Del’S Lemonade Glass Bottles? The 73 New Answer

Great-grandfather DeLucia made the earliest Del’s Frozen Lemonade in 1840 in Naples, Italy. In winter, he carried snow to nearby caves and insulated it with straw. When summer came and the local lemons were ripe and fragrant, he mixed their juice with just the right amount of sugar and snow. So he made a refreshing drink that he sold at the local market. Sherbet is popular in Europe, but nothing is more popular than the fresh lemon juice product. Lemon ice cream is the most delicious and thirst-quenching treat.

Grandfather Franco DeLucia brought his father’s frozen lemonade recipe to America around the turn of the century. Angelo DeLucia, his son, began work on a machine to make the frozen lemonade and a process to make it a consistently excellent product. In 1948, Del’s Frozen Lemonade got its name and became the only product sold from a small stand in Cranston, Rhode Island. Soon Angelo had designed the first mobile units to serve anywhere in the state.

When Angelo’s son Bruce joined the family business, there were 5 franchises in Rhode Island. Since then, Bruce has made the franchise business flourish and grow. Today, there are many Del’s franchises around the world, bringing refreshing, all-natural indulgence to anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Bruce’s daughter, Stephanie, is now in the family business. She is President of Del’s Lemonade’s sister company, Francesca Enterprises International. Stephanie also works directly with Web Sales, Promotions and Marketing.

You may have heard some rumors that you need a straw to drink Del’s. We are here to tell you that these rumors are not true.

Sip a Del’s like a true Rhod Islander. Here’s the deal:

Associated Press Writer

CRANSTON, R.I. – Not too many companies start in a grotto. But then again, not too many businesses thrive just by selling soda pop.

Count Del’s Lemonade as an exception, a Rhode Island company founded by an Italian immigrant who first mixed the frothy slush from blocks of ice stored in caves near Naples in the 1840s.

Today, his brightly colored carts adorned with a snowy lemon are a staple in this coastal state and across the country. They can be seen on street corners and at summer festivals in Providence, Chicago and California. It is served on the beaches of Hawaii. Owner Bruce Delucia – the company’s name is an abbreviation of his family name – has granted franchise rights to Aruba, Japan and Taiwan.

And it’s gone Hollywood. Del’s Lemonade was drunk on NBC’s Providence and the upcoming WB series Maybe It’s Me. It’s been sipped in recent blockbuster films, There’s Something About Mary and Me, Myself And Irene – films directed by Rhode Island products Bobby and Peter Farrelly.

It’s a gooey recipe that’s almost childish in its simplicity: filtered tap water, Iowa corn sugar, and fresh California lemons.

Edward Mazze, dean of the College of Business at the University of Rhode Island, says Del’s is the only company he knows of in the United States that deals exclusively in frozen soda.

“They marketed in a way that brings back pleasant memories,” said Mazze, a marketing and retail expert who has advised Coca-Cola and General Foods. “Everyone remembers going to the beach and seeing a truck or driving down the street and seeing a stall. Planned or accidental, they always seem to be where the customers are around.”

During Rhode Island’s short summer, the company’s 300 employees storm the streets, occupy the Cranston flagship store, and pop up with booths or trucks at city parks, beaches, and tourist spots across the state.

“We go to whatever we can get,” said Delucia, 51, a fourth-generation family owner. “It’s about being dedicated to what you’re doing and doing the best job you can. It’s about not giving up and not getting tired.”

When Angelo Delucia brought his grandfather’s recipe from Italy to this Providence suburb in 1948, he had a dream of combining lemonade with his other start-up, a bowling alley. After he failed to serve both, his wife gave him an ultimatum: pick one and focus on that. Angelo took the lemonade.

The company, like most, has had some growing pains. Unlike most others, it was battling misconceptions held by some of them that they were a bunch of neighborhood kids selling a lemony concoction for loose change.

“They look at you like they think you’ve got a wooden box somewhere and you’re selling it out of a jar,” says Bruce Delucia.

These days, Delucia hears from Del’s Lemonade lovers everywhere. He said his privately held company generates a few million dollars in annual sales with little overhead.

The company’s reach first caught Delucia’s eye when he was on a hunting trip in Kerrville, Texas in the early 1980s. He and a friend were uncomfortable at a honky tonk bar until the barmaid noticed Bruce’ Del’s shirt. She and her husband, who were stationed at the former naval base at Quonset Point, said they remembered two things from their time in Rhode Island: clam cake and Del’s Lemonade.

