Young entrepreneurs bring Brazilian Tropical Chill to Mount Forest

A Mount Forest family shares the chill of Brazil with their homemade fruity freezies.

On a hot summer’s day, 11-year-old Julia Baia, along with her younger sister Livia, nine, Ava, six, and three-year-old brother, Judah, can be seen selling cool treats at their popular neighbourhood stand.

The siblings began their business venture in June, something their mother Jennifer believes is a great way to be able to bring the taste of Brazil into their own community.

“My husband is Brazilian. And in January, we visited family in Brazil. I had lived there many years ago, and our oldest was born their too,” Jennifer said.  

“Visiting there in January, we really enjoyed all of the different Brazilian foods.”

A popular cool treat at the beach, or on any corner bus stop in Brazil, one can find a variety of fruity homemade freezies.

“So, we thought maybe we could make our own when we get back home to share with our friends,” Jennifer said.

Jennifer suggested the idea to her children.

“My older girls said, 'Yes, let’s try and see!' We began selling them at the very end of June. Our kids are home-schooled. We were coming up to our last event of the year at our sports co-op. We had a few freezies already, and so we tested them out on our friends,” Jennifer said.

“Then we thought why not see if other kids will enjoy them as much as our friends?”

Aales soon began to soar.

“We thought we might sell 50 freezies in a month, and then wow, It really exploded,” Jennifer said.

In three days, over 100 freezies were sold.

With over 14 flavours to choose from, the popular Brazilian desserts are made with real fruit, are gluten-free, with dairy-free options also available.

The homemade freezies are a sweet treat and a way to get in some extra fruit which naturally boosts the immune system.

“In Brazil, freezies are generally all cream based, but we have a lot of friends who eat dairy-free, so we decided to do both. And it’s a healthier option. We use real fruit. It’s different then your typical sugary freezie," said Jennifer.

Each flavour is made is small batches.

“If we are making passion fruit, we use passion fruit puree and then we have a dairy version as well, which has condensed milk, and milk or a dairy-free version which is passion fruit with a sugar water mixture,” Jennifer said.

Freezie flavours include toasted coconut, tropical chill, passion fruit, guava, chocolate, key lime and mango.

“I like the chocolate and the burnt coconut,” Julia said.

“And my friends really like them. They are all made a different way.”

Julia said what she loves most is selling and sharing her frozen treats with people.

“We are having a busy summer. But we love doing it. I love helping to make freezies and trying them out myself. We have lots of different flavours,” Julia said.

“I think we will sell them this summer and maybe next summer.”

Livia finds the frozen freezie venture is lots of fun.

“I like to try them. That’s my favourite part. I really like the passion fruit and guava. And I have learned how to count money,” Livia said.

Jennifer feels her children have learned a lot since opening day in June.

“It’s just our first year so we’ll see how it goes,” Jennifer said.

“I fill up the freezie sleaves currently. Hopefully this is something my kids can take over. They do know how to put the fruit in the blender and blend them up. They don’t quite tie up the freezie sleeves yet, but that all comes with time.”

As for her younger two children, Jennifer said they too enjoy taking part, when they can.

“All four would say that they participate. The younger two, my three year old, and six year old, aren’t necessarily, but they will hand them to you,” she said.

For anyone interested in a Tropical Fruit freezie, they can visit the Facebook page here, Instagram, or drop by the family Mount Forest freezie stand at home.

Tropical Fruit freezies will also be available at the Mount Forest Fireworks Festival in the Scotia Bank parking lot on July 18 – 21.

“It’s just been fun to see the kids share their Brazilian culture here in our small town. It’s so much fun to be able to interact and share a little bit about where their dad comes from, where there family is from, and things that they like in Brazil,” Jennifer said.

“I did not expect such a great response. We were very surprised, but what a great surprise.”