During a Hawaiian vacation six years ago, Peggy Speir’s husband, Martyn, enjoyed the Island’s popular shave ice so much that he purchased his own shave ice machine when he returned home.
But Speir was unimpressed by the dayglow colours and artificial flavours of the Hawaiian shave ice and felt there must be an alternative. Already a chef for the music industry, she turned to her husband and said, “You can have the shave ice, but I’m going to make the syrups.”
Using natural fruits and botanicals (often handpicked), she began making small batches of flavoured syrups for her husband, and they also became popular among friends and family, who urged them to have a market stall.
At the time, they’d both reached a point in their careers where they needed a major change, she says. “I thought, ‘Well, let’s just do this… it will at least bring money in and give us a clean slate to figure out what our next step will be.’”
Now in its sixth year, the Frost Bites stand at Squamish Farmers’ Market is rarely without a line-up, especially on hot days, and Speir is gaining a reputation as the snow-cone lady. “A few years ago, I was walking across Nester’s parking lot and a little boy was with his mother… and he just goes, ‘Mom, it’s the snow cone lady.’” Hearing that brought tears to her eyes, she explains. “To be known as the snow-cone lady – I’m honoured, I’m blessed, I’m grateful.”
Visitors to the stand can now buy both the snow cones (flavoured with Speir’s natural syrups) and bottles of the cordial to take home, each of which, says Speir, is inspired by an event or experience.
“Strawberry and rhubarb is a classic pie flavour. Everyone has an association with that as a nostalgic homey, spring-summer thing, but for me it was one of my first dates with my husband.”
Her elderflower syrup reminds her of romantic, poetic moments of walking among elderflower trees. And then there are others she just loves, such as passion fruit and mango, raspberry vanilla, and Meyer lemon lavender.
Peggy quit the music business three years ago to work on Frost Bites full time, and she says her husband is about to leave his job to join her. People familiar with her background though are sometimes surprised to see what she’s now doing, she says, but she couldn’t be happier.
“We don’t want to stop doing this. For as long as we physically can, we will.”
They’ve often been asked to share the secrets of their success but there is no right answer, she says. What worked for them was defining what success looked like and using that as their compass.
But she adds, “Success doesn’t happen overnight. You might make a great product, but you’ve got to earn the customer’s trust and you have to just keep at it, constantly improving every little aspect.”
Visit Frost Bites each Saturday at the Squamish Summer Farmers’ Market on the corner of Cleveland Ave at Victoria, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Frost Bites syrups are also available at select retail stores and at other market locations.
