ONE Year Anniversary Pop

Yep, we are officially ONE!  We started this little adventure a year ago and as we pointed out, have learned a great deal in the past 365 days.  To commemorate one year in business, we designed a special anniversary pop.  We thought a great deal about what flavours to combine to mark the special occasion.  Our roots are tropical in nature so we opted to combine fruits that are grown in KwaZulu Natal and that are available here year round.  It was very tempting to throw a banana in but we opted to go with a delightful mixture of papaya, pineapple and coconut.  So here's ONE, an oh so refreshing pop that will tantalize your taste buds and make you want more.  On that note, with the 32C degree day we've had, I think I'm heading to have ONE myself. 

One Year Ago...

Wow, it's been a year since we started.  Craziness.  Just crazy.  Where has that year disappeared to? We've learned A LOT and I mean A LOT in the past year.  Not just about pureeing and freezing fruit and how long dry ice lasts; but also about people's tastes, people's lack of observation (more on that later) and how funny enough our best market wasn't when it was blazing hot out but rather in the midst of winter (okay okay so Durban has VERY mild winters, but still!).

Here are some observations that we've made.

• Parents like to tell their kids what they'll like and parents often lie to their kids to convince them to choose the flavour that they expect them to like.  It's pretty humourous to watch.
• People LOVE colour.  We have photos at our market stall of our pops -- customers just say they want the "red one".  They aren't interested in knowing what ingredients the "red one" has -- they just want the red one.  Sometimes we don't have a "red one".
• The amount of times we have to recite flavour choices at a market can get old quickly.  Because well, we have bowls with the fruit choice in them and we also have a sign that states our flavours.  Remember what we said about power of observation?  So if you do read this, make sure to look around a bit before you ask a question, because the answer might be right in front of you in various forms. 
• While kids first might say they want a pop and purchase one, the parents usually also fold and have one after they taste how delicious our pops are.  
• Everyone is intrigued by how we keep our pops cold in our coolers. Hello Dry Ice from Dry Ice South Africa in Red Hill.  We love them. We wouldn't be in business without them. 

Some highlights of the year:

• The record "paying" pop eater (we won't disclose how many poptails friends have enjoyed in our pool or what our kids can consume in a day of swimming) was a gentleman at an I heart market.  He came back for FIVE pops.  We gave him the fifth one free.
• There is a cute little two year old boy who clamours for our Talbot (plum and mint) Pop and is a regular customer.  We love that he almost always pays us a visit at both I heart market and Wonder Market.
• Getting quite a few catering orders and inquiries -- pops are always a great addition to any party or event! Our pops even served as palate cleansers for a black tie function with our pops served on dry ice pellets.
• All the positive and negative feedback that we receive from people -- we like to work hard to make our products even better.  
• Having repeat customers come to each market and introduce their friends to our delicious pops.  

Thanks for all the support Durban! It's been an amazing first year and we can't wait to see what the next year has in store for Qhuma Pops. 

The bowls with the fruit choices (plum, peach and watermelon) and see that coveted red pop?

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