APPLETON, Wis. — A Wisconsin business owner is bringing his Mexican heritage to the Fox Valley.
Hugo Ramirez’s Appleton business Frio Mexican Treats is sharing sweet delights one scoop at a time.
There are many reasons customers love coming to Frio Mexican Treats. A big reason is the owner Ramirez’s sense of humor.
This native of Mexico loves sharing how he ended up in the Fox Valley.
“My brother was an interchange student here in the Fox Valley and I came for the holiday to visit him,” Ramirez said. “So that’s all ended up in Appleton, Wis.”
For the past five years, he has delighted Wisconsinites with his one-of-a-kind Mexican dairy delicacies.
“Our unique Mexican ice cream flavor is basically tamarind,” Ramirez said. “Tamarind is a fruit that is really popular in Mexico, actually like 60 to 70% of Mexican candy is made out of tamarind.”
Ramirez said he wondered how to introduce the sweeter side of the Mexican culture into the Fox Valley and hit on a solution.
“Create a lot of things that were American and give a little Mexican twist, so people will be more familiar with and they were less afraid to try new things,” he said.
He said that included avocado ice cream and customers can’t get enough.
“It’s actually one of our top sellers,” Ramirez said.
He said another wildly popular Mexican American treat is adding a piped fried dough called a churro to ice cream.
“One of my churro treats is called Mexican S’mores,” Ramirez said. “Everyone is familiar with s’mores, so we make Mexican vanilla ice cream with hot fudge and marzipan.”
Peter and Kathy Beyer said they have come here at least once a week for the past three years. They said they love the churros so much it’s become part of their mealtime routine.
“Sometimes we end up having our supper here. Ice cream for supper with churros,” Peter Beyer said.
He has tried many other desserts, but he said one is his favorite.
“I keep coming back to the Oreo ones with the churro and so on,” Peter Beyer said.
But Kathy Beyer said what’s impressed her the most is how Ramirez spends his winters.
“When he closes his shop in December around Christmas,” she said. “He goes back to his home where his family is in the mountains in Mexico and many of the people there and the children have no toys or have very limited food and he buys toys for them.”
Ramirez also gives back to his neighbors in the Fox Valley. He said generosity is key to his success, and he hopes others are inspired by his story.
“It gives the imagination to other people to younger people, if they see it as like, oh, well, they got to make it,” he said. “Like I made it, I can make it, too.”