The privately held company processes a dozen franchise requests per week, Delucia said. Aspirants must complete a written application, interview at Cranston headquarters, and pay over $5,000 for a one-time license fee and raise cash to purchase the wheelbarrows and ingredients.

One of the successful applicants was Fred Remington. The 47-year-old Harley-Davidson fanatic, who hails from Bristol, RI, opened a Del’s in Honolulu three years ago and sells soda at University of Hawaii football games and flea markets.

“They work their ass off all summer and then they go down to Florida to relax,” Remington said over the phone from Oahu. “So, I figured, if they’re making that kind of money for five or six months, what better opportunity than when I have summer in Hawaii all year round?”

Remington’s operation includes a manufacturing facility, and he plans to sell franchise rights to area hotels and the Honolulu Zoo.

Vanessa Willey, 46, a Del’s franchisee in Chicago, hopes to make enough money from the business to pay her daughters’ college bills. Willey, of Coventry, R.I., started it in part after hearing her father-in-law courting his wife by driving her to a Del’s.

Willey employs about 30 high school and college girls during the summer.

“If they’re good at Del, they’ll be good at anything,” Willey said. “This is not a floor sweep. This is the real world.”

The company is a family affair. Delucia has been working there since he was 10 years old. His daughter Stephanie, 26, is president of the company’s division that sells alcoholic beverages. Its operations manager, Joe Padula, is a childhood friend who started out collecting discarded cups in the parking lot for $2 a day.

Del’s stumbled upon Dimitri Kazantzis, its resident food scientist. Delucia says he met the Greek-born Kazantzis while visiting the Johnson & Wales University campus in Providence.

“We just walked into the food science administration building and we weren’t looking for anyone,” Delucia said. “I saw him and asked him if he could make some light lemonade and he said he could, so I hired him.”

Seventeen years later, Kazantzis has expanded Del’s offering to include black tea, blueberry, cherry, kiwi, mocha, peach, mango, strawberry and core lemon.

“I think it’s one of those products that sells,” said Stephanie Delucia. “It’s all natural and we’re proud of that. There’s so much junk out there, it’s good to have a drink that’s anti-junk.”

That’s one of Del’s secrets to success, Mazze said.

“We in society are so used to packaged products, but every individual remembers the opportunity to get something freshly made at a counter,” he said. “Many people believe that buying at the stand means the product is fresher and brings back good memories.”

There are a few ways to enjoy Del’s in your own home. Check them out below and don’t be afraid to get creative!

standard instructions

In your blender, add a package of Del’s Make At Home Mix, 2 cups of ice, and 8 fl oz of water. Crank that thing up and let it rip. After about 30 seconds (depending on your blender) you should have a perfect Del’s.

Changed instructions

There is always more than one way to get something done. Add one package of Del’s Make At Home Mix to 16 fluid ounces of water. Stir until dissolved. Pour liquid into ice cube trays and freeze. Once they’re frozen, throw them in the blender and you’re good to go. You may need or want to add a little water to get the mixing going.

Swimming for adults

Same as method 1, but replace the 8 fluid ounces of water with non-alcoholic (ahem) red wine.

Del’s popsicle

Add one package of Del’s Make At Home Mix to 16 fluid ounces of water. Stir until dissolved. Add popsicles, freeze thoroughly, then let all the kids in your life know you’re having a party in your freezer.

Please note that some foods may not be suitable for some people and you are urged to seek medical advice before embarking on any weight loss or diet program. Although the information provided on this website is presented in good faith and believed to be correct, FatSecret makes no representations or warranties as to its completeness or accuracy and all information, including nutritional information, is used by you at your own risk. All trademarks, copyrights and other forms of intellectual property are owned by their respective owners.

Del’s Lemonade is always gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free.

Associated Press Writer

CRANSTON, R.I. – Not too many companies start in a grotto. But then again, not too many businesses thrive just by selling soda pop.

Count Del’s Lemonade as an exception, a Rhode Island company founded by an Italian immigrant who first mixed the frothy slush from blocks of ice stored in caves near Naples in the 1840s.

Today, his brightly colored carts adorned with a snowy lemon are a staple in this coastal state and across the country. They can be seen on street corners and at summer festivals in Providence, Chicago and California. It is served on the beaches of Hawaii. Owner Bruce Delucia – the company’s name is an abbreviation of his family name – has granted franchise rights to Aruba, Japan and Taiwan.

