Sr. Paleta teams up with El Mesón Sandwiches on new popsicle

An alliance between Puerto Rican companies Señor Paleta and El Mesón Sándwiches has resulted in the production of a 100% local popsicle, that will be sold across all of the latter’s locations on the island.

The “Latte Coco”-flavored popsicle is made with 100% Puerto Rican coffee and local coconut directly from the town of Aguadilla, said Señor Paleta CEO Ramón Ortiz. “The popsicle is 100% local.”

Founded in 2015, Señor Paleta specializes in creating artisan gelato and sorbet popsicles with a variety of flavors based on natural fruits and nuts. The company has recently increased its production levels by about 5,000 popsicles.

“At Señor Paleta, we’re inspired by innovation and we’re proud to establish this alliance with El Mesón Sándwiches. We’re extremely grateful for the opportunity to expand our offering of artisan popsicles with the unique ‘Latte Coco’ flavor, created exclusively for El Mesón Sándwiches,” said Ortiz, who co-founded Señor Paleta with business partner Jennifer Serrano.

Meanwhile, Felipe Pérez-Grajales, president of El Mesón Sándwiches, confirmed that the company set a goal several years ago of “offering our customers a cold dessert given the high temperatures and climate of the island.”

“When this approach by the founders of Señor Paleta happened, it seemed to us an exceptional union because they have a different product. We know that this union of wills and flavors will captivate everyone,” said Pérez.

Through the partnership, Señor Paleta will add 35 new points of sale — at El Mesón Sandwich restaurants islandwide — where it will also sell other flavors, including strawberry cheesecake, strawberry lemonade and passion fruit.

The executives from both companies confirmed that they are evaluating how they can export the artisan popsicles to El Mesón Sándwiches locations in Orlando, Florida. One of the considerations is handling the natural ingredients needed and preserving the frozen products.

“We’re definitely working on how to ship the popsicles to Orlando,” Ortiz said.

As a result of the collaboration, the artisan popsicle company was able to secure jobs, despite having to reduce its points of sale, he said.

“We dropped the points of sale, from 10 to three stores, and thanks to El Mesón we have been able to develop more,” said Ortiz.

Looking ahead, Señor Paleta aims to continue expanding its range of its flavors, hoping to create more popsicles with local ingredients.

“We’re grateful for this opportunity that El Mesón is giving us to evolve our flavors. We have developed about 100 recipes,” Ortiz said.