A love for the sweet ice

Have you ever had a love for something that could become a business? For 31-year-old, Reeka-Lynn Selman she did just that by turning her passion into an exciting venture.

If you are in Bridgetown and visit the Colonnade Mall, on the first floor at the top of the escalator, you will find a cart called “Sweet Ice”. For many shoppers, you will be fortunate to find a snow cone vendor in the City as they often move around. However Selman’s business is stationary and her prominent and trendy branding will be hard to forget. 

Recently, Business Monday caught up with the young entrepreneur, a graphic artist by profession who owns and operates a snow cone business. She explained that the idea for the business started through her love of snow cones. 

She admitted that her favourite flavour was coconut with condensed sweet milk but she was not drawn to the other flavours available despite their bright colours. She said she wanted to be a part of the culture but she noted that a lot of people in the industry did not do any branding. With her creative background and graphic design training, she thought that if she started a business, she wanted her product to be more prominent and to have a presence. 

“It just started with a name and then it just snowballed from there and I decided that I wanted to have flavours that were natural and made from the fruit,” said Selman. 

From fruit to candy toppings 

She also caters to persons who cannot use sugar by providing a limited line of sugarless syrups for her snow cones. Those who buy her snow cones can also get fun toppings like pineapple, strawberry and gummy worms. Her unique flavours (snow cone syrups) include sorrel, coconut, strawberry, bayleaf, lemon-lime with basil, ginger, coffee with sweet milk and soursop. The young creative came up with over 20 different flavours.

Her business, “Sweet Ice” is still in its nascent stage as Selman said that she started the venture in 2019. Yet, she has dreams of expanding her business to other locations and providing more flavours. As to her decision to not be mobile, Selman explained that it was about creating an atmosphere that is different from what most people would usually expect from other snow cone vendors. She also said she has catered to outdoor events in the past. 

A love for food, good family support

Selman revealed that she does not have a culinary background but she likes the art of food and her mother is an entrepreneur. The young single mother also highlighted that she has received significant support from her family and her friends. Selman’s business can be found on the social media platform, Instagram – her main space to reach her clients and fans. As to how she manages her hectic work and family life, Selman said she does not know how she does it but she gets it done. 

“I just try, if I have to stay up until three in the morning making syrups or working on a design – then so be it,” she said.