A Hancock County couple has purchased the Hello Pop food truck, aiming to keep the locally rooted business growing while continuing its focus on all-natural treats and community events.
Logan Griffin and his wife, Lauren Griffin, recently acquired the business from Chelsea Boling. Logan Griffin said the opportunity aligned with the couple’s broader goal of building businesses that serve the community while allowing them to work for themselves.
“We saw this come up for sale, and we knew the people pretty well that owned it,” Griffin said. “We had a heart for it to stay local, because we know that’s what it started with — pouring back into the community — and we just saw the opportunity and jumped on it.”
Hello Pop began as a small venture by Boling, who started making fruit and vegetable ice pops for her teething son before turning the idea into a business that built a following at local events and festivals. The brand became known for its simple, all-natural ingredients.
Griffin said that focus will remain central under the new ownership.
“It’s a food truck that goes to local events, but it has all-natural ice pops,” he said. “There’s no syrups or anything — it’s just fruit, water, sugar — all natural ingredients.”
In addition to ice pops, the truck will also serve lemon shake-ups made with the same approach. The Griffins also plan to feature baked goods from their cookie brand, Clay Jar Cookies.
“We will sell those on the truck along with the ice pops and the lemon shakeups,” Griffin said.
The couple operates multiple small businesses together, including Griffin House to Home, a residential and commercial cleaning service that has expanded in recent months. Griffin left his job at Domtar in November so the couple could pursue their ventures full-time.
“Lauren and I have always desired that,” he said. “From early on when we were dating, our dream was to be able to work for ourselves and work together all the time.”
Griffin said working together and building something lasting for their family has long been a priority.
“We really just want to control our schedules and build something for our family — not just make a paycheck,” he said. “We wanted to build something to pass down to our kids.”
The Hello Pop truck will primarily operate at festivals and community gatherings across the region. The Griffins have already applied to participate in several major local events.
“We’ve applied to the barbecue festival — Barbecue & Barrels now — and we’ll be at ROMP and PorchFest for sure,” Griffin said. “We’ll be at the local fairs. Pretty much any local event that we can get into, we’re interested in doing.”
The business will also operate out of a storefront bakery space in Hawesville at 150 Main Cross Street, where the Griffins produce their products and sell baked goods each Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. As warmer weather approaches, customers will also be able to purchase Hello Pop items directly from the location.
“That’s where we make the lemon shakeups and the ice pops anyway,” Griffin said. “We have a commercial oven there, so we’ll sell everything out of the same storefront.”
While the current menu will continue to feature fruit-based pops, Griffin said the couple hopes to experiment with new flavors and styles in the future.
“We’ll probably try different fruit flavors, but we also want to dig into things like chocolate — maybe a fudgesicle or cookies and cream pop,” he said. “That’s still in the development stages, but we definitely want to experiment and see what people like.”
For the Griffins, the business is about more than selling frozen treats.
“All this is based on our faith in Jesus,” Griffin said. “Our heart is to pour back into the community and just be lights in the community. Hopefully, making money is a side effect, but that’s not why we do it. We want to be helpful to the community.”
For more information, email [email protected].
