农业+生活方式
从庄稼到棒棒糖，棒棒糖之王
发布于2019年3月14日12:00 AM
当世界上第一个冰棒农场被种植的消息传开时, 在格鲁吉亚生长和栽培的, 你善于倾听，有一颗好奇的绿拇指.
Before King of Crops was even a seedling of an idea in the minds of co-founders Steven and Nick Carse, these brothers started a business that evolved from kismet dreams and serious innovation.
“King of Pops started in 2010, however the idea dates back a little further,” Steven Carse explained. “我的大哥是一名人类学家, 当时他正在拉丁美洲进行实地考察. 当我去看他的时候, 这是很正常的, 我们喜欢上了paletas, 也就是西班牙语中“冰棒”的意思. They had these incredibly interesting flavors and were made of fresh ingredients, 无论我们在哪里，都是土生土长的. We would go out of our way to find paletas and so I kind of fell in love with the product during college.”
随着时间的流逝, the sweet and savory notes of these imaginative localized ice pops crept back into Steven’s mind and he began day dreaming about a business that could be.
“I got laid off from my job in the corporate world, and decided to give the popsicle idea a shot. 我以前没有这么做的一个原因是它看起来太冒险了, but losing my job turned into the most incredible opportunity to take a chance and be all in,史蒂文说.
在短短几个月内, 尼克留下了西装, courtrooms and his life as a lawyer to join Steven as the second employee at King of Pops.
在格鲁吉亚扎根
The company’s belief system and sunny disposition is an extension of the people they are and who they surround themselves with. 卡斯兄弟想让人们快乐, want to provide a delicious source-conscious product and want to evoke change in their home state of Georgia.
“早期，我们为公司写了一个愿景. One of the things that we landed on when we were going through that process was that we wanted to be an influencer in the local food scene, 同时了解并成为我们社区的一员. We had aspirations to grow but wanted to do so with intention and meaningfulness,史蒂文说. “We, 作为一家公司, 希望通过成为积极的食物影响者来实现我们的影响, relentless community supporters and most importantly a generator of unexpected moments of happiness.”
深深扎根于格鲁吉亚, Steven and Nick knew it didn’t make sense to unleash their dream anywhere else.
“It was never really a question as to where we wanted to base the business or where we wanted to be spending our time. 在我们的家乡很明显，”史蒂文说. “Our first cart location was about a half mile from where Nick lived and another half mile from where I was living at the time. 我们对这个地区非常熟悉. 我们认识经营生意的人和邻居. I think sometimes people forget how 100 or 200 people who are trying to help you out can make such a huge difference when you’re starting something. 这真的很有价值.”
流行天王的成长本质上是草根的. 从向顾客询问口味的想法, to having their parents put in sweat equity and giving summer jobs to their friends’ kids, 接下来是一场全体船员的行动.
Stephen Dobek，左，Nick Carse，中，Steven Carse，右.
为他们的爸爸种庄稼
创业才四年, 流行天王想尝试种植农产品和农业. 他们已经从东南地区采购原料了, 主要是乔治亚州, but wanted to be part of the process by following their product from crop to pop.
“我们创办《正规博彩网站评级》有几个原因. The most straightforward is that we wanted to grow some amazing produce for our pops. 这仍然是今天的焦点. 除此之外, we feel like we had an opportunity and bit of a responsibility to put our money where our mouth is when it comes to local farming. 我们在可持续发展中讨论了很多. 我们想成为这场运动的一部分，这样我们就可以直接谈论它.
“Lastly ... 我们有一个有趣的品牌. When you have a fun brand, you can talk about things that others might not be as receptive to. 例如, if we talk about composting with a group of third graders and show them how your food waste can make this amazing compost that will then help grow strawberries to make popsicles – it’s a powerful story,史蒂文解释道.
依偎在Ga之间. 温斯顿邮政路166号, 大约在亚特兰大以西30英里处, a new idea became a reality when the brothers purchased about 70 acres of farmland, 以前是作为托儿所来经营的. 现在，随着计划的实施，下一步就是雇佣农民.
从办公室的墙壁到开放空间
Stephen Dobek is a New York-native turned Chicago transplant whose insatiable curiosity for farming brought him down south. 目前，他是庄稼之王的管理农民.
“当时我住在芝加哥，只是在办公室工作, and became more interested in agriculture by simply going to farmers markets, 买食物和与人交谈. I started reading books, doing research and then basically fell down the rabbit hole. It was really about having physical things that you can point to or touch on a daily basis that you’ve worked on, 有一个衡量你进步的标准. ... 这让我很有成就感, 我认为现在很多人在工作中都缺乏这种能力,多贝克说.
想要远离大城市的喧嚣, 2012年，多贝克决定跟随父母的脚步, 他最近退休去了南卡罗来纳. What began as general labor on one farm quickly transitioned into a year-long internship on a 300-acre diversified family farm. From there, 多贝克搬到路易斯安那州管理牲畜, 然后去了摩根县, Georgia, 养牛, 种植蔬菜和果园.
A few more farms and a stint in South Georgia ultimately led Dobek to overseeing King of Pops’ farm operation in March 2018. 作为农场的经理, 从订货到预算工作表，Dobek都参与其中, 给土地轮作选择，甚至喂鸡. 最重要的是，它涉及到认识和利用农田的潜力.
“对我们来说，这个农场还相对年轻, and we’re tapping into the true potential it can have and deciding the smartest ways to make use of the land, 考虑到我们的任务是生产制作冰棒的作物. 我们正在开垦许多新的土地，以便长期种植梅树, 黑莓, muscadines, 蓝莓和枸杞, 举几个例子. Basically, we’re working to make production match up more with what the popsicle end of things can utilize with each changing season,多贝克说.
Dobek is working to determine a handful of crops that can be grown annually to yield the highest number of popsicles. 这样做的主要组成部分是了解土地.
“在任何陆地上, 这里有复杂性和独特性, specifically from a standpoint of learning about soil composition and the necessary tests that go along with it. For me, 当我成为庄稼之王的一员时, it was about being adaptable and understanding we’re in the far outskirts of a major city. 这是工作中令人兴奋的部分, learning what you’ve got and figuring out how to strategically work with the land,多贝克说.
不仅仅是冰棒
The Carse brothers place great emphasis on how their endeavor can do more than just produce a quality product.
“我们对农场的愿景随着每一个新项目的开展而不断扩大. We’re able to show how business and environmental stewardship can benefit from one another. 我们正在与堆肥轮合作, 被称为堆肥之王, where they bring food waste from all over the city for us to compost here at the farm. 我们通过举办学校实地考察来深入研究农业旅游, eventually becoming an event space and even hosting a farm stay at our tiny house on Airbnb. 它每天都在不断发展，”史蒂文说.
拥有一个农场，生意蒸蒸日上, 史蒂文说他对农业有了新的认识, 国家主导产业, 以及这对他和他的员工意味着什么.
“拥有一个农场, 你对农产品的看法完全不同——我也是如此, 但这也适用于我们的员工,” he said. “当我们把他们带到那里, they just have a different appreciation for all the work that goes into the ingredients that we’re using and also just the things they are eating at home. 这本身就是无价的.”
欲了解更多或在线购物，请访问 kingofpops.com.