Ernie’s Pop Shop is dripping with family heritage.
Owner Rebeca Fong-Reynolds named it after her father, Ernesto, who is known to eat four or five ice popsicles in a single sitting.
“Growing up, a meal was not complete unless there was ice cream at the end,” says Rebeca.
Rebeca’s mother, Carmita, is from Ecuador, a country known for a very specific type of dessert.
“My mom is from a town called Alausi. It’s the second most popular place in Ecuador to get an ice popsicle. The first is Salcedo, and that town has a statue of an ice popsicle at the entrance,” she notes with a laugh.
The proprietary ice cream is “Los Helados de Salcedo,” a layered ice cream bar that is flavored using local produce.
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“We are taking that idea and transplanting it to Western New York,” says Rebeca. “The growing season may be short here, but it produces really great stuff. We want to celebrate that, while also celebrating my culture.”
Ernie’s Pop Shop features ingredients from eight local farms and counting, with popsicles available by order for weekly pickup on Chandler Street or for purchase at the Elmwood-Bidwell Farmers Market every Saturday through November.
The flavors are ever changing and driven by what farmers are growing.
There’s orange cream with oranges from Thorpe’s Organic Family Farms in East Aurora; lemon balm iced tea with lemon balm from Plato Dale Farm in Arcade; hibiscus sourced from Massachusetts Avenue Project in Buffalo; apple cider with apples from Cornerstone Orchards in Youngstown; and more. You can taste your way through Western New York farms without ever leaving the pavement you’re standing on.
Popsicles are the perfect vessel. They are fun, familiar and nostalgic, naturally drawing people in. Rebeca leverages this to not only introduce customers to local producers, but new flavors as well.
“We do traditional Americana flavors, but also South American ones like sweet cream and colada morada,” she says. “Colada morada is a popular drink in Ecuador. We make our ice pop with berries and pineapple then slowly stew with spices and panela” (an unrefined whole cane sugar).
There’s also moringa, a tea that Rebeca’s grandmother drinks every single morning. It has an earthy, even grassy taste, which people may be hesitant to try. But not in this format.
“Popsicles make people adventurous,” says Rebeca. “It invites you out of your comfort zone.”
You can feel good once you’re there, too. Ernie’s Pop Shop doesn’t use any chemical stabilizers or fillers. The ingredients are pure, simple and always listed alongside where they came from (in both English and Spanish) so you know the local agriculture that you’re supporting.
