Pickle Juice Order
Pickle Juice Contact
Pickle Juice Comments
Pickle Juice Media
Pickle Juice Wholesale
Pickle Juice Schools





Pickle Pops? No Joke! USDA-Approved for Back to School

By Carol Bengle Gilbert, published Jul 29, 2008
Published Content: 312  Total Views: 383,962  Favorited By: 252 CPs
Contact  Subscribe   Add to Favorites

Rating: 4.0 of 5

Just when you think you've seen everything, someone decides to market pickle pops. Pickle pops? Pickle pops are frozen pops made from pickle juice. Pickle pops are not new; Pickle pops hit the markets in April 2007, but with their January 2008 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approval, this school year is the first in which pickle pops are offered to the back to school lunch menu market. Don't be surprised if pickle pops are on the menu when your child heads back to school next month.

Do you wonder if the CEO at Bob's Pickle Pops, the company that created this green confection, is a 9 year old boy? I did. But when I checked the website for the Texas company, I learned that pickle pops were the invention of a man named John Howard, owner of Outerskate roller skating rink and arcade in Seguin, Texas.

Howard had begun freezing pickle juice at the rink and selling out of it, so he investigated further and developed a market for his new pickle pop confection which he says uses 100% of the pickle.

Pickle pops have proven surprisingly popular with chemotherapy patients whose taste buds often reject sweet tastes during treatment. Less of a surprise, perhaps, pregnant women are said to be enamored of pickle pops.

Having gained USDA approval to market pickle pops in schools, Howard has conducted taste tests among school-aged children and begun a marketing campaign directed at schools. Pickle pops are not cheap, however, selling at $19.95 retail for a box of 20.

The drive to market ever new and different treats does not begin with pickle pops. Numerous other unusual confections, most of which your child likely won't encounter when going back to school, have emerged in the marketplace in recent years:

Lemon Cheesecake Flavored Nestle's KitKat candy bar (limited edition)

Upon hearing of lemon cheesecake KitKats, I investigated further and learned that these unusually flavored candy bars, marketed in Germany and Japan, are not alone. KitKat makes candy bars in curry, cumin and masala flavors.

Chocolate Water

Strathmore Mineral Water Co., Ltd. introduced chocolate water to encourage children to drink more water.


How about a Pickle Pop?

10:00 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 16, 2008

By QUITA CULPEPPER
KVUE News

This summer we're taking a look at products that help you have fun in the sun and beat the heat -- this week’s product originates in South Central Texas.

Popsicles are a great way to beat the stifling heat, but how would your taste buds react to a frozen treat made out of pickle juice?

Say hello to Bob's Pickle Pops! This bizarre taste sensation started in Seguin, and at just 5 calories and no sugar, the frozen pickle juice is said to be a healthy treat.

We took these mouth puckering pops to the Austin Nature Center camp, where the kids were eager to help us do a taste test.

We didn't tell the kids what flavor they'd be testing out. Let's see how our green pickle sickles go over with this crowd.

Judging from their reactions you either love them, or you don’t.

This thing packs a sour blast of icy-cold dill pickle juice -- and to my surprise, it wasn’t bad at all! In fact I kind of liked it!

In the end, it all comes down to what your taste buds like.

It was a split decision on Bob’s Pickle Pops -- thumbs up AND thumbs down.


Last year, Blue Bell held a contest in which ice cream fans submitted flavor names that represented their state’s traditions, and a description of what the flavor would contain. South Carolina resident Jane Hegley won with her submission for Southern Hospitality Ice Cream.

The flavor is made with vanilla ice cream, chunks of pineapple, roasted pecans and a strawberry swirl. Hegley incorporated the pineapple because it’s a symbol of hospitality, and it appears as an architectural and design feature in Charleston’s antebellum homes. The roasted pecans represent the South and the strawberry was added to give the ice cream a dash of color.

Along with Southern Hospitality, the company also introduced Chocolate Extreme. It’s chocolate ice cream with a thick chocolate s wirl, chocolate peanut butter cups and chopped pecans, walnuts and almonds.

Both flavors are wonderful. Southern Hospitality is light and refreshing, and the Chocolate Extreme is, well, extremely chocolatey. Both should be available at many major supermarkets, retailing for $ 5. 50 to $ 6 per container.

PICKLED PLEASURE About a year ago, a skating-rink owner in Texas started selling frozen pickle juice to his patrons, and since then, it’s blossomed into a national business with an item named Bob’s Pickle Pops. They’re made from freshly squeezed pickles, sort of like an apple or orange is pressed to make juice. I’ll admit that the pop sounds a bit odd, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good they are. They’re packaged in plastic tubes you freeze, and then just snip off the top of the tube and enjoy. The Pickle Pops are not available in stores, but through the company’s Web site, www. bobspicklepops. com. You can order 20 pops for $ 19. 95, 40 for $ 28. 95, 60 for $ 38. 95 or 80 for $ 48. 95. And if you’re a fan of spicy stuff, the company recently introduced Hot Pepper Pickle Pops, which sell for the same prices. They are also available to sell for school or club fundraisers. Product suggestions ? Tips ? E-mail rboggs@arkansasonline. com



Pucker up, there's a new frozen vegetable, Pickle Pops

Jim Pfiffer • May 25, 2008

The people at Bob's Pickle Pops are on to something.

They make frozen popsicle-type treats from pickle juice.

Did your mouth just pucker? It's a natural response to ice pops made from pickle brine.

But Bob is for real. He's a green frozen push-up pop in a plastic tube. The package includes a smiling picture of Bob the Pickle on a stick. He appears surprisingly comfortable.

Bob is the creation of John Howard, owner of a roller skating rink and arcade in Seguin, Texas, where he has served frozen pickle juice to customers for years. John decided to take his pickle business national. He now offers a spicy hot jalapeno pickle pop. Hola dill amigos!

I went to Bob's Web site (www.bobspicklepops.com) to request a pickle sickle sample from the media department. It arrived in the mail two days later. I froze it and tasted it. The best way to describe the unique flavor is "I think I'm going to hurl!"

I asked coworkers to taste test the pickle pops. Feedback included: "Looks like pond scum." "Looks like a frozen urine sample." "Get that crap away from me."

One coworker said the pickle pops weren't as bad as expected. Another said "It's interesting. I kind of like it." Still another remarked "It's fun to say pickle pops. It makes you happy. Pickle Pops. Pickle Pops . . ." (This person has been referred to the company's EAP counselor).

Most of us feel that Pickle Pops are a flop. Who's going eat them?

Then it hit me -- kids will eat them. They'll eat anything, especially if it has the "ick" factor.

That's why the Big Cucumbers at Bob's are targeting their pickle publicity at kids. They've hired a PR firm, made T-shirts and even wrote an official pickle song with poignant lyrics like "Well I bet you a nickel that I'm in a pickle." It's bound to be a chart-topper.

Kids are a natural. That's why Bob's creators hope to put frozen pickle juice on New York school lunch menus next year. Kid you not. Pickle Pops are USDA-approved food and already in several Texas schools. They're frozen vegetables.

Marketing it to kids makes sense. They love to eat weird food on a dare. It's part of today's TV reality show culture where contestants eat disgusting things like eyeballs, bugs and Dick Cheney's underwear.

Then there are the kids who will suck down Pickle Pops just to gross out friends who can't stand pickle juice in any form.

Other kids will pucker on pickle pops in wagers.

First kid: "I bet I can eat 50 jalapeno pickle pops in 10 minutes."

Second Kid: "Bet I can stuff 50 jalapeno pickle pops up my nose in 10 minutes."

Don't forget the practical jokers. Nothing makes lunch period more memorable than a frozen pickle pop down someone's pants.

I think Bob and the kids will hit it off big. If the Pickle Pop goes platinum, it could lead to other unusual frozen school treats, like Ron's Ritalin Pops.

