< Back to Main Blog Posted: June 2024

A Visit to Paletas

You hear the word ‘lolly’ and you’ll probably think of those lemonade or cider lollies, sold from the side of ice cream van parked up on a residential street in the sunshine. Well, think again. While most lollies in Britain are essentially frozen fruit squash, in Mexico they are frozen fruit smoothies. When we first tried the lollies from Paletas, a company based in Bristol, we knew we wanted them at COOK.

Paletas was started seven years ago by Sophia, who grew up in California, where she fell in love with Mexican food and culture. After an impressive range of jobs (ask her about the bakery she set up in Nicaragua), she settled in England with her husband. A life-long foodie, she loved the independent suppliers and small food markets she discovered in the South West. When she observed no-one was selling paletas, her husband looked blank and said, ‘What the hell are paletas?’

Sofia started making paletas, Mexican lollies, at home and selling them at a local market. They were an instant hit. The first time someone scoffed that they could make these at home themselves, she was a little offended … before realising, yes, of course they could. That’s the point.

No e-numbers or artificial flavours, and no padding out with apple juice either.

It’s just the fruit in the name of the lolly, sometimes mixed with fresh cream, condensed milk and some sugar.

There’s only five people in the entire Paletas team – Sofia, Alisha, Harry, Hannah and Alice – and during our visit they were making their bestseller: Mango Passionfruit Lime. They zest each lime by hand before juicing them, then blending pieces of mango with the lime juice and zest, adding the passionfruit at the end. The mix is poured into moulds, which are frozen at -20˚ for 20 minutes. Then dipped into warm water to loosen the mould, lollies removed and into the freezer. Finally, each one is put by hand into the packaging (which looks like plastic but is a biodegradable alternative) and labelled. That’s it. Hardly rocket science … but so tasty.

Paletas is a small business, making between 600 and 2,500 lollies a day. The order from us at COOK doubled their production for the year. Not only is it a great to be supporting such a brilliant business, but what a pleasure it is to be introducing so many people to something new and so deliciously simple.

You’ll find seven different Paletas lollies at COOK. Sofia’s favourite, the Blackberry Coco Lime, is a great starting point.

Lick and believe!