Quality, consistency, and traceability of Fruit Purees essential to success for Pure Pops
When Alice and Georgie first started selling fruit pops at Manly and Bondi farmer’s markets back in 2011, they had no idea the iconic brand that Pure Pops was going to become. The friends, from Sydney’s Northern Beaches, started out making pops in Alice’s apartment in Manly, but demand quickly overran their small production line.
“We went back to basics and used real, raw fruit in our pops. No one else was really doing that, and people just loved it,” said Georgie.
“We sold out most mornings at the markets and people were asking where they could find us in stores. At that point we decided to start wholesaling,” she said.
Alice and Georgie knew they were onto something big in the summer of 2014 when they would turn up to empty freezers at many of their deliveries – Pure Pops were flying off the shelves, and out-selling the big brands.
They were now ready to scale production, which meant a new level of quality control was required. The Berry Man was their trusted supplier for fruit including Kensington Pride mango, strawberries, and raspberries.
“When you go from making 1,000 to 40,000 pops, the sourcing and traceability of the product become just as important as the consistency and quality,” Alice explains.
“Because we are raw, meaning we don’t pasteuriserise our ingredients, we lock in all the natural nutrients. But that also means we don’t have a ‘kill step’ for contaminants, so if some mango came in that was contaminated, we could send out a batch to 10,000 people that was bad.
“If something happens, we need to trace our steps back to make sure the process is air-tight and we can nail down where the contaminant came from. Thankfully we’ve always been able to rely on The Berry Man. We’ve never had an issue with a product, and when we’ve needed to check batches, they’ve always been able to trace everything easy for us,” she said.
All Berry Man products go through a series of tests from picking to packing to ensure they are free from contaminants before they arrive at our warehouse. We use a ‘full batch code’ and ‘best before traceability’ system to track all batches and catalogue testing, so all food safety information is readily available. Should any issues occur, we can quickly isolate the batch and notify all parties in the supply chain, allowing for fast resolution.
Alice and Georgie now have national distribution in their sights and are looking to expand into WA, TAS, and NT soon. The Berry Man will continue to supply them with the highest quality raw fruit ingredients as they expand around the country.
“We are very fussy and particular with our ingredients and need constant availability. We are very lucky to have a supplier who understands that and will work with us. If we need something extra they will always drop it in,” said Georgie.
“Overall the guys at The Berry Man give us excellent service, high-quality fruit, traceability, and really trusted communication. They really know their stuff and are very open to sharing their knowledge and helping people. We really trust them,” she said.
Check them out @ https://www.instagram.com/purepops_icepops/