A tasty way to keep kids calm, in their seats and paying attention to their pickle pops.

Jim Pfiffer's humor column appears Sundays in Twin Tiers Life.


Frozen treat is a real dilly for those who crave pickles

Sour, salty juice turns into iced refreshment

By Lisa Abraham
Beacon Journal food writer

Published on Wednesday, May 21, 2008

I'm in a pickle.

We all are actually — smack in the middle of International Pickle Week.

The funny thing about this week is that it actually spans 11 days, May 16 to 26.

I have to admire the marketing genius who decided to create an 11-day weeklong celebration for the pickle, of all things.

I love pickles. Of course, if you read this column with any regularity, by now you are probably asking yourself, ''Exactly what food doesn't this woman love?'' There are a few, but I'll save those for another column.

Pickles offer such variety, from the sweetest miniature gherkin to the biggest, fattest kosher dill, and they always seem to round out a sandwich just right. Plus, they're really low fat, which makes them a good diet food.

Because I do like pickles, I was intrigued by a product pitch that came through my
e-mail box for the Pickle Sickle, which was the creation of a Texas roller rink owner.

It seemed to me that if I was going to try out the Pickle Sickle, this was the 11-day week to do it, so I could at once be both international and timely.

Two Pickle Sickles arrived at my desk in a padded envelope, secured inside in a zipper-lock bag. I was surprised. I had been expecting a box with dry ice, but quickly learned that the Pickle Sickle was more like Fla-Vor-Ice than Popsicle. You have to freeze it
and there's no stick.

Since there were two, I took them home, froze them, and then approached my husband with what was sure to be the best offer he would have within this 11-day pickle period. Did he want to taste-test with me?

He wasted no time turning up his nose and declining the offer, thereby ruining his best chance this spring to be as international as his wife.

I cut off the end, pushed the frozen pickle juice up through the plastic sleeve and opened my mouth. It was dill at first lick, followed by sour, salty, and then just icy coolness. Not surprisingly, it tasted just like frozen pickle juice. But it was strangely refreshing and tasty.

I kept wondering about other applications of the pickle pop. Would it quell that 3 p.m. hunger pang that plagues every office worker? Would it refresh after a jog like Gatorade does? Could I find someone to actually take a jog and then try it out for me?

But mostly, I was wondering, who drinks pickle juice?

Apparently a lot of people, especially in Texas, where it's not considered too unusual. It's also a favorite among children, which shouldn't surprise anyone who has looked at the sour flavors of a candy counter lately.

John Howard sold pickles at a Seguin, Texas, roller rink/arcade and started freezing the leftover juice for the kids who skated there. The frozen pickle juice sold out every night, which caused Howard to consider that maybe there was a market for frozen pickle juice. About a year ago, he partnered with Californian David Millar and the Pickle Sickle was born.

Since then Howard has sold his roller rink to focus his full attention on the Pickle Sickle. The pops are made from squeezing whole pickles and recently won the approval of the USDA as a vegetable product for sale in schools.

Nationwide marketing of the Pickle Sickle has begun and it may not be long before they are on store shelves in Ohio. For now though, Internet sales are the only way to get the pops here.

Just like an episode of Barnaby Jones, however, the tale of the Pickle Sickle has an epilogue.

It seems a few months ago, the people from Popsicle had the people from Pickle Sickle in a pickle of their own over the name. They felt that Pickle Sickle sounded just a bit too much like Popsicle and made their case for trademark protection.

Pickle Sickle agreed to change the name of the product to Bob's Pickle Pop.

If you're a pickle person and would like to pucker up to one of these pops, visit http://www.bobspicklepops.com, where they can be ordered for $17.95 for a box of 16.

Until next week, have fun in the kitchen, where hopefully, you won't find yourself in a pickle.

Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.



The Texas Treat With a Juicy Tale

Washington Post: Video
Taste Test: Pickled Pops
The "Pickle Sickle"-- a popsicle made out of frozen pickle juice-- is being marketed to children, so who better to test it out than a bunch of kids?
» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER
By Bonny Wolf
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, March 12, 2008; Page F01

I should not have been surprised. I've spent countless hours at the Minnesota State Fair, and I lived in Texas for seven years. So I'm familiar with deep-fried pickles on a stick and with the independent thinking of the residents of the Lone Star State.

Still, the Pickle Sickle caught me off guard. An ice pop made of frozen pickle juice doesn't sound like something people would be clamoring for. Then again, in an era when candy companies compete for bragging rights over whose flavor is the sourest, perhaps the appeal of a little pucker power makes sense.

Sure enough, Pickle Sickles are selling at the rate of about 20,000 a month, mostly through the Internet. Who knew?

John Howard knew, but that's because he created them. Though the degree of popularity has surprised him, Howard, 43, knew he was on to something when he began freezing leftover jarred pickle juice at his roller skating rink and arcade in Seguin, Texas, a year ago.

The Web site for the Pickle Sickle plays up the product's "bizarre" and "crazy" aspects, but the idea actually isn't so strange. People in that part of the state -- Seguin is about 35 miles from San Antonio -- have always drunk pickle juice. "There are a lot of closet pickle drinkers in South Texas," Howard says. "We're trying to get everyone out of the closet."

At trade shows, he says, people -- generally over 50 -- tell him they used to drink big swigs of pickle juice out of jars when they were kids. "Their moms would hit them over the head to get them to stop," he says.

But freezing it? Howard got the idea from his daughter-in-law. She had eaten the frozen stuff as a child at church camp, where the counselors put the juice in ice cube trays with toothpicks.

He was already selling pickles at the roller rink's snack bar, so he started to freeze his leftover pickle juice -- really the brine from the pickle jars -- and sell that, too. "We sold 200 to 300 every Friday and Saturday night," he says. Then they began to run out of pickle juice.

Because they think big in Texas, Howard got a "giant hydraulic press" last October to process the pickles. "We're the first to squeeze our own pickle juice," he says. They squeeze about 10 gallons -- about 150 pickles -- at a time and have nothing left at the end but the skins. No more leftover brine: Pickle Sickles are made only from freshly pressed pickles.

At the roller rink, 9- to 16-year-olds were the main Pickle Sickle customers. But older people like pickle juice, too. A Pickle Sickle rep in Southern California is trying to sell the product to assisted-living communities. "We have a weird demographic," Howard says. "It's either kids or people 50 and above."

And pregnant women, naturally. (Pickles and ice cream. Think about it.)

There are now two flavors: original and jalapeño. The original tastes just like a pickle. The jalapeño nearly took my head off. My 96-year-old father liked both.

They tried cherry and lemon-lime at the rink but haven't yet put them on the market. "The kids loved the salty, vinegary cherry concoction," Howard says, but he prefers jalapeño.

As he started to promote Pickle Sickles nationally, Howard got out of the roller rink business. "I just didn't have time to do both anymore," he says. Before buying the rink, Howard was a plumber. "I'm still trying to find my niche," he says.

If purchased through the Internet (a box of 16 is $17.95 at http://www.picklesickle.com), the two-ounce packets come unfrozen and are shelf stable for six months. You just put them in the freezer. Howard says some people drink the unfrozen juice out of the package.

There's a good possibility Pickle Sickles will be on ice cream trucks from New England to New Jersey this summer, Howard says. Outside of Texas, that is the area where Pickle Sickles have become most popular. Go figure.

Besides on the Internet, Pickle Sickles sell through booster clubs, at H-E-B (Here Everything's Better) markets throughout Texas and in some schools. Yes, schools: six in Texas and one in Oklahoma.

In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the sale of Pickle Sickles in schools. Because, wouldn't you know it, Pickle Sickles are a health food. The frozen pickle pops, advertised as "a healthy alternative to sugary frozen pops," are fat-free and contain less than one gram of sugar. A Pickle Sickle has only three calories. The pickle pop promoters tout other health benefits. They quote an Arizona State University study showing that vinegar, such as that used in pickling, combats insulin spikes after a high-carb meal -- useful information for diabetics. They also claim that pickling spices fight bacteria.

