In Our Summer 2018 Issue
LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
Summer is a bountiful time in Connecticut. The leafy greens of spring give way to summer’s abundant and colorful fruits and vegetables, and just about everyone is eagerly ...
The Bee's Knees
On a hot, mid-summer day, few things elicit enthusiasm as well as a frosty ice pop. For Amy D’Angelantonio and Glenn Hilliard, owners of Bees Knees Ice Pops, seeing that excitement in their customers, both young and old, is just one of the benefits of producing their whole-food-based, artisan pops.
Amy and Glenn met while they were students at New Milford High School and celebrated 17 years as partners this past May. Their inspiration for Bees Knees Ice Pops started, unsurprisingly, with an ice pop. “Glenn and I tried an artisan pop at a shop in New York years ago, and we were immediately hooked,” Amy says. “So I bought a little pop mold and started making them at home and sharing them with friends. Everyone loved them, and it made us think that this could be the business we were looking for.”
Self-professed snowbirds, Amy and Glenn were looking for a business that would allow them to spend summers in Connecticut and comparatively warmer winters in Florida. “Forever summer, that was the plan,” Glenn says. However, the Florida portion of the equation didn’t work out as they had anticipated. “Their winters are warm to us, but to them, it’s winter! So if it’s in the 60s, they’re wearing winter coats, hats, and gloves,” Glenn says. “Nobody wearing a parka wants an ice pop,” says Amy. Forced to reconsider their business model, they returned to their roots in Connecticut full-time.
What never changed for them, however, was their love of making a high-quality ice pop. From the beginning, their pops have been made using all-natural, “whole-food” ingredients. “We don’t use juice,” Glenn says. “We use raw, whole foods, blended together, so you’re getting a complete food.” They marry those whole foods with a bit of their homemade simple syrup – mixed from organic cane sugar – in order to add an extra hint of sweetness and provide a softer texture, without which the pops would freeze into rock-hard blocks.
But the heart of each of their pop’s flavors comes from the fruit, and in that lies an extra challenge. “We have to taste every batch we make,” Amy says, “because the recipe changes a bit each time. We can’t just use a set recipe, because the flavor profile of the base fruit can change based on the farm it comes from or the ripeness at which it was picked.”
When it comes to those recipes, there’s been a lot of trial and error. “We tried out a cantaloupe and cherry pop once,” Glenn says. “It was horrible. Tasted like squash.” But the failures are the exception, not the rule. Glenn says that their Strawberry Lemonade pop is their best seller. “Kids like it, adults like it…we sell that 2-to-1 over our other flavors.”
Bees Knees Ice Pops offers an assortment of flavors. Hot days are mollified by their refreshing Cucumber Mint Lime pop, though more adventurous palates might lean towards their unique Pineapple Ginger Cilantro flavor or, for the brave, their Spicy Blueberry Lemonade, which blends wild blueberries, fresh-pressed lemons, and a hint of habanero pepper. With the exception of the Honey Orange Watermelon pop, all of their flavors are also vegan, including the Chocolate Banana pop, made with raw organic cacao, ripe bananas, and organic coconut milk. Whether for kids or adults who miss eating like kids, Bees Knees Ice Pops makes a flavor that will suit any age.
Amy and Glenn also endeavor to limit the environmental impact of their business, all while doing what they can to support the small-business community. They purchase some of their ingredients from local farms, including a Connecticut apiary. They also provide the pigs at Earth’s Palate Farm in Warren with fruit rinds and other compostable material from the pop-making process.
Amy and Glenn manage every aspect of the business. “We started on the ground floor,” Amy says. “It’s just the two of us. We do everything from shopping for ingredients at the markets to the prepping, blending, and freezing of the pops, to the packaging and labeling of everything.” And though Bees Knees Ice Pops can be found in retail locations, farmers markets still constitute a large portion of Amy and Glenn’s sales. Managing the pop cart at those markets? That’s them, too.
“There’s something about going to a market and serving our customers directly,” Amy says, “watching them take that first taste of the pop, and their reaction to it. I don’t know if I could give that up. Having a personal relationship with our customers is a big part of what makes this business fun, and I love seeing the kids with the pops all over their faces and clothing just minutes after we hand it to them. Maybe we should provide clean t-shirts, too!” Until then, however, Amy and Glenn promise to have a tall stack of napkins to clean up and show off all the big smiles walking away from the pop cart.
Bees Knees Ice Pops: 860-671-1086
Bees Knees Ice Pops can be found at retail locations and farmers markets throughout Connecticut. Catering for events, weddings, parties, and more is also available. Visit their website or follow them on Instagram for more information.
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