‘225 Dine’: Pop goes the ‘sicle

They may be reminders of childhood, but now popsicles are also the object of reinvention. Last year, San Francisco-based restaurant consultant Andrew Freeman and Co. declared gourmet popsicles a growing nationwide trend in the firm’s annual hottest fads report. Sure enough, a new brand has hit the Baton Rouge market. Shreveport-based Geauxsicles, founded in 2010, features 18 flavors of fleur-de-lis–embossed handmade pops chock full of real fruit and other natural ingredients. Currently, they’re available at all three locations of Maxwell’s Market. The company is hoping to add more local retail outlets soon. Geauxsicles is the brainchild of owner Erin Johnson and her siblings Walter, Elizabeth and Andrew Johnson. A couple of years ago, Erin and Elizabeth were in the habit of making all-natural smoothies, and they considered entering that sector of the retail market. But competition was high, especially with established brands like Smoothie King, so Erin began experimenting with freezing her smoothie creations. She ultimately developed 18 flavors of popsicles and decided they were good enough for a brick-and-mortar shop on Youree Drive in Shreveport. Last fall, deep freezers of the delicious treats debuted at Maxwell’s Markets in Baton Rouge. Read the rest of this week’s 225 Dine e-newsletter here.