Carol Johnston, chairwoman of the department of nutrition at Arizona State University and author of the study, has never eaten a Pickle Sickle. But researchers there have given them to study participants to test the insulin effect, and "it looks like it's working," she says. Although more data analysis is necessary, she says, frozen pickle juice may be a good way to get people to eat their vinegar.

Which brings us to the so-called pickle juice game. In 2000, the Philadelphia Eagles played the Dallas Cowboys in the season opener in Dallas. The temperature was well over 100 degrees. The Eagles, however, appeared surprisingly refreshed and whomped the Cowboys, 41-14.

Some credit for their victory was given to the pickle juice their trainer had them drink to stay hydrated and avoid cramps. Since then, pickle juice drinks have appeared on the market as sports aids. Proving that you can't fool a Texan twice, one juice is endorsed by Cowboys tight end Jason Witten.

As food, pickle juice is good in just about everything, Howard says. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it's true that many Southern potato salad recipes call for it. My mother always saved the juice in the pickle jar and added cut-up carrots, celery sticks, cucumbers and other raw vegetables. After a couple of days of marinating they tasted pretty good.

I've heard that pickle juice makes a good marinade for meat, improves bottled barbecue sauce, is nice in gazpacho and spices up a bloody mary. I've also been told it's good for a hangover and for azalea bushes.

Howard recommends adding pickle juice to martinis, which makes sense, since a dirty martini calls for olive brine. Howard even cooks with pickle juice, making dishes such as his pickle pop lemon-dill chicken: chicken breast, a two-ounce unfrozen pickle pop (to deglaze the pan), fresh-squeezed lemon juice, fresh dill and butter. Capers are optional.

The briny nectar by itself, of course, is the purest expression of the form. But if it tastes exactly like a dill pickle, why go to the trouble of freezing pickle juice? "Because it's a heckuva lot more fun to do it our way," Howard says.

Bonny Wolf, host of NPR's "Kitchen Window" podcast and author of "Talking With My Mouth Full," can be reached at food@washpost.com.



Pickles, Deconstructed and Frozen

By FLORENCE FABRICANT
Published: March 12, 2008

Texas, the land of oddities like mesquite jelly, also has a passion for pickle juice. You can even buy snow cones drizzled with the briny liquid (they’re refreshing).

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Now, John Howard, an entrepreneur in Seguin, near San Antonio, has introduced Pickle Sickle, a k a Bob’s Pickle Pops, made from fresh-squeezed pickles as well as the brine.

The pickle pops are shipped unfrozen and should be put in the freezer overnight. To eat, cut a slit in the top and suck out the juice.


A la carte: All in a pickle over frozen sour pops

By Aleta Watson
Mercury News
Article Launched: 05/14/2008 01:33:45 AM PDT

Did you know that International Pickle Week starts Friday?

Of course, there are weeks devoted to just about anything you can imagine, but this one is the perfect excuse to write about one of the oddest food items ever to arrive in the Food and Wine department's mailboxes. We're talking Bob's Pickle Pops, ice pops made with - believe it or not - sour pickle juice.

Thank the Internet for making these chilly, mouth-puckering treats a national curiosity. Created at a South Texas roller skating rink last year, they've spread across the Lone Star State, and are now available to pickle fanatics everywhere through www.bobspicklepops.com.

John Howard began making the pops by freezing leftover juice from pickles he sold at his rink and arcade in Seguin, Texas. They proved so popular that he began squeezing whole dills in a hydraulic press to make more juice. Then he got out of the skating business altogether to sell his pickle-sicles full time.

Now, I like pickles well enough. I always eat the dill spear that comes with sandwiches in the company cafeteria. But pure dill pickle juice is more vinegar and spice than I can handle. I couldn't find any takers, either, until I wandered into the newspaper's library the other day. There I ran into a true pickle addict who happily took the pops off my hands. I last saw her slurping away on a pale green stick of ice.

It just goes to show, one person's culinary oddity is another's cherished treat.

It's sour. It's salty. It's frozen. It's a Pickle-Pop.

Web Posted: 03/28/2008 09:08 PM CDT

Roger Croteau
San Antonio Express-News Staff Writer

SEGUIN — Concession stands at Little League and football games and a few paleterías have sold frozen pickle brine for years. It's an unusual treat, but not unheard of in this part of Texas.

But now, John Howard is taking the idea nationwide with his Bob's Pickle Pops, and the idea is catching on. He's already selling about 20,000 pops a month to schools, school booster clubs, a fleet of ice cream trucks in the Northeast and at H-E-B Central Markets.

And with a monthlong test sale coming up at Six Flags in Dallas and the Dallas Zoo, and negotiations taking place with an 180-location convenience store chain and a big-box retailer, sales really could take off.

John and his wife, Kim, are the former owners of Outer Skate skating rink in Seguin.

"I got the idea from my daughter-in-law," John Howard said. "I'd never really heard of it. We sold pickles at the skate rink, and so we threw it up on the menu board and we started selling them like crazy."

John and Kim Howard of Seguin have a hit on their hands with the sour and salty frozen Pickle-Sickle. They squeeze pickles in an apple press, add pickle brine and other ingredients, and then freeze. They sell about 20,000 a month and are expanding their business nationwide.

That was just about a year ago. At first, they made the pops by hand at the rink. But they've since sold the rink and contracted with a Dallas-area manufacturer to make the sour, salty frozen treats.

And they've changed the recipe. At first, it was simply frozen pickle brine. But now, they squeeze pickles in an apple press and mix them with a little brine and some other ingredients.

"We use the whole pickle," Kim Howard said. "Squeezing the pickles made it a whole lot better. You get the taste of real pickles. A lot of people are really hesitant about it, but it tastes just like a dill pickle. I say 'If you like pickles, you'll like a Pickle-Sickle.'"

"The idea has been around for a long time, but nobody's been brave enough to do it in a big way," John Howard said. "It kind of flew under the radar for manufacturers. We're selling close to 20,000 of them a month, and we haven't scratched the surface."

At just three calories each and no fat at all, the pops have been accepted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for sale at public school cafeterias.

John and Kim Howard offer Pickle-Sickles in two flavors: traditional dill pickle and a jalapeño-spiked version.

"They are not going to sell at the opera. Our target market is anywhere there are kids," John Howard said. "At the skate rink, we sold more of these than we did candy. Every time we sell them at a football game, we sell a couple of hundred."

But adults seem to like pickle pops, too.

"A lot of adults tell me they would drink the juice out of pickle jars when they were kids and their mom would smack them in the head," Kim Howard said.

In addition to the traditional dill pickle pop, they also sell a jalapeño-spiked version. But the traditional pickle pop outsells the jalapeño version about seven to one.

In an unscientific taste test, the San Antonio Express-News gave away a few pops for people to try.

Victoria Morris, 13, had tried frozen pickle brine, sold in tiny cups at ZDT's Entertainment Center in Seguin. She said the pickle pop version, made with the whole pickle, is even better, giving it a nine on a scale of one to 10.

"It's good," she said. "It's pickly and it's cold."

Eleven-year-old Michael Phillips said the pickle pops are perfect for him because he likes pickles, but spits out the pickle skin.

"It's like eating a pickle without the skin," he said. "A lot of my friends would kill to have one of these."

Even adult Lori Malinowski had a favorable reaction. She remembered when she went to school, she would pay an extra 10 cents at "field day" to have pickle brine poured over a grape or cherry snow cone.

"Oh wow," she said, as she tasted a pickle pop. "That tastes just like a pickle does. It would be good with a hot dog in the summer."

rcroteau@express-news.net



These popsicles meant for sour tooths

Chicago Sun Times

April 16, 2008

BY LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporter / ldonovan@suntimes.com

Pucker up, folks. The dill pickle has met the juicer.

