We were lucky to catch up with Francisco Sanchez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Francisco, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.
Paco Pops is located in Montgomery County, Porter, TX. As an established local business, we receive many requests for donations. The majority of the donation requests come from local Parent Teacher Organizations seeking support in fundraising for field trips, uniforms, supplies, and or competitions, to name a few. One of the ways we help is by sponsoring a “Spirit Night” – this is an event that is publicized, and on a scheduled date the community comes out and makes a purchase at our shop and leave knowing that Paco Pops will donate a percentage back to the sponsored Spirit Night organization. We have also participated in community events, where we come out with our tent, freezers, and popsicles, and donate back a percentage of the sales to the organization. Paco Pops also makes yearly monetary donations to local sports teams, cheerleading teams, and band clubs.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I grew up in Mexico and was offered an opportunity to work at my aunt’s business making popsicles and ice cream. This is where I developed a passion for the ice cream and popsicle business.
I always had a dream of opening my own ice cream shop and over the years I experimented in the kitchen and handwrote my own personal popsicle and ice cream recipes.
It was not until I suffered a terrible car accident that led me to realizing my dream. While recovering from various surgeries caused by the car accident, I faced the reality that I could not return to my job in construction. I could not meet the demands of the job due to my mobility limitations.
The long months of recovery at home reignited my dream of owning my own ice cream shop and with the help of my spouse we planned, researched, built, and opened Paco Pops.
I am proud to say that to date Paco Pops offers over 80 flavors of ice cream and popsicles all made from scratch. Each popsicle batch is handmade using fresh handpicked and hand cut fruit. You can literally see the chunks of fruit in the popsicles.
In addition, we offer catering and have catered numerous corporate, church socials, birthdays, weddings, and many other events throughout the year. We take our popsicles to the events and serve them. Imagine, having your choice of popsicle dipped in chocolate and topped with your favorite topping such as sprinkles, coconut, pecans, almonds, or crushed Oreos – it’s an experience.
Paco Pops as of late 2021 is now available for local area delivery through a platform called Menufy. Orders may be placed online through our website: www.PacoPops.com
At Paco Pops we also enjoy being creative. Our customers have grown to love our seasonal popsicle flavors. Specially our fall and winter selections like pumpkin pie cheesecake, pumpkin spice, caramel apple, sweet potato, rice pudding, s’more, and hot chocolate.
We also understand our customers have dietary needs and offer vegan, gluten free, and dairy free options.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Paco Pops has been a long journey. It all started when I was a teenager with big dreams. A near death experience catapulted me to not give up on my dream and to open my own ice cream and popsicle shop. I had many fears of failure, but my spouse kept pushing me to make my dream a reality and has always been my strongest active supporter.
I believe my customers are the reason Paco Pops has built such a positive reputation within my local market. Yes, Paco Pops is quality, gourmet, handmade ice cream and popsicles with premium ingredients, but it’s due to my customers word of mouth and online reviews that have brought more customers to the shop who learn about Paco Pops from others who have tried us. We get nearby locals and event those who are well outside the local area. I am always humbled to know that a customer drove almost an hour to visit Paco Pops or that a customer loved our product so much that they purchase large quantities of popsicles to place in a cooler with dry ice in order to take them to their families who are 3 to 4 hours away during a holiday break. You will find that Paco Pops’ customers are like family – it’s an ice cream and popsicle shop that brings people together for conversation with friends and family throughout the year. It’s never work when you truly enjoy what you are doing, and I am proud to know Paco Pops is a reputable and highly recommended ice cream and popsicle shop thanks to our customers.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Paco Pops opened in 2019. In just that year the business faced multiple floodings with one that caused many homes and businesses in the area to flood. It was a very sad and tragic time because many of those homes were flooded a second time, the first-time during Hurricane Harvey. Then in 2020, we faced the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Businesses had to follow local government guidance and protocols that led to a halt of our business operation for several weeks on different intervals. It was a very uncertain and scary time for everyone. Paco Pops was a brand-new business and was not set up for online orders nor curbside pickup. Once businesses were allowed to reopen, with restrictions, Paco Pops had to quickly pivot to a to-go model and operate with limited staff. We scrambled to get supplies because many businesses that we used as supply vendors were shut down or they were open with limited inventory. We also had to write and implement safety protocols for our staff and customers.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pacopops.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pacopops
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pacopops01
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/pacopops1
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/paco-pops-porter