Forget the radioactive slurry in Old Town, this summer’s undisputed King of the Snow Cone is Furoszron. We talk to Tomek, one half of the duo behind this seasonal sensation…
• My business partner Daniel discovered these shaved ice drinks while on holiday in Thailand about five years ago – he was obsessed with them, drinking them every day. He was determined to introduce them to Poland. Myself, I’d been thinking about starting my own food truck business. One night last year we figured, well, why not merge the two ideas. That’s how Furoszron began.
• It took three months to find the right machine. At first we were looking at electrical ones from the US before settling on a manual-operated one that we had shipped from Taiwan. We chose manual in the end because we wanted an element of ‘show’.
• Our name is simple: Fura means ‘cart’ in Polish, as in those carts you see getting pulled by horses. In slang terms though, you’ll also hear the saying ‘super fura’ which means a really awesome car. As for Szron, that means ‘frost’.
• You can’t use regular ice cubes with our machine, so we get ours custom-made by a Wrocław ice manufacturer that produces those big blocks used for ice sculptures. Their production process is complex but guarantees the best quality ice.
• We produce two of the syrups ourselves: coffee and lemon/lime. We rely on small family enterprises for ‘Polish flavors’ like cherry, strawberry and blueberry. They don’t use chemicals, just traditional syrup-making methods: water, a bit of sugar and then a whole lot of fruit. Of course, we have to look abroad for our more exotic flavors, but even so we maintain quality. For instance, our mango syrup consists of nearly 100% Sri Lankan fruit.
• We decided on a little electric van because we wanted to set-up in places where you wouldn’t usually find food trucks: down small boulevards, or even indoors. It took us a couple of months to find this vehicle and it was bright orange when we first picked it up in Częstochowa – it’s built by a Dutch firm and we’re told it was once used as a delivery van in some German factory.
• It’s not a full-time job this – we’ve got real lives during the week! Daniel is the purchase manager for a big Warsaw hotel, while I’m a PR specialist in the IT field.
To pinpoint Furoszron’s latest location, check their whereabouts on: facebook.com/furoszron