If you grew up in the South, or a pickle drink is offered at your Little League concession stand, or you were the one who loved polishing off the tart vinegary green liquid left in those potbelly glass pickle jars, then the Pickle Pop-- made with everything but the skin -- might be the greatest invention yet.

Packaged in those narrow clear-plastic sleeves used for frozen juice pops, the frozen pickle juice snacks are the latest in Internet grocery shopping.

And if the Texas company that put them on the market has its way (it is trying to strike a distribution deal with a certain chain movie rental store), the pickle pops will be hitting the Chicago area in the coming months.

Bobs Pickle Pop co-founder John Howard invented the treat after serving up frozen pickle juice slushies to customers at his Outerskate roller skating rink and arcade in Seguin, Texas. Sales were so good that he set up a stand outside the rink to sell the refreshing treat.

Today, the roller rink is but a memory, and his pickle pops come in a jalapeno flavor, with more flavors likely to come.

A large-scale apple press crushes whole pickles to make the frozen pickle pops.

"Everything but the skin goes in" to the Bobs Pickle Pop, Howard says. "Even the seeds get crushed in there."

A two-ounce packet has less than three calories, no added sugar and zero fat.

"They're as salty as a regular pickle," he says.

While the treat is aimed at kids, Howard knows very well that they might appeal to adults. You know, like expectant mothers.

He says athletes order them because they're good for rehydrating on, say, a long run.

And then there are the over-20 recipes. Mix it with vodka for a little punch, or add it to a Bloody Mary. Perhaps there's room on the bar for a pickletini?



Frozen pickle popsicles an unusually good treat?

BY PHILIP POTEMPA ppotempa@nwitimes.com 219.852.4327 | Tuesday, April 29, 2008 | No comments posted.

Pucker up

A few images come to mind about the pop culture appeal of pickles.

Growing up, whenever I thought about pickles (at least as they were portrayed on television), I would always think of the commercials for Vlasic Pickles.

First created and sold in Detroit by Polish immigrant Frank Vlasic, and then his son Joe back in the 1920s, the company began using a mascot by the late 1960s, which still is used today, in the form of a child-bearing stork who sounded just like Groucho Marx.

The ad campaign tapped into the idea that pregnant women crave pickles, and this was right at the time of the post-war baby boom.

The company even marketed itself as "the pickle pregnant women crave ... after all, who's a better pickle expert?"

By the late 1970s, the Vlasic stork commercials used a short-lived new theme: "With the birth rate down, I deliver Vlasic pickles instead."

And next came the Vlasic storm commercial I remember best. Animated images of various pickle customers crunching into a crisp Vlasic pickle and then suddenly possessed by the spirt of Groucho, they would hold the pickle up to their lips like the comedian's famed cigar, reciting in his familiar voice: "Now that's the best-tasting pickle I ever heard!"

The other lasting impression I have of pickles is an old 1961 black and white episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" when Aunt Bee is determined to enter her lousy canned pickles in the county fair blue ribbon competition. No one wants to be the one to tell her how awful her pickles are, and in one classic scene, even a pesky fly that lands on a pickle dies after one sniff.

But for true pickle-lovers, I've stumbled on something that's brand new and trendy for summer.

It's an increasingly popular novelty snack treat that may sound a bit hard to swallow: Bob's Pickle Pops.

Said to be growing in popularity nationally, these frozen pickle-pop treats are described as providing unexpected health benefits for kids, adults and seniors alike.

These uniquely packaged frozen treats are made, not just from the brine left over from pickling, but also from freshly squeezed pickles, much like an apple or orange is pressed.

"We use 100 percent of the pickle," said Bob's Pickle Pops Co-Founder David Millar.

"We realize it is hard to imagine that someone thought of the idea of creating a frozen treat made from pickle juice, but once people try them they are hooked, and we are happy to supply them with this refreshing treat."

The pickle pops were created by John Howard, owner of Outerskate roller skating rink and arcade in Seguin, Texas. He has been freezing pickle juice for the kids and adults for years at his rink and would sell out every night. Surprised by the sales, he decided there was a market worth investigating.

The company, which also is now trying to create jalapeno-flavored pickle pops, says it is also catering to the cravings of expectant mothers with this unique sour snack.

Apparently, a recent study revealed that pickles blunted the blood-sugar spike by as much as 30 percent after a high-carb meal, making this a good snack for diabetics, too. Studies also revealed that vinegar, much like that used in the pickling process, provides a balancing benefit to combat harmful insulin spikes.

The spices used in pickling also are said to be healthful. Pickling ingredients such as garlic and dill help control the growth of unhealthful bacteria in the body. And many other spices involved in pickling have been known to have wide-ranging health properties as well.

Bob's Pickle Pops have no fat and have less than 1 gram of sugar.

Bob's Pickle Pops come in packages of 16 and sell for $17.95 including shipping, available online at www.bobspicklepops.com.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at ppotempa@nwitimes.com or 219.852.4327.




Mmm, the Pickle Pop


By Ken Sury | Tuesday, April 8, 2008, 10:32 AM

So, do you enjoy popsicles that taste like vegetables? Well, the Trib’s latest “In Like Quinn” video with staff reporter Erin Quinn premieres today here as she tries out the new frozen confection known as the Bobs Pickle Pop with a few students at Hillcrest Professional Development School.

Pickle Sickle. Even the name makes my mouth twitch, but not in anticipation.



Pucker up for a taste of Pickle Pops

Dayna Harpster • dharpster@news-press.com • April 9, 2008

When the pickle sickles arrived in a hand-addressed bubble envelope from Seguin, Texas, we put them in the freezer in The News-Press cafeteria.

And we left them there for three weeks.

The truth is, we had ordered them for a taste test, and, well, things just kept coming up. Our meeting agendas were full. Somebody brought chocolate back from a vacation and pickle juice just didn't go with it.

But then the cafeteria manager nicely reminded us we'd "forgotten" them.

The biggest surprise of all was that three out of the six of us who tried them thought they were mighty good.

Don't count me in that number: Besides some jalapeno cookies about 10 years ago, it was the only thing I've had to spit out since childhood.

But I soon questioned my culinary sensibilities. The News-Press food writer Drew Sterwald thought they were unexpectedly fine. Former Army cook Byron Stout gave his thumbs-up as well, happily adding that the pickle sickle would count as zero on his Weight Watchers program. Amy Bennett Williams, who's no slouch of a cook herself, imagined how pretty and popular the frozen pickle juice would be if served sorbet-style in an attractive little crock.

According to the Pickle Pops people, their concoction is a source of vitamin A, iron, potassium and manganese. They also include 18 essential amino acids and six essential minerals.

In January, the U.S.D.A. gave its rubber stamp to Bob's Pickle Pops for serving in schools nationwide.

How they pair with white milk remains to be seen.



Pucker up

By NATALIE MIKLES World Scene Writer Tulsa World News
3/25/2008

Frozen pickle juice is proving a hot seller

When we heard about a guy in Texas selling pickle-flavored ice pops, we had to find out if he was for real.

In fact, he was. Co-owner David Millar's Bobs Pickle Pops, made from fresh-squeezed pickles and their brine, are shipped all over the country. Some genuinely like the frozen pickle juice -- others buy them simply for the gross-out factor.

Bobs Pickle Pops were created by John Howard, who owned a roller skating rink and arcade in Seguin, Texas. Howard froze the leftover juice from the pickles he sold at the rink, and began selling them as pickle ice pops to kids and adults. They were a sell-out every night.

Millar knows it sounds weird, but he says most people, at least those who like pickles, like the Bobs Pickle Pops.

"Once people try them they are hooked," he said.

Kids are top customers, but another group Millar didn't expect to attract is pregnant women.

