History of Freezee (50 years old)

When was Freezee invented? Omar Knedlik, in Coffeyville, Kansas is credited with inventing the idea of the Freezee some 50 years ago. He started by placing bottles of soda in his freezer. People really liked them almost frozen so he spent a few years until he developed the first Frozen Sparkling Beverage machine. The original name developed for the drink was ICEE and it is known by other more famous names such as Slurpee a trademark of 7eleven.

Many people have tried to bring the machine that makes Freezees to Israel. Rafi Offenbacher was the force behind Brisk Beverage's decision to bring these machines to our corner of the world (or the center of the world!). Brisk will not only be the first but will be the choice to go to with the expertise to supply and service the Freezee machines.

Weekend Summary

Last night I got confirmation about my trip. Now I can plan everything for a quick trip to learn all about the insides of the machine. I plan to spend the weekend at my parents and it will be great spending a couple of days with them.

Still looking for a great solution for our Web, Social Network Marketing and Email that we need to do to make Freezee a huge success in Israel. I have spoken with some talented and experienced people but haven't decided with whom to spend our money.

Next week I need to finish with the syrup so that I can order it produced. We need the final OK for Mehadrin certification. We also need all the paperwork to get the Misrad Habriyut to approve the Freezee.

I gave the lawyer all the information to complete our contract with our first 4 locations. Hope to finish that also this coming week.

Cola seems to be winning on the voting for the favorite flavor. My guess is that more adults answered as the kids usually like the colorful flavors. Once our website is up and running, I will publicize this blog and get a lot more votes. Of course, once we have the machines running and selling Freezees, we can get real votes based on trial tasting.

Kashrut and Learning Every Day

We received official Kosher certification from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel! Now we have to get Mehadrin in order to be able to place the machines in various locations throughout the country. It will get done but it seems that many of the Kashrut agencies............................. (I wrote something negative about Kashrut agencies and was told by the one person who really tried to help that it is Lashon Harah. Therefore I removed it.)

We are always learning new things in starting the Freezee business. Today we learned to put labels on the post. Can't wait until we get full training on many of the social network marketing tricks.

Jerusalem Post

Yocheved Miriam Russo wrote up an article in the Jerusalem Post about the merging of two great organizations, Table to Table and Leket, into Leket Israel. I had taken my family a couple of times to volunteer and pick fruit and she interviewed me about the experience. In the print article (slightly different from the online one), it mentions FREEZEE! People over the weekend started asking me what a Freezee is!

The plan is to have the first machine picked up in Texas this week and flown to Israel to be checked out by the Machon Hatekanim.

This morning, a former Teaneck resident volunteered the thought, that Freezee is better since it is sparkling. So few people realize why the Freezee (ICEE or Slurpee) is so much better than a plain Barad. We have a lot of work ahead of us in educating the Israeli population.

Blog got deleted

I wrote and edited a nice little blog right here and lost it when the internet connection went out. I reported how well we did with our lawyer (Tom Greiff - I highly recommend him) and accountant. They and Amnon, our advisor through Mati, have really helped us get everything moving in the right direction.
However, the post is gone like a melted snowman. (A Freezee doesn't melt because you can't stop slurping it until it's completely consumed down to the last drop that you scoop out with the long "spoon straw".) [ed. note - the blog was just found somewhere in electronville and I reposted it]
Have a great weekend!

Lawyer & Accountant

Choosing the experts to help the business grow isn't easy. We found a great lawyer, Thomas Greiff, from Ramat Bet Shemesh. It has been great dealing with him through all kinds of contracts and set-up hurdles. I needed an advisor as well as a lawyer and he has helped on all fronts. I should mention that MATI assigned an advisor for our company that has brought tremendous experience and expertise in directing us.

We didn't want to break the bank with an accountant. Wow do they know how to charge. Of course in this country they do a lot of work that I used to do myself on the computer in the U.S. However, we found a very competant and professional accountant right nearby in Kiryat Sefer thanks to one of a dozen different recommendations by friends in the area. They actually have been proactive to deal with various aspects

Getting Close

We are working on so many fronts at once and everything is slowly coming together. Our first machine was officially ordered - they started working on it a couple of weeks ago and it is about done. Our Kashrut should come through this week.
So much fun though dealing with Israeli bureaucracy. Even my bank made me show up in person to wire funds overseas. I still can't get used to all the hassle and expense of banking here compared to the U.S.
I am dying for a Freezee and can't wait to taste some samples next week in the States. I even have the official Kosher list from the cRc website of Slurpee flavors so that I can taste and compare them. The great thing about our flavors is that they can be adjusted based on feedback from all the Israelis that will be trying them out. I am sure it will be a big hit!

Penguin Our Mascot

If you find a cool (publicly available) penguin, who would like to be our mascot, let me know. If he or she knows how to ski on a snowboard even better!

Trip to the U.S.

Scheduling my last trip before getting a machine to Israel! Can't wait to get back and I haven't left yet. I am going with our repair representative to train on the machines in Texas. The flight to San Antonio is quite long as we have to change planes at least once if not twice. We are also going to visit the factory that is making the syrup for our Freezees. They are located on the East Coast. I would like to arrange to stop at my parents in Manhattan for Shabbat before returning to Israel.
Have to get moving on a few items like our social network marketing and creating the website. Shipping, importing, contracts with our locations, Misrad Habriyut, Printing cups with our logo, buying water filters to make sure that you get the best drink ever and a host of other projects are on tap for today.
Hope you enjoy the results of all this work!