Small Bites: King of Pops: Asheville all the way

Pop rocks: Gabriella Oviedo operates the Asheville branch of King of Pops — and she now handcrafts most of the ice pops over in the River Arts District using local ingredients. Photo by Mackensy Lunsford

King of Pops, a gourmet ice-pops business whose roots lie in the Atlanta street-food scene, started a branch in Asheville this year. Gabriella Oviedo, who graduated from Georgia State University, moved to Asheville in part because she wanted to bring the brand of frozen, all-natural treats to our streets and farmers markets.

For a while, Oviedo was traveling to Atlanta to gather the handmade pops, including flavors like chocolate and sea salt, ginger-cantaloupe and peaches and cream. Now, she’s making her business into an all-local affair. Oviedo recently opened a small Asheville-based production facility, in the wholesale kitchen of local hummus-maker and caterer Roots, located in the River Arts District. There, she juices locally grown fruits and cuts herbs to make her seasonal pops. Recently she’s developed flavors like watermelon-mojito, blackberry-mint and blueberry-lemongrass.

But don’t expect a fancy, state-of-the-art pops factory, says Oviedo. “I basically just have my Popsicle machine, my immersion blender, a couple of tables, stuff to cut up my fruit and a machine to seal my bags — that’s pretty much it. It’s totally bare-bones, but it’s exactly enough space for what I need for myself and another person to work.”

Oviedo also gets a big smile on her face when she talks about having the opportunity to pick her own berries soon — next week she’ll visit Aardvark Farms in Burnsville where she’ll load up on pesticide-free blueberries. “I’m really excited to pick my own fruit. The only thing better would be if I were growing it myself,” she says. “It’s very rewarding.”

Oviedo says that the only pops that she will not make on her own are those that contain dairy because a special permit is required to process them. The milk used for her dairy-based pops has a 65 percent cream content, “so it’s extra creamy,” she says. The dairy is purchased from a Georgia-based farm that specializes in hormone-free organic milk.

“I could have kept getting all of my pops from Atlanta,” says Oviedo. “But I felt like I was doing a disservice to myself and the community here — a disservice to the people that have supported me.” Oviedo says that, even though the work requires quite a bit more of her time, it’s worth it. “It’s allowing me to be a part of the magic of making the pops,” she says. “Finding the fruit, talking to the farmers, making and selling them to people — being a part of the entire cycle. One of the main reasons that I wanted to move here was the community, and now I feel like I’m able to be a part of the bigger picture.”

Find King of Pops Tuesdays at the West Asheville Tailgate Market, Wednesdays at both the Montford Farmers Market and the French Broad Food Co-op Market, Fridays at the Riceville Market in east Asheville, Sundays at the Greenlife Tailgate Market and Thursday through Sunday on S. Market Street at the edge of Pack Square Park (to benefit all the kids at Splashville).
Find King of Pops Asheville on Facebook, or follow @KingofPopsAVL on Twitter.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

3 thoughts on “Small Bites: King of Pops: Asheville all the way

    • shewhocooks

      What’s that AC-T?

      Anyway I noticed that too.! Some pieces stay constly on the net! while some news about food is not published. For example I wrote to McL. 2 months ago and TWICE, that I discovered a restaurant that serves full Vietnamese food menu on Hendersonville Rd. After my sollecitation email asking why the news was not published at all. McLunsford wrote back with the excuse that the restaurant was not serving only Vietnamese, but also serve Japanese food.!!!!!And that she has the power of publishing what and when…

      I saw news on small bites about a new dishes, new ingredients that certain restaurants add to their menu…….so why this VETO about the news of a second restaurant in town that serves Vietnamese food? especially now that Pho Fusion is closed…

      Cannot help to think that there is certain preferences of the food writer…

  1. Dionysis

    Hey, what gives? My comment (above) was not made in connection with this article.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.