The pickle pops come in packages of 16 and sell for $17.95, including shipping. The pops are shipped unfrozen, and can be put in the freezer upon arrival.


Dill Will Set You Free

By Kellyn Brown, 03-12-08 Montana Beacon

Many tastes, I’m convinced, are inherited. I still have a hard time with tomatoes unless they are first puréed. The aversion to both the flavor and (more so) the texture was passed down from my tomato-hating father. Seafood that still resembles its life self, such as calamari, is also a turnoff – also inherited. But I’m still willing to try new things, because all the people sucking on frozen pickle juice can’t all have vulgar palates.

John Howard, a South Texan, got the idea to freeze pickle juice from his daughter-in-law. She was sucking on pickle ice cubes at church camp. So Howard began selling the simple concoction at his roller rink. When the unusual popsicles began selling out, Howard bought a hydraulic press to make more, left the rink and launched “Bobs Pickle Pop.”

“There are a lot of closet pickle drinkers in South Texas,” Howard told the Washington Post. “We’re trying to get everyone out of the closet.”

Many are already out. Howard sells about 20,000 Bobs Pickle Pops each month. And the snack has received decent reviews. The New York Times called them “refreshing.” Emeril, the famous chef known for “bam!”-ming food, says “sign me up.” And the Post has a great video on its Web site showing children’s first impression of the product. One boy sucks the sickle so fast he whines, “I have a brain freeze!”

It’s a long journey from South Texas to Montana, but I hope the pickle pops make their way north so I don’t have to go through the trouble of freezing my own. At least seven schools are selling the product so they must have some mainstream appeal.

The trick to uncomfortable food, I think, is to dive right in before someone influences your taste. After all, a palate shouldn’t be cleared until it’s first filled. Since pickle juice is credited with everything from fighting bacteria to curing hangovers – be sure to force it on your children without being presumptive. The dill will set you free.



A pickle pop?

By Jan Norris

Palm Beach Post Food Editor

Thursday, February 28, 2008

For every food, there's somebody out there who dreams up a new way to use it. Deep-fried Twinkies ring a bell?

Here's the latest: the Bobs Pickle Pops.

It's frozen pickle juice on a stick. And (we love this line), they're made from "freshly squeezed pickles."

John Howard, a Texas roller-skating-rink owner, had been freezing pickle juice for his skaters and sold out of the stuff every night. (We repeat: Texas.) He decided there must be a market out there for frozen pickle juice, and the Bobs Pickle Pop was born.

Speaking of being born, one of the target buyers outside of skating kids is expectant mothers. (The Bobs Pickle Pop kills two common cravings with one stick — pickles and frozen things.)

Co-founder David Millar, working out of Seguin, Texas, says they use 100 percent of the pickle, including the brine, to create the Bobs Pickle Pop. But it's not all a sour story with only dills. Flavored Bobs Pickle Pop come in cherry and lemon-lime, which also have "proven to be very popular," Millar says.

The makers are jumping on the healthy-snack food bandwagon, too: They quote a recent study that showed that the vinegar in pickles blunted the blood-sugar spike after a high-carb meal by as much as 30 percent, making it beneficial to diabetics and others with insulin issues. More research is planned, no doubt, for the actual Bobs Pickle Pop.



New food review: makers show they are keen to be green

25th February 2008

By Food Business Review Staff Writer

This month's review of new products on the Productscan database reveals a move towards all things green. Three healthy snacks have been launched to market that are green in color, which emphasizes their healthiness while helping them to stand out from the crowd. With healthier foods continuing to be of paramount importance to a growing number of consumers, this green theme could well catch on.

An unusual new snack targeted at children has been introduced in the US by Bobs Pickle Pop.com. The Pickle Pop is a frozen sour-tasting popsicle that is made out of pickle juice. The product originates from Texas and is marketed as a healthier alternative to sugary frozen pops. The company admits that this sounds like a strange idea for a new kids' snack, but claims it is 'very addictive' once tried, calling it a 'mouth watering, temperature lowering treat'. This product capitalizes on the health trend that is now in full swing in the US with a novel format.

Another green, healthy snack has been launched in Vietnam by Cocoaland Industry. Rotong Green Pea Sticks are claimed to be made with green peas and other natural ingredients and to be free of fat. This sounds like an unusual new way to eat vegetables or maybe include more of them in the diet.

Continuing with the green theme, Wasabi Covered Himalania Goji Berries have been introduced in the US by BrainStorm and are touted as being a 'unique healthy snack'. Although dried goji berries have been launched on the market in a snack format before, it is unusual to find them coated in wasabi, as is the case here. The company claims that the snack has a sweet and spicy flavor due to the combination of dried gogi and the 'hot crunch' of the wasabi. It is also said to contain lots of good-for-you nutrients such as vitamin C and B vitamins.

A LA CARTER-NEWSDAY

Pickle pops for puckery pleasures

Sylvia Carter | A La Carter

February 27, 2008

There's a lot to worry about in this world, foodwise and otherwise, big and small. On the food front alone, think of these: possible "mad" cows, ground beef recalls, contaminated lettuce, mercury in fish, hormones in milk. Every day seems to bring a new headache, or a possible tummy ache.

Pickles seem pretty safe. After all, they are preserved in brine. As I write these words, will there be a cucumber recall somewhere? Somehow, I don't think so.

In the tenacious, last cold days of winter, Bobs Pickle Pops have come along to amuse and delight. Trust a Texan by the name of John Howard to think of freezing what you might call the freshly squeezed juice of pickles (it's not just the juice, but the crushed pickles themselves) and making pickle pops out of it. The Pickle Pops, which push up out of the wrapper, are shelf stable, which makes them an especially handy snack. There is even a link to a zany song about them, "The Pickle Song" by Duncan Wells at Bobs Pickle Pops.com, if you'd like to sing along.

You could even think of Pickle pops as a health food. Hey, I do. A study at Lund University in Sweden has indicated that vinegar, which is part of the brine for pickles used in the product, blunted the blood-sugar spike by as much as 30 percent after a high-carb meal. And ingredients such as garlic and dill, used in pickles, seem to help control the growth of unhealthful bacteria in the body.

This is a fat-free food

(3 calories to a 2-ounce pop), with only a smidgen of naturally occurring sugar (less than 1 gram to a Pickle Pop). Last month, the USDA accepted Bobs Pickle Pops for use in schools, where they are proving popular. They are available for school fund-raising activities, too.

Pregnant women, it goes without saying, are a huge potential market.

People (make that people in Texas) have been freezing pickle juice at home (the words pickle sickle, not trademarked, can be found at urbandictionary .com) for years. But it was Howard, former owner of Outerskate roller rink and arcade in Seguin, Texas, who popularized the mildly puckery pops, which taste mostly of salt with only mild hints of dill and garlic. Every night at the rink, to his surprise, he'd sell out of the refreshing homemade pickle treats. So a lightbulb went on over his head, so to speak, and he explored a larger market.

Howard describes himself as "43, with the heart of a 12-year-old." But he is not too young at heart to be attracted to the idea of a lime-flavored pickle with the taste of an alcohol-free margarita; he's working on that.

Now, an animated character by the name of Hot Pepper Pickle Javier has joined the original animated character Bob (as in Bob's Pickle Pops), on the Web site with a jalapeño-spiked pop. Bob and Javier are imaginary, so I asked John why he didn't just use his own name, but he said he is wild about the imaginary characters, designed by animator Victor Guiza.

The idea of frozen pickles is not so bizarre in hot climates. In New Mexico, I've had papaya-chile pops and other salty, savory flavors.

Pickles used to be taken on ships to help prevent scurvy, though I notice the amount of vitamin C in a Bobs Pickle Pop is slight, so you would have to eat a great many.

My family in the Midwest never thought of freezing pickle juice, more's the pity, but we relied on pickles to enliven our sustaining but somewhat dull winter suppers of meat, potatoes and white beans.

