We had the good fortune of connecting with Tracy Memoli and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tracy, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I was working as a publicist in the corporate PR world and left my job to pursue my passion in the food and beverage industry. I always loved frozen cocktails, but they were always filled with a lot of sugar and bad ingredients. I was shocked that a healthier option didn’t exist and I wanted to change that. Together, with my life-long love for ice pops, I set out to create gourmet, low alcohol-infused ice pops without any added sugars, syrups or dyes. We also have non-alcoholic mocktail ice pops and coffee pops too. In 2017, I launched FrutaPOP, part cocktail, part ice pop in fun cocktail flavors including: Guava Cosmo, Piña Colada, Moscow Mule and Coconut Rosé, just to name a few. Today, I work with some of the world’s largest brands, start up companies, restaurants and top chefs to create speciality alcohol-infused ice pop flavors.

What should our readers know about your business?
My company is FrutaPOP, the makers of alcohol-infused ice pops. We’re reinventing the ice pop, a product that hasn’t seen an innovation in the last 70 years. FrutaPOP is the first of its kind to contain natural ingredients without any added sugars, syrups or dyes. When we started the business in 2016, FrutaPOP created an entirely new product category in the food and beverage industry by offering consumers gourmet, alcohol-infused ice pops, under 5% ABV (alcohol by volume). We’re constantly innovating and creating new flavors. One of our latest flavors we recently launched: Lemon Rosé ice pops. We have lots of exciting things planned for our burgeoning brand this year in South Florida, particularly Miami. We have a lot of customers and clients in Florida (from activations, corporate events, weddings, parties and working with hotels) that we’re planning on expanding to Miami and adding an office there this year!

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. 
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that it’s most important to surround yourself with like-minded individuals that you can trust and that you respect and that respect you. Also, always, always trust your gut and that inner voice inside yourself, no matter how crazy it may seem to be at the time. We instinctively have the answers, we just have to have the courage to listen to ourselves.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Sunday brunch at the Four Seasons Miami is my absolute favorite thing to do, so we would start there! My other go-to restaurants that I love are Sugar, it’s a rooftop bar located in the EAST Miami hotel, I love to go for cocktails, sushi and watch the sunset. A few other favorite restaurants are Cecconi’s Miami in the Soho Beach House, Matador Room in the Miami Beach Edition and Sugarcane.

For art and inspiration, we would visit the Wynwood art district, Pérez Art Museum and Vizcaya Museums & Gardens.

For shopping, we would take a trip to Showfields, located in the heart of South Beach. This is one of my favorite spots, they highlight innovative brands and my brand FrutaPOP has worked with their New York store on a few events.

And of course, we would spend time at the beach and relax.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate this shoutout to my business partner and husband, Laurance Rassin. He motivates me and inspires me everyday to be the best version of myself and to always keep going.

Website: www.frutapop.com

Instagram: @frutapop @tracymemoli

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-memoli-377507101

Twitter: @fruta_pop @tracymemoli

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frutapop https://www.facebook.com/tracy.memoli

Image Credits
Anna Just Photo (profile image) All other photos provided by FrutaPOP

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutMiami is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.