Pacheco Water Store

The story of the rise of Pacheco Water Store is primarily the story of a fierce longing for the American Dream. Culinary mastery is secondary; the colorful and refreshing takes on popsicle flavors the store is known for are almost incidental to David and Rosa Pacheco’s business success.

They immigrated from Guanajuato, Mexico as teenagers, and were full-time farm workers for some 20 years. David aspired to go into business for himself some day, and in 2009 came across the process of reverse osmosis to treat and purify water, and hatched an idea.

He and his wife opened the Pacheco Water Store in downtown Gonzales on June 5, 2010, in a 2,000-square-foot space where silver pipes and stacked translucent blue water jugs take up one wall and a back corner, creating an industrial scene. Otherwise, a black-and-white checkered floor gives the place the feeling of an old-fashioned ice cream parlor.

They treat water using a system similar to what’s proposed for a desalination plant in Marina, forcing water through a membrane to remove salts and other impurities. It’s still a significant portion of their business, selling jugs of water to some 15 regular customers including farm labor contractors and growers. But a newer, tastier creation has outgrown the water side: ice cream and popsicles.

“We started with our water business and said, ‘What else can be good?’” says Janet Pacheco, one of David and Rosa’s five children, all of whom still work in the family business.

They decided to use their RO-treated water – which they say has a smoother texture and flavor than tap water – to make ice cream and popsicles.

Rosa started off with a couple of flavors, slicing fresh fruit by hand and freezing it into popsicle form. She still slices and smashes all of the fruit by hand for 22 flavors of ice cream and 40-some flavors of popsicles. “It’s in the touch,” she says in Spanish, holding up her hands from a bucket of strawberry bits of uneven sizes.

On a recent afternoon, Rosa and her brother, Benjamin Rivera, are making fresa con crema (strawberry cream), strawberry coconut and straight strawberry popsicles. There’s a bucket waiting on the side to make a batch of piña pops, which consist purely of diced pineapple – waiting here for Rosa to drain off some liquid – with a little sugar added.

Rosa preps the fruit while Rivera spears rows of strawberries with popsicle sticks. In a few minutes, those will go into into Rosa’s fruit/sugar/cream mixture. The prep takes most of the time, several hours before they’re ready to pour the fruity-liquid mix into popsicle molds, then float them in a stainless steel tub of chilly moving water. It’s barely bigger than a bathtub, and the water is cold to touch, but not frigid; they let the pops chill for about 20 minutes, then add the sticks before individually wrapping each one then moving them into the freezer.

“We’re constantly watching them,” Rosa says.

They’ve recently added new flavors including avocado, raspberry and piñon nut. The case out front presents shades of red, green, blue and white, colorful and creative combinations for $2 apiece.

The walnut flavor features nut chunks crumbled in a sweet, creamy base that’s more like ice cream on a stick; the plain strawberry is slightly tart and bright, while the strawberry and cream is sweeter and denser. They’re all indulgent and refreshing variations that fall into two categories: milk-based or water-based. With the variety and price point, it’s easy to see why there’s often a line of customers – many still wearing bandanas across their faces from a day in the field or helmets from nearby packing sheds – out the door on hot afternoons.

But the most popular item is the bionico, a parfait with freshly chopped fruit – by hand, of course ($4.50/small, $5.50/large). There’s also other classic snack fare on offer, like nachos ($2.50/small, $3.50/large), drinks including horchata ($1.50/small, $3/large) and 22 flavors of ice cream ($1.75/small, $4.50/large).

The Pachecos are opening a second location in Salinas (with an estimated opening date the first week of November). They’ll keep making pops using the treated water onsite at their Gonzales store, then deliver them to their new digs, which Janet will manage while also attending nursing school. (“We all have our other jobs, but we still come here and work here too,” she says.)

Janet reflects on the grind of building a successful family business: She recalls as a child being awoken at 4am by her farm worker parents to go to a babysitter before they started work. After they opened the store eight years ago, it was a new kind of challenge, with the whole family missing holidays and birthday parties to stay open on weekends.

“At times we’d complain how busy our mom is, but spending time at the store together is family bonding,” Janet says.

Her 12-year-old son, she adds, is counting the days until he turns 16 and can work here too: “It’s really a family-run business.”

PACHECO WATER STORE • 216 Alta St., Gonzales, 11am-8:30pm daily • New location open date TBD at 1033 E. Alisal St., Salinas, 11am-8pm daily • 675-2913.