Inside the Rand Community Center in small town Missouri Valley, Jenna King sorts through fresh cherries.
"We're doing a cherry almond," she says.
King had the idea for a gourmet pop one day after her hubby, David, asked her to pick up blue and purple popsicles from the store.
"Blue is not a flavor! Blue is not a flavor and I will say that to the day I die," she says.
From there, the idea was born. Fresh, agave sweetened, ice pops in flavors like lime basil and peanut butter cocoa. With $30 in supplies and an immersion blender, Jenna & David started making ice pops in their kitchen. Their first flavor was thai tea.
"Which turned out horrible. It was absolutely a hot mess!" King said.
The family kept their cool and worked hard, eventually earning a big award in a local bank's business contest.
Two months ago, King was able to quit her day job and go pro on the ice pop business. The ice pops have been big hits at farmers markets, conventions, and even baseball village at the CWS. King credits her success to the hometown help she's received.
"Missouri Valley as a whole has been so supportive. The local newspaper has run multiple articles on us. The chamber of commerce has talked to us about leads we could follow up on, places you can sell," she said.
In the future, Stickalicious pops has plans for a storefront in the metro area, but King says
she'll never close the door on the town where it all started.
"If it weren't for Missouri Valley, we wouldn't be able to grow to this scale."
For more, visit stickaliciouspops.com