And it’s gone Hollywood. Del’s Lemonade was drunk on NBC’s Providence and the upcoming WB series Maybe It’s Me. It’s been sipped in recent blockbuster films, There’s Something About Mary and Me, Myself And Irene – films directed by Rhode Island products Bobby and Peter Farrelly.

It’s a gooey recipe that’s almost childish in its simplicity: filtered tap water, Iowa corn sugar, and fresh California lemons.

Edward Mazze, dean of the College of Business at the University of Rhode Island, says Del’s is the only company he knows of in the United States that deals exclusively in frozen soda.

“They marketed in a way that brings back pleasant memories,” said Mazze, a marketing and retail expert who has advised Coca-Cola and General Foods. “Everyone remembers going to the beach and seeing a truck or driving down the street and seeing a stall. Planned or accidental, they always seem to be where the customers are around.”

During Rhode Island’s short summer, the company’s 300 employees storm the streets, occupy the Cranston flagship store, and pop up with booths or trucks at city parks, beaches, and tourist spots across the state.

“We go to whatever we can get,” said Delucia, 51, a fourth-generation family owner. “It’s about being dedicated to what you’re doing and doing the best job you can. It’s about not giving up and not getting tired.”

When Angelo Delucia brought his grandfather’s recipe from Italy to this Providence suburb in 1948, he had a dream of combining lemonade with his other start-up, a bowling alley. After he failed to serve both, his wife gave him an ultimatum: pick one and focus on that. Angelo took the lemonade.

The company, like most, has had some growing pains. Unlike most others, it was battling misconceptions held by some of them that they were a bunch of neighborhood kids selling a lemony concoction for loose change.

“They look at you like they think you’ve got a wooden box somewhere and you’re selling it out of a jar,” says Bruce Delucia.

These days, Delucia hears from Del’s Lemonade lovers everywhere. He said his privately held company generates a few million dollars in annual sales with little overhead.

The company’s reach first caught Delucia’s eye when he was on a hunting trip in Kerrville, Texas in the early 1980s. He and a friend were uncomfortable at a honky tonk bar until the barmaid noticed Bruce’ Del’s shirt. She and her husband, who were stationed at the former naval base at Quonset Point, said they remembered two things from their time in Rhode Island: clam cake and Del’s Lemonade.

The privately held company processes a dozen franchise requests per week, Delucia said. Aspirants must complete a written application, interview at Cranston headquarters, and pay over $5,000 for a one-time license fee and raise cash to purchase the wheelbarrows and ingredients.

One of the successful applicants was Fred Remington. The 47-year-old Harley-Davidson fanatic, who hails from Bristol, RI, opened a Del’s in Honolulu three years ago and sells soda at University of Hawaii football games and flea markets.

“They work their ass off all summer and then they go down to Florida to relax,” Remington said over the phone from Oahu. “So, I figured, if they’re making that kind of money for five or six months, what better opportunity than when I have summer in Hawaii all year round?”

Remington’s operation includes a manufacturing facility, and he plans to sell franchise rights to area hotels and the Honolulu Zoo.

Vanessa Willey, 46, a Del’s franchisee in Chicago, hopes to make enough money from the business to pay her daughters’ college bills. Willey, of Coventry, R.I., started it in part after hearing her father-in-law courting his wife by driving her to a Del’s.

Willey employs about 30 high school and college girls during the summer.

“If they’re good at Del, they’ll be good at anything,” Willey said. “This is not a floor sweep. This is the real world.”

The company is a family affair. Delucia has been working there since he was 10 years old. His daughter Stephanie, 26, is president of the company’s division that sells alcoholic beverages. Its operations manager, Joe Padula, is a childhood friend who started out collecting discarded cups in the parking lot for $2 a day.

Del’s stumbled upon Dimitri Kazantzis, its resident food scientist. Delucia says he met the Greek-born Kazantzis while visiting the Johnson & Wales University campus in Providence.

“We just walked into the food science administration building and we weren’t looking for anyone,” Delucia said. “I saw him and asked him if he could make some light lemonade and he said he could, so I hired him.”

Seventeen years later, Kazantzis has expanded Del’s offering to include black tea, blueberry, cherry, kiwi, mocha, peach, mango, strawberry and core lemon.

“I think it’s one of those products that sells,” said Stephanie Delucia. “It’s all natural and we’re proud of that. There’s so much junk out there, it’s good to have a drink that’s anti-junk.”

That’s one of Del’s secrets to success, Mazze said.

“We in society are so used to packaged products, but every individual remembers the opportunity to get something freshly made at a counter,” he said. “Many people believe that buying at the stand means the product is fresher and brings back good memories.”

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