By Paul Sebert The Herald-Dispatch
July 29, 2021
HUNTINGTON — As the hot days of summer have arrived in full force, keep your eye out for a new frozen dessert truck.
There’s a new Frios Gourmet Pops truck on the road in the Huntington and Barboursville areas, serving up frozen treats in a variety of flavors.
The food truck is part of an Alabama-based chain that was established in 2013 before it became a franchise. The local Frios franchise is run by the Adams family. Father Jeremy Adams is one also a co-owner of Christopher’s Eats.
The new truck made its debut over Memorial Day weekend.
“We have a place in Hilton Head, South Carolina, where we go on vacation. There’s a shopping center near where we were staying (with) a Frios franchise in it. The kids liked the Popsicles,” said Maggie Adams, who is a managing member of Frios and the wife of Jeremy Adams.
“When we started looking at this, it was about a year and a half ago. We had a lot of things going on, and with the COVID crisis going, we waited. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s COVID friendly as everything is individually wrapped. So we should have started last year,” Adams said.
“We went in there, and the kids liked the idea. My son Eli wanted a truck and my daughter Josie wanted to sell popsicles. We special ordered the truck through Ford and had it built out by Frios. It took about eight-and-a-half weeks. In addition to the truck, we are working on building a freestanding location in the Barboursville area.”
The truck sells a variety of ice pops in flavors including Chocolate Hazelnut, Red Velvet, Root Beer Float, Fruit Punch and Tiramisu. All pops are $4. If you buy eight pops, you get two free. The truck also sells “Dog Pops” for $3.
“We do a lot of events in Huntington, like church events, family reunions, field days at schools. We also have been visiting a lot of senior centers. We are currently running the van seven days a week,” Jeremy Adams said. “We currently have four employees in addition to our children. Josie and Eli own part of the company, and me and my wife manage the company. They work about 10 hours a week, and all profits go to their college fund.”
“There are different kinds of pops,” Maggie Adams added. “We have creamy and fruity ones. We also have a lot of different options for people with special dietary needs. We have gluten-free and vegan pops. We also have some that are dye-free or nut-free for people with allergies.
“We are also doing what we call ‘pop drops’ where we can drop off a cooler of popsicles for special events, like if you’re an employer who is having a staff appreciation day. We also want to do this as a way of keeping the business going in the colder months.”
Jeremy Adams said the ice pops are made from 100% natural ingredients.
“Strawberry Mango is very popular,” he said. “We have Pickle Pops, which are very unique … they’re one of Eli’s favorites. Chocolate, Cotton Candy and Raspberry Cheesecake are some of our bestselling flavors. The Blueberry Cheesecake tastes like cold cheesecake. The Key Lime Pie tastes like key lime pie.
“We have both traditional flavors and very unique ones.”
To find out where you can find the Frios Gourmet Pops truck, follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/friosbarboursville. To book the truck for an event, call 304-417-0618. For company information, visit https://friospops.com/locations/barboursville/.