As Wells' song goes, "Oh, I'm in a pickle. . . . "

E-mail: sylviacarter@optonline.net

Ad Track: With Oscars a go, marketers feel like winners

By Laura Petrecca, USA TODAY
The end of the TV writers' strike cleared the way for the Oscars, so marketers that had hitched their wagons to the stars are breathing sighs of relief.

The Academy Awards are a massive marketing stage, and not just for companies that shelled out an average $1.8 million for each 30 seconds of commercial time in the ABC telecast on Sunday. It is a prime opportunity to generate buzz before and after the awards are handed out as well.

"The Oscars are a significant event," says Jon Swallen, senior vice president of research at TNS Media Intelligence. "There's a lot of collateral advertising beyond the broadcast."

Marketers were on edge as the three-month strike dragged on and it appeared increasingly likely the Oscars would suffer the same truncated fate as the Golden Globes. In January, the Globes imploded from an extravaganza of glitz to a lame "news conference" because of the conflict between the Writers Guild of America and studios, and stars' refusal to cross picket lines.

Beyond marketers who use in-show ads to launch campaigns, products and contests, there are a host of others that don't buy ad time — from magazines such as People and Entertainment Weekly to fashion designers who get their creations seen on the red carpet — but have products and tie-ins that depend on the event's hoopla.

"Having the awards go forward in their usual format is a victory for more than just ABC and ABC's advertisers," Swallen says.

But one ABC advertiser had more riding on the broadcast than most marketers: Unilever's (UN) Dove brand.

Looking to capitalize on the fact that the Oscars' about 40 million viewers are typically 60% female, Dove built an online contest to promote its Cream Oil Body Wash that was to climax with voting by the show's viewers.

Dove asked women to upload their own body-wash commercials at dovecreamoil.com. It got more than 3,500 entries, which were cut to five semifinalists. The top two, decided through online and in-house voting, will air early in the Oscars show. Viewers can then vote via text message or at Oscar.com. The winner will be announced in a later ad break.

"We've been watching the strike quite closely," says Dove marketing director Kathy O'Brien.

Another Unilever brand, Bertolli, also has a big Oscar-related contest. In its ad in the show, celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito asks consumers to submit videos at BertolliNightsIn.com that describe a romantic night at home. Bertolli will turn the winner's story into a short movie that will get a movie theater premiere.

Bertolli sees the show as an ideal ad venue, since it is a must-see live TV event, says senior marketing director Brian Manning. "The Oscars is one of those rare nights when people make an appointment to stay in and watch television."

Others looking for star power:

Makes us green.

Just when you thought it was safe to reach way back in the freezer and pull out something cold to eat, along comes the Bobs Pickle Pops.

Yup. A frozen treat made from 100% pickle juice. "We realize it is hard to imagine," concedes David Millar, co-founder of Bobs Pickle Pops. "But once people try them, they are hooked."

The company is even offering Bobs Pickle Pops flavored with cherry and lemon-lime. Can't wait to pucker up? You can order a pack of 16 for $17.95 at www.Bobs Pickle Pops.com. No, pregnant women don't get a discount

Contributing: Theresa Howard and Bruce Horovitz

Seguin Man's Pickle Pops Pack a Healthy Punch

By Jennifer Litz
Editor San Angelo Live
February 12, 2008

The Bobs Pickle Pop—a frozen, pureed pickle pop—is all the food rage. Stuff Magazine staff requested some samples to feature in their November issue. Central Market has started carrying the product all across Texas. The sickles are headed to Dallas’ zoo and Six Flags next, as well as the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.

Most importantly, Bobs Pickle Pop proprietor John Howard has recently gotten USDA approval to distribute his pops to schools across America. He already has some in Seguin schools.

Howard is a retired plumber. He now owns a skating rink in Seguin. That rink was the incubator for his product.

“I got the idea from my daughter in law, who used to eat frozen pickle juice pops a long time ago in church day summer camps,” Howard says. “And there’s always been a few people around who have fundraisers. We started selling them in our skating rink, and they started selling like crazy . . . I just had to figure out how to package them.”

Economies of scale dictated that Howard not use pickle juice for his sickles. “The way people have made them in the past is take leftover juice in jar,” Howard says. “We couldn’t keep that up, we were selling too many—we started buying pickles and running them through a juice presser. So we got all the nutrients out of cucumber by doing it that way. So [the pops] are actually squeezed pickle juice—like with apple or orange juice, same principle.”

The pops are also supposed to be as healthy as—maybe even healthier than—fresh-squeezed apple or orange juice, if you’re to believe the latest research.

Dr. Carol Johnston is chair of Arizona State University’s Department of Nutrition. Her work with high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets to regulate diabetics’ blood sugar led her to Bobs Pickle Pops.

Johnston is currently conducting studies with the Bobs Pickle Pop and sugar-free, Splenda-sweetened popsicles to see which are better at helping diabetics maintain healthy blood sugar levels. “Participants will consume each sickle two weeks in between meals; we’re looking to see how it affects glycemia,” Johnston says.

Johnston has done extensive research on the health benefits of vinegar, especially concerning its ability to regulate blood sugar. Bobs Pickle Pops, of course, contain a good amount of vinegar, coming from pureed pickles.

“The vinegar does seem to help diabetics manage [their blood sugar] . . . it helps with glucose,” Johnston says. “One of the problems diabetics have is that after they eat, the glucose goes in their bloodstream and it’s elevated for a while. That is linked with later risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke. So anything that can help the diabetic keep those levels down will be beneficial.”

Previous research and Johnston’s to-date test results have recommended that vinegar helps maintain steady glucose levels. She cites Swedish studies that further bolster vinegar’s benefits: It has a satiating effect. “It might somehow turn off the desire to eat,” she says.

And as for the salt? Howard says he got the popsicles’ sodium content down to about half that of a regular pickle, about 245 milligrams for a 2 oz. serving. “We were able to get the salt down quite a bit,” Howard says. “But if you know you can’t eat a dill pickle because of the sodium, you probably shouldn’t eat these either. But we actually have kids who will pour Lucas on them . . .”

Johnston says the salt content isn’t as high as one might think. She offers some comparative snacks that have comparative or higher amounts of sodium. “Life Cereal has 220 milligrams of salt per serving,” she says. “Grape Nuts has 396. And the recommendations are less than 2400 milligrams per day.”

This all seems like good news for ever-expanding school-age kids who may soon find a healthy cafeteria treat in Pickle Sickles.

And that mascot has good, clean Halloween fun written all over it. Howard is already offering shirts and pickle jingles on his Web site, www.Bobs Pickle Pops.com. Catch the craze.


5 Questions About Pickle Pops

By JOELLE FARRELL
Monitor staff

February 08. 2008 12:36AM

Coming to New England ice cream trucks this summer: the Bobs Pickle Pop. That's one fat dill pickle crushed into 2 ounces of pickle juice frozen in a plastic push-up-pop casing. John Howard said he's not the first to think of the idea, but he may be the first to build a business around it. Howard, 43, formerly a plumber, came up with the Pickle Poplast June after he bought a roller-skating rink in his hometown of Seguin, Texas.

How'd you come up with this? We were taking the pickle juice that was left over in the pickle jars (at the concession stand) and putting it in the freezer, selling it to kids. . . . They were just buying 'em left and right.

I'm trying to imagine your first customers, because it seems like an adventurous taste. If you like the sour dill pickles, it's right up your alley. One kid tried it and liked it, and it just kind of snowballed from there.

Who buys them? We have internet sales, several schools down here. There's a grocery store chain here in Texas called H.E.B. (Here Everything's Better), they're in their stores. And I'm working to get them in some ice cream trucks up in your area.

How many are you selling? About 25,000 a month of individual Pickle Pops. I've got schools calling me from everywhere now because you've got something that kids like and there's no sugar in it.

