When you dine out, you might think about the ingredients that go into your food, but you probably don’t think about all the numbers that make your meal happen. Restaurants are filled with interesting figures that might not be apparent when you bite into an enticing entrée or take a sip of a signature cocktail, but they’re all around you.
This week we pop over to the Pleasant Pops Farmhouse Market & Café in Kalorama Triangle, which offers up seasonally accented popsicles, coffee and tea, soup, salads, and a slew of regionally sourced foodstuffs. The venture started out as a cart at farmers markets, grew into a truck, and then became this shop with the help of a very successful Kickstarter campaign. We find out how many pop recipes they’ve got in their arsenal, how much coffee they go through every week and the number of local producers who are showcased in the market.
Pleasant Pops Farmhouse Market & Café
Seats: 26
Pop flavors regularly available: 10-12
Total number of flavor recipes currently in the arsenal: 75
Pounds of peaches bought weekly during the summer to make peach pops: 320
Different peach pop flavors available: Six, including peach mint iced tea, peach hibiscus, and cinnamon vanilla peach
Hot pops flavors: Four, including peppermint, milk chocolate and mini marshmallow, Mexican chocolate, and salted chocolate
Area farmers markets pops have been sold at: Eight
Pounds of Ceremony coffee sold every week: 65
House-made syrups available for the coffees: Four, including peppermint, pumpkin, vanilla, and chocolate
Types of store-made hummus: Four, including garlic, roasted red pepper, chipotle, and olive
Local producers showcased: 21, including Capital Kombucha, Soupergirl, Whisked!, and Double Premium Confections
Flavors of locally produced Route 11 chips sold: Eight, including Chesapeake Crab, Dill Pickle, and Yukon Gold
People who donated to the shop’s Kickstarter campaign: 423, all of whom are listed on the wall
Amount of money raised through the Kickstarter campaign: $26,366
Highest amount given by a single individual: $1,000, which earned them the right to name their favorite flavor (Carolyn’s Cookies and Cream), a complimentary pop with every visit, and a catering event for 100 people
How many jobs has Pleasant Pops created: Eight, in addition to the two founders
Doors Pleasant Pops owners and friends knocked on to introduce the store to the neighborhood: At least 900, with more visits coming
