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Ilen Molina sits outside of Pop Fizz enjoying one of the pallets offered on Aug. 25, 2018. 

Ilen Molina sits outside of Pop Fizz enjoying one of the pallets offered on Aug. 25, 2018. 

Local business Pop Fizz earns national attention

The local paleteria shop Pop Fizz has been featured as one of the 16 businesses across the US in the Food Network’s article highlighting “The Coolest Ice Pop Shops from Coast to Coast.”

“We are honored that our hard work has allowed us to not only support ourselves but be recognized on a regional and national level,” said co-owner Carlos Alvarez.

Pop Fizz is a family owned business that is run and operated by brothers Carlos and Lorenzo Alvarez, alongside their father Rafael who opened the paleteria shop located in the heart of the South Valley on Bridge Boulevard and 4th Street.

“Our father Rafael had just moved to Albuquerque from El Paso, Texas to be closer to all of his kids,” Lorenzo said. “We had grown up close to Mexico, we loved going to paleterias and it had been an idea we had toyed around with for a while.”

Carlos said that their family’s ties to the local community in the South Valley and the fact that the surrounding population is more familiar with what a paleteria is, is the reason for their home location.

“We started in a small shop on the corner of Bridge and Isleta but soon outgrew the location and we were looking to expand,” Carlos said. “We ended up getting an ice cream truck that helped us build more revenue and at the end of 2014 we got the opportunity to move into the NHCC (National Hispanic Cultural Center).”

The commercial kitchen allowed the trio to expand their offerings beyond just paletas and ice cream, so that they could add some unique hot food items like their signature carne asada fries (french fries, topped with seasoned steak, cheese, guacamole, sour cream and chipotle mayo) Carlos said.

“The NHCC was a great help to us and strives to promote Hispanic culture so it was a good fit for our business,” Carlos said.

Pop Fizz brings traditional Mexican paleterias to Albuquerque by having an assortment of paletas in different flavors, such as the mangonada, highlighted in Food Network’s article. You can also try Pop Fizz’s assortment of ice cream tacos, blended shakes and ice cream floats at their home location in the South Valley, their drive-through location in the North Valley or their ice cream truck that has no permanent location.

Carlos and Lorenzo both studied at the University of New Mexico. Carlos studied business with a concentration in finance and Lorenzo studied construction management and engineering.

They said that their studies helped with the start of their business. Carlos focused on the accounting and business development side of things while Lorenzo focused on the project management and construction practices.

“It's good to know the fundamentals of business and have someone who can carry out a project,” Carlos said.

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Pop Fizz will also be having a grand opening for their new production facility in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque on Aug. 31 where they will have free product samples, free mini paletas and giveaways.

This facility will be where their wholesale business and distribution systems will be in place. This will allow Pop Fizz to expand and be able to sell their paletas throughout New Mexico and nearby states. The facility will include a drive-thru where people will be able to purchase paletas.

”We hope to expand our brand beyond Albuquerque with our wholesale business and plan on opening additional retail shops,” Carlos said.

Jonathan Rodriguez is a freelance reporter with the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted by email at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @jayradriguez.

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