many of the major supermarkets across the U.S. There are many new projects that are presented frequently with the latest taken on this year being the new Minion pops project for Universal Studios Orlando. Customers can enjoy Ice Pop Factory produced and Minion themed super premium ice pops at the new Freeze Ray Pop Shop. www.icepopfactory.com www.fresh-pops.com

As a compliment to Ice Pop Factory, the company Ice Pop Equipment, Inc. was established in 2017 to sell ice pop, ice cream and packaging equipment to small start up ice pop shops around the U.S. Some of these customers have great success with their pops and ultimately have their brand mass produced by Ice Pop Factory for the big retailers. This year UF senior Remi IV joined the family business in establishing the company Fresh Pops. The focus of the company is establishing premium ice pop shops at major universities with the first opening in Gainesville next to the Gators stadium. The shops will offer all natural premium ice pops, ice cream and affogatos. Remi III and IV have designed the shops to include a relaxing seating area where customers can work or study from their laptops.