When Lazy River Products could not tame the bitterness in a high-water freeze pop, Extract Consultants recommended a liquid bitter blocker and the exact ratios to use it. One reformulated batch cleared the off-notes, reopened a lineup that had been stuck at two flavors, and helped turn a stalled product into a summer sellout.
A freeze pop seems simple to make. This one was not.
Lazy River Products is a Massachusetts manufacturer with locations in Dracut and Tewksbury, known for premium products and for taking on builds other companies pass on. The sleeve-style freeze pop was one of those builds. It became one of the harder projects in the catalog before it became one of the better ones.
The problem: over 60 percent water
Once the team settled on the right ratios of stabilizer and homogenizer, the finished pop came out to over 60 percent water. That much water is hard on flavor. The base held onto a bitterness the team could not cover, and every batch came back with the same note.
Dialing in the ratios took batch after batch on a full production line.
They tried countless combinations of flavors, salts, and acids, and got very little for it. Two flavors eventually passed with everyone’s agreement, so those two went to market.
Sales were decent at first, mostly because the pop was new. Then interest faded. Two flavors made for a thin lineup, the company had already put real money into the line, and there was little to show for it. "It was disheartening to say the least," Keith Brooks recalls.
Why Lazy River wanted a partner, not another vendor
Lazy River had cycled through terpene and ingredient suppliers for years as its product range grew. Most could make a decent ingredient. What the team wanted was harder to find: someone who would get into the problem with them.
A lab partner they trusted had worked with Extract Consultants for years, and pointed them our way. Timing made it urgent. The Fourth of July was coming, one of the biggest selling stretches of the year, and Lazy River wanted the pop back on shelves before it arrived.
What is a bitter blocker?
A bitter blocker is a flavor ingredient that turns down the perception of bitterness and other off-notes without piling on sweetness or burying the flavors you want front and center. In a high-water base, where there is very little fat or sugar for flavor to lean on, a well-dosed bitter blocker lets a formulator build around the flavor itself instead of around whatever is covering the base.
The fix: one ingredient, the right ratios
The suggestion came down to a single ingredient: our liquid bitter blocker, worked into the base at specific ratios.
"We were skeptical given everything we had already done," Keith admits. The team ran it anyway, adding the blocker to a batch of the flavors that had failed before.
The first reformulated batch, filling and moving fast.
This tasting went differently. The bitterness was gone, and the pops tasted like they were supposed to.
"The results were nothing short of amazing. Everyone agreed the infusion flavor was gone, and they tasted like the freeze pop people would want."
Keith Brooks, Lazy River Products
The result: sold out, and back in production
With the bitterness handled, the two-flavor problem disappeared. The team could build the pop around whatever flavor a customer asked for. "The freeze pops sold out fast and we are making them as fast as we can," Keith says. A line that had been close to getting cut is now one of the company’s better sellers.
Back in production, and going out as fast as the team can make them.
A partnership that continues after the sale
For Lazy River, the ingredient was only part of it. "Working with EC is absolutely delightful, fun even, a very rare trait for any vendor experience," Keith says.
"They don’t operate like a vendor; they operate like an extension of our product development team."
Seth Yaffe, Lazy River Products
Through a run of projects, from fixing a formula to testing a new idea to getting something out on a deadline, that back-and-forth has helped Lazy River build better products and move quicker on them.
"There are plenty that make quality ingredients," Seth adds. "In an industry where service often stops after the sale, Extract Consultants continues to invest in our success, and that’s why we continue to choose them."
That is how we prefer to work. Buy the product, and the consultation comes free. We would rather stay in a problem with a customer than close a sale and move on.
More than a product company
Lazy River is more than a freeze pop operation. The team puts steady effort into its community: local food banks that supply emergency feeding programs, the Lowell General Hospital TeamWalk for CancerCare, community organizations it spotlights through the year, and a hiring approach that reaches people from the areas hit hardest by past policy.
That work takes time and attention, and a product stuck in endless reformulation eats into both. Getting the freeze pop working again handed some of that time back, which is the part of this we are most glad about.
Frequently asked questions
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Why is bitterness so hard to cover in a high-water product?
In a high-water base there is very little fat or sugar for flavor to cling to, so bitterness and other off-notes come through clearly. Adding more flavor, salt, or acid often muddies the profile instead of fixing it. A bitter blocker lowers the perception of those off-notes at the source, which is why it works where masking usually fails.
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Can a liquid bitter blocker be used in freeze pops, beverages, and edibles?
Yes. A liquid bitter blocker blends evenly into water-based formats, including freeze pops, beverages, and many edibles. For Lazy River Products it was dosed into a sleeve-style freeze pop running over 60 percent water, which cleared the off-notes and reopened the full flavor lineup.
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Does a bitter blocker add sweetness or change the flavor you want?
No. A well-dosed bitter blocker turns down bitterness and off-notes without adding sweetness or masking the target flavor. That lets a formulator build the product around the flavor itself rather than around whatever is covering the base.
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How quickly can a stalled product be reformulated?
It depends on the formula, but a focused fix can move fast. In Lazy River's case, a single reformulated batch with the correct ratios cleared the bitterness that months of earlier testing could not. Working with a formulation partner who can recommend the right ingredient and dosing shortens the path considerably.
How do you start a formulation project with Extract Consultants?
Tell us about your product and format, and our team will help scope the right flavor and ingredient system. Every product ships with full documentation, and the consultation comes free with the product. Reach us at sales@extractconsultants.com.