Do you like them? Oh yeah. I love 'em. We actually have a jalapeno version we're packaging on Monday and I like them even more. . . . When I was a kid I used to drink pickle juice straight out of the jar. . . . There's a lot of closet pickle-juice drinkers out there.

JOELLE FARRELL

Will kids want pickle pops? Tuna?

School officials taste latest choices

By PAUL BOURGEOIS
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

STAR-TELEGRAM/BRUCE MAXWELL
Jackie Anderson, food services director for Arlington schools, samples a Bobs Pickle Pop -- a frozen treat made from liquefied dill pickles -- at the convention center Wednesday.


ARLINGTON -- Gone are the days of school lunch trays laden with mystery meat sidled up to piles of brown and greenish glop.

Healthy is the word now. With growing concerns about childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes, school food service directors are unanimous: The trend is to offer foods higher in fiber and lower in fat and sugar.

Representatives of more than 45 North Texas school districts -- from Abilene to Longview and Waco to Oklahoma -- met at the Arlington Convention Center on Wednesday to sample the latest in school lunch fare.

The convention featured the usual finger foods -- lots of wraps, burritos, pizzas and nuggets of almost anything and everything.

The difference now is that many contain whole wheat; low-fat cheeses and meats, mostly chicken and fish; and no trans fats.

Among the newest offerings are tuna or salmon in a cup, sparkling green tea and "Bobs Pickle Pops" -- frozen pops made by liquefying dill pickles and freezing them. They have almost no calories, fat or sugar. However, each one has 245 milligrams of sodium.

"It's about half as much sodium as in a pickle," said John Howard, who makes the frozen treats at his Carrollton plant. He added that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has accepted them as a food appropriate for schools.

"It's better than a Popsicle with all that sugar in it," said Donna Fulton, superintendent of food services in Burleson.

The challenge is to find nutritious food that students will actually eat at a price parents can afford, said Mary Beth Golangco, nutrition director for the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district.

The Arlington school district turns out 9.3 million meals a year and is always on the lookout for new and better items, said Jackie Anderson, the district's food services director.

Typically, new items are screened for taste and nutritional value, and then taste-tested by students and staff before they are added to menus.

These days, students are savvier about food and more accepting of healthier offerings, Anderson said.

Michael Rosenberger, her counterpart for the Irving school district, agreed. "They know what good food and service are," he said.

Rosenberger said the popularity of fresh salads has nearly doubled in his district in just a few years.

PAUL BOURGEOIS, 817-390-7796
pbourgeois@star-telegram.com

Chill the dill

Democrat and Chronicle

Can't seem to get a handle on your craving for pickles? One entrepreneurial Texas family has started marketing a new way to indulge in the cool flavor of preserved cucumbers.

John Howard runs Outerskate, a roller skating rink and arcade in Seguin, Texas, where his family started selling frozen pickle juice to customers about a year ago. The product proved so popular that he and another family member, David Millar, decided to make it available beyond the rink.

Their Bobs Pickle Pops frozen pickle juice treats are made by pressing Texas-grown and made dill pickles, then packaging them in plastic tubes. They're shipped at room temperature and then frozen at home.

"It tastes like a giant, big sour dill pickle," says Howard.

Pickle pops aren't anything new, nor are they exclusively Texan. "It started by taking the brine out of a jar of pickles and putting it into freezer ice trays with toothpicks. People have been doing that for years," he explains.

While it may be more prevalent in the South, Howard has fielded inquiries from Pennsylvania and Michigan, where frozen pickle juice is apparently a common phenomenon at Little League games and other sports events.

"It's a youth-driven product," adds Howard.

Perhaps, but it is not uncommon for college and professional athletes to drink pickle juice as a way to prevent heat cramps.

Bobs Pickle Pop can be purchased at www.bobspicklepops.com or by calling (830) 822-1853. A box of 16 2-ounce treats is $17.95; a box of 32 is $27.95.

Karen Miltner compiled this column. To submit items, mail to: Quick Takes on Food, Living section, Democrat and Chronicle, 55 Exchange Blvd., Rochester NY 14614; fax information to (585) 258-2554 or e-mail kmiltner@DemocratandChronicle.com. Include your name and daytime phone number.


Don't get in a pickle over odd frozen treat

By Meredith Jean Morton

News Chief staff
2:58 PM on Sunday, February 3, 2008

The features editor, I regularly receive e-mails from public relations representatives trying to entice me to write a story about their products or events. Typically, if the event is happening locally, or if the product has been created by a local person and would be a benefit to readers, I publish the information.

However, most of the e-mails, telling me about charity events happening anywhere from New York to Los Vegas or a new spin on an old food favorite, find themselves filed away in the trash of my e-mail never to be seen again. Harsh? Maybe, but the News Chief only has room for so many items.

Every once in a while, a product will catch my eye as something of personal interest. Such was the case with an e-mail I opened Thursday.

Allow me to first provide a disclaimer: What you are about to read may not sound appetizing to you as a reader. However, as one with particularly quirky tastes, I found the following product to be something I would love to try. And, before getting in a pickle if you don't find it appealing, merely file it away as odd news.

The subject line of the e-mail read: "News Chief Feature Opportunity: Bobs Pickle Pop Frozen Pickle Juice Treats Combine Popular Taste & Health Benefits."

Yes, "Frozen Pickle Juice," named a "Bobs Pickle Pop," was what the public relations firm was suggesting I recommend to my readers, and yes, I find this to be an enticing snack. But, this is from the food connoisseur who tried fried dill pickles last Fall and found them to be a delightful delicacy.

The "Bobs Pickle Pop" hails from Seguin, Texas, and though the e-mail says the "increasingly popular novelty snack treat may sound a bit hard to swallow," it also said "Bobs Pickle Pop" pickle juice treats are growing in popularity nationally and providing unexpected health benefits for children, adults and seniors alike.

"Bobs Pickle Pops" are uniquely packaged frozen treats made, not from just the brine left over from pickling, but from freshly squeezed pickles, much like an apple or orange is pressed. So, it's saying if you like the so-good-it-makes-your-mouth-pucker sourness of a pickle, and enjoy an occasional homemade popsicle made from fresh-squeezed orange or apple juice, this product can't be turned down.

"We use 100 percent of the pickle," says Bobs Pickle Pop Co-founder David Millar in the e-mail. "We realize it is hard to imagine that someone thought of the idea of creating a frozen treat made from pickle juice," he says. "But once people try them, they are hooked - and we are happy to supply them with this refreshing treat."

The "Bobs Pickle Pop" was created by John Howard, the owner of Outerskate roller skating rink and arcade in Seguin, Texas. He has been freezing pickle juice for the children and adults and sells out every night. Surprised by the sales, he decided there was a market worth investigating.

However, if a pickle-flavored popsicle don't sound appetizing, not to worry, the company also is creating flavored Bobs Pickle Pops such as cherry and lemon-lime.

And, if you're health conscious, "Bobs Pickle Pop" claims to offer heretofore little-known health benefits for anyone, from children to pregnant women to diabetics.

According to www.Bobs Pickle Pop.com/health.htm, "a recent study revealed that pickles blunted the blood-sugar spike by as much as 30 percent after a high-carbohydrate meal. Studies revealed that vinegar, much like that used in the pickling process, provided a balancing benefit to combat harmful insulin spikes."

But that's not all, the spices used in the pickling process are also healthy, the Web site claims. Pickling ingredients like garlic and dill help to control the growth of unhealthy bacteria in the body. And many other spices involved in the pickling have been known to have wide-ranging health properties as well. Additionally, "Bobs Pickle Pops" have no fat and have less than 1 gram of sugar.

