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Meet Anthony Fellows of HipPOPs handcrafted awesomeness

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Anthony Fellows.

Anthony, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It was 2011 and I was tired of signing long, expensive leases where I had to personally guaranty the rent and be responsible to open at 10 am. per the Malls rules and have to wait until 2 or 3 pm to sell my first frozen dessert to a guest. I was watching all these self serve frozen yogurt concepts opening and wanted to introduce something fresh and unique. My aunt was on vacation in Italy during this time and experienced a handcrafted gelato on a stick and knew I was interested in developing a new concept in the US. Simultaneously, I was watching the mobile food industry around the country and and believed if I could introduce a premium, small batch, handcrafted, customizable product in a mobile format that It could be awesomeness at its best!! My thought was ” Lets take the POPs to the people, instead of waiting for the people to come to the POPs ” It worked!!! We were able to deliver a healthier frozen dessert option that I could feel good about serving to my kids and our community as we are sourcing locally whenever possible. We have hired locally and our business model is interesting because we have been able to take all of the financial and operational inefficiencies out of the traditional, retail frozen dessert model. I like to call it the “Frozen Dessert Business Reimagined” Around 2014 we were approached by one of the members of the Royal Family of Dubai and after many months of discussions we were able to come to an agreement to bring HipPOPs to the streets of the UAE. The POPtruck is usually parked at Umm Suqeim Beach from 10 am – 6 pm daily. This was a big win for a newly launched, small family business from South Florida. We were the first US based, mobile food company to launch there.

The next few years were a bit challenging as we were actively managing our business day to day and trying to attract the right partners to assist in growing our concept. We always had folks interested in offering to make a capital investment however what we were most interested in was a balance between a capital investment as well as the knowledge and infrastructure to assist in scaling HipPOPs, not an easy feat. Most start ups and micro companies are all searching for this type of partner or company to help them. What I found ( At least in the South Florida market ) was there are way more companies out there than their are partners/companies willing to invest these type of resources to help a start up grow.

Fast forward to 2017, we spent nearly 2 years negotiating with a small group from Denver CO who was interested in bringing the concept out West. We are now in the process of launching HipPOPs Denver in the second quarter of 2020 with the hopes of expansion further if all goes well.

Has it been a smooth road?
Its been an amazing journey over the last 10 years ( Nearly 2 years of R&D and almost 8 years of operating the business ). As with all incredible journeys, the road is not paved with gold and glitter. There have been many highs and some obstacles/ challenges along the way. In the beginning of 2017 while searching for the right partners HipPOPs was chosen out of thousands of businesses to be featured on the Hit CNBC show “The Profit.” Although an interesting experience I came to believe the show was more reality TV rather than building strong partnerships and brands. I learned a lot through that experience however it made me de focus and spend a lot of time working on the episode than on HipPOPs. We ended up not doing a deal and thus allowed us to refocus our efforts on the core of business model. I was able to implement some of the business suggestions I received from Marcus and realized that Marcus became successful because of his efforts, thus making me realize that the only person who is going to make the brand a huge success is going to be me. I had reached out to many folks I know in both the mobile food industry as well as the foodie community in South Florida. What I found was that most folks are busy trying to build their own dreams and companies. I said to myself, “The buck starts and stops with me”. Although it took me nearly 2 years to negotiate the right deal, I believe I waited to have the universe bring the right folks into my life. I just didn’t want to settle and I believe I now have a special team.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the HipPOPs handcrafted awesomeness story. Tell us more about the business.
HipPOPs is dedicated to delivering an innovative, fun, and customizable alternative to typical dessert options, while ensuring that all ingredients are authentic and each experience is memorable. HipPOPs follows the old-world tradition of Italian gelaterias with offerings of handcrafted artisan dessert treats, including gelato, sorbet and frozen yogurt.

Founded on the principle of bringing the highest-quality and healthiest ingredients to the streets of South Florida with a mobile HipPOPs Truck and POPup gelato bars.  The company offers hundreds of customizable variations on its POPs, with an array of delectable dips and POPings. Rich, smooth and made to order. At the core of HipPOPs are all- natural, gluten-free, kosher frozen POPs on a stick that are handcrafted fresh, daily in small batches, just 26 bars at a time, at the company’s micro-creamery in Dania Beach, Florida.

Our proudest moment was being contact and subsequently closing a deal with the Royal Family of Dubai. A family member was interested in bringing a high quality mobile concept from the US to Dubai and as a small start up from Miami and operating less than 2 years this opportunity to do business with a family that could bring any concept from around the world to Dubai meant a lot to our small start up. What we lacked in resources and infrastructure we more than made up with by delivering a fantastic product, branding and level of service.

What sets us apart from most frozen dessert concepts are two things, one being the business model we are committed to. We don’t wait for the people to come to the POPs, we bring the POPs to the people. What this means is that HipPOPs goes to where the action is, we are in a different place each day meeting and connecting with folks from different communities from all over South Florida. With our beautiful POPtruck as a moving advertising billboard and a robust social media program, we are able to connect directly to our guests. The other is the quality of the ingridients that we use in our POPs. We use only a handful of them and they are high quality with no additives, preservatives or dyes. When you bite into one of our POPs together with your favorite dip and amazingly fresh toppings you experience something you just can’t everywhere. Even 7 + years later, each time I bite into a bar the expeience still excites me.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The mobile food industry is still growing and I feel there is always room in the marketplace for high quality food caterers/ vendors no matter what shift is taking place. I definitley am watching the home delivery space and ghost kitchens as a real contender for the consumers dollar, becuase of this so we are currently testing with UBER Eats and Postmates. Alot of retail businesses have taken or currently are taking a hit becuase of certian shifts in the way folks are purchasing goods and what I like about our company is that we have recognized how important it is to control the product and how it is delivered to the consumer. We aren’t relying on any one type of revenue stream, I believe successful companies are doing several things very well each day and are aware of what is going on around them. Being small allows us to pivot when we need to and make those changes so that we arern’t left out in the cold ( no pun intended, lol ).

Pricing:

  • We offer a babyPOP ( Great for kids and big kids too ) for $3.00 ( Incuding 1 dip and 1 topping of the guest’s choice )
  • Traditional POPs are still just $6.00 ( Including up to 2 dips and unlimited toppings of the guest’s choice )
  • Kosher, Gluten Free and Dairy Free Options from $5.00- $6.00 as well.

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