And, like Disney World has Mickey Mouse and McDonald's has Ronald McDonald, the company also is branding a line of "Bobs Pickle Pop" characters such as Pickle Bob to help spread the news about this unique new product line and its healthy attributes to give kids a more nutritious snack alternative than sugary sweets. Pickle pops come in packages of 16 and sell for $17.95, including shipping, on the Internet.

This isn't to say the Pickle pop is for everyone. After all, the company who shared my fried dill pickle appetizer with me wasn't nearly as enthused by the treat as I was. But if you're like me and occasionally drink the leftover pickle juice out of a jar, a Pickle pops might be something worth trying.

Meredith Jean Morton is the News Chief features editor. Contact her at meredith.morton@newschief.com.


SA Metro-San Antonio Restaurants-San Antonio Dining 1/08

Pickle aficionados will appreciate the product that legitimizes years of sneaking gulps of pickle juicefrom the jar.  Others, who may have scoffed at the thought in the past, will be surprised by the new craze soon to sweep the nation.  Bobs Pickle Pops are the self-proclaimed bizarre tasting Popsicle craze from Texas you can't get enough of.  They are pickle juice flavored popsicles and pickle juice shooters encapsulated in 2oz plastic tubes. 

With no fat and less than one gram of sugar, these off-beat treats have proven to be the next healthy alternative.  Made with 100% whole dill pickle, the product maintains a large percentage of all the available nutrients from the actual cucumber.  The vinegar from the juice helps reduce blood sugar spikes and are therefore diabetic friendly.  Bobs Pickle Pops are also great for hydration proving more powerful than any other electrolyte drink to prevent dehydration and muscle cramps.  

 This idea originated with retired plumber and roller rink owner, John Howard, from nearby Seguin. The phenomenon began with left over juice in plastic cups at a roller rink and has exploded into the popular force it is today.  Howard"s primary market is kids who love the taste of these sour desserts, but that is no reason to dissuade you from stepping away from the jar and giving the sickle a try.    


San Antonio Current
Amuse-BOUCHE 1/16/08

Amuse-BOUCHE is not a press-release whore, jumping on every bit of pre-fashioned “news” that pops into her mailbox. But she had to make an exception for Seguin ’s own Bobs Pickle Pops, in part because Amuse-BOUCHE harbors a sometimes lonely passion for pickle-juice paletas (so refreshingly sour in the hot summer), in part because it was invented by John Howard at the Outerskate roller rink, and shoot, Amuse-BOUCHE grew up skating (poorly) at a small-town roller rink (and, in the absence of PickleSickles, eating horehound candy by the bagful. Very Laura Ingalls Wilder).

Its reputed health benefits aside (blunts sugar spikes after carb-heavy meals, for one, making it a diabetic-friendly treat) A-B found the Bobs Pickle Pop, packaged like a Mr. Freeze Pop, a little too salty, but Associate Editor Nicole Chavez came to its defense. “It’ll take a long time to eat, and it nly has three calories,” she notes. Or one-and-a-half. One might be too much for a single person, she cautions, and suggests sharing it during a movie in place of a giant pickle. You can grab a box of 16 Pickle pops(an official Go Texan food) at Central Market for 8 and change, or savor more info at Bobs Pickle Pops.com.

By Elaine Wolff _________________

Dill-icious idea: The Pickle Pop

Dill-icious idea: The Pickle Pop
JOHN MORITZ Star-Telegram staff writer  

John Howard's career has turned sour, and he's just fine with that. Howard, a 43-year-old former plumber in the Central Texas town of Seguin, bought a local skating rink about a year ago. And more or less on a lark, he decided to pour leftover pickle juice into little paper cups and freeze them to be sold at the rink's concession stand.

The skaters ate 'em up — literally.

So Howard, along with his wife, Kim, and sundry relatives and friends, developed a Web site, invented their own secret pickle juice recipes, signed up with a packaging company and began marketing his Pickle pop online. After five months, Howard said he's selling about 20,000 a month.

He said the tart and tangy concoction, which is shipped in 2-ounce tubes that can be frozen by the purchaser, makes a refreshing snack without the sugar or fat of most other confections. "It's great for pregnant women and people with diabetes," he said.

The Web site advertises three flavors — regular, lemon and raspberry — but Howard said he has suspended production of the fruit flavors until he can figure out how to boost production.

News of the product spread by word of mouth from Seguin, a community of about 22,000 between Austin and San Antonio, and through the media.

Benjamin Gallego, a purchaser for the H-E-B grocery chain's Central Market division, contacted Howard about mass marketing the product after hearing a report carried by the British Broadcasting Corp.

And the Pickle pop passed his own taste test, Gallego said.

"It's part of my job to make sure any product we consider carrying meets our standards," he said. "I thought it was great."

Pickle pops go national

Retired Seguin plumber creates frozen treats.

Cool Slide Show Here.

By Molly Bloom
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, July 31, 2007

SEGUIN — John Howard is poised to take over the national pickle juice dessert product market.

Howard, 43, is the creator of the Bobs Pickle Pops, 2 ounces of dill pickle juice frozen in a Vienna sausage-sized plastic bag. Howard retired from the plumbing trade last year and now runs a Seguin roller rink, where he has sold thousands of the neon green frozen treats.

Bobs Pickle Pops aficionados wanting to mix it up could slurp on not only Original Bob, left, but also Limey Lisa and Cherry Charlie.

When pickle pops appeared at Outer Skate roller rink in May, they sold out in the first weekend and used up all the pickle juice in the joint. Miracle Eredia, 6, took her Picklesicle seriously last week at the Seguin rink.

Limit the pops to your run-of-the-mill dill? Roller rink owner John Howard wouldn't dream of it. He's got 'em in, from left, original, cherry and lime flavors.

"We were selling so many of them. We figured if that many people in the little town of Seguin liked them, there'd be plenty of people in the rest of the country who'd like them too," he said.

Frozen pickle juice pops have been popular treats for kids at fairs, drive-in movies and other events for years. Howard's Picklesickles had a similar genesis, as pickle juice frozen in small plastic cups and sold for 75 cents under the roller rink's multicolored disco lights in the city about 50 miles south of Austin.

That first batch, made in May, sold out the first weekend and used up all of the pickle juice Howard had on hand. Now, he buys pickles in 5-gallon jars and uses a "proprietary method" to turn them into pure pickle juice. The juice is sealed in the 2-ounce bags and frozen.

It's a family-run business, with Howard's wife, Kim, his father and stepmother, three sons, two daughters-in-law and assorted cousins pitching in.

Howard looked into outsourcing production to Jel Sert, maker of sweet frozen-liquid-in-a-bag desserts such as Fla-Vor-Ice and Otter Pops, but the company demurred.

"They were afraid it would contaminate their line," Howard said.

On a busy weekend, Howard sells more than 300Picklesickles, most of them to kids, he said. Flavored versions — including cherry-dill pickle, lime-dill pickle and kosher dill pickle — are in development. And Howard has sold about 30 boxes through his Bobs Pickle Pops Web site, www.Bobs Pickle Pops .com, to pickle lovers from Waco to Anchorage, Alaska. They go for $18 to $30, depending on the quantity.

Plus, the family has secured exclusive rights to sell its frozen pickle juice product at all Seguin High School home football games.

Howard estimates that about three-quarters of hisBobs Pickle Pops customers are children. Since children are the Picklesickle's target market, the American-Statesman took a case to the Boys and Girls Club of South Austin to get expert opinions.

The verdict: They're sour, and they taste like pickles.

Logan Bachman, 11, slurped a freshly opened Bobs Pickle Pop and grimaced.

"It tastes like really, really sour pickles," he said.

Fellow Boys and Girls Club camper Kymari Eskridge, 10, let her actions speak for her, quickly finishing off her own Pickle pop and the Pickle pop of a camper slightly less enthusiastic about frozen pickle juice.

But for Howard, one pickle pop a day is plenty.

"I can eat one," he said. "That's about it for me."

mbloom@statesman.com; (512) 392-8750