Download File - The Six Flags Museum

Fort Worth Star-Telegram
November 7, 1994
By Sandra Baker
When Charles Moore was handed a half-million lemons five years ago, he followed some
age-old advice and made lemonade - frozen lemonade , that is.
"At that time, we knew we were making something that was a different format but really
didn't recognize how unique it was," Moore says.
What Moore invented was Lemon Chill, a frozen treat that is devoured by more than 100
million visitors to amusement and theme parks nationwide every year.
But just as impromptu as its development, the product has reached retail shelves and
taken the company in an entirely new direction.
"We've doubled every year since we started," Moore says. "I don't know how long we can
keep doubling, but . . . it has a lot of life left in it."
Moore, who at the time was supplying cakes and dinner rolls to Six Flags Over Texas,
developed Lemon Chill to solve a problem for the park's food service operations.
One day while chatting with the Six Flags folks, Moore says he simply asked if they
needed any help. Their response: "Not unless you can squeeze a half-million lemons."
"They were having an enormous problem with keeping up with the demand for fresh
lemonade ," Moore says.
The park was also under pressure to match a popular frozen , slush-type lemon product
being offered at a California amusement park, he recalls.
Drawing on his experience making ice cream, Moore spent six months developing the
product that eventually became Lemon Chill.
Bruce Neal, a Six Flags Over Texas spokesman, says Lemon Chill quickly became a park
tradition. There was only one problem: keeping it in stock and being able to dish it up fast
enough.
"What he came up with was better than anything on the market," Neal says.
Moore, a Baytown native and a graduate of Texas Christian University's Brite Divinity
School, got into the food service business in 1973 when he opened Italia, a Boston-style

submarine sandwich shop in the TCU area.
Two years after opening that shop, he sold it to his partner and opened the Back Porch on
Camp Bowie Boulevard. Initially, Moore made only ice cream, but he expanded into
sandwiches and other menu items and began a small bakery when sales slowed during the
winter.
He opened a second Back Porch near TCU and sold it this year to the store's manager. He
continues to supply food for the restaurant.
Moore has quietly been expanding his Lemon Chill company, keeping a low profile
because he says he was unsure at first whether the company would succeed.
But Lemon Chill outgrew its manufacturing facility on May Street, where the company
still operates its headquarters, after one year. Lemon Chill is now manufactured in San
Antonio and Oklahoma.
But other flavors are still developed and tested at its kitchen here. The company
introduced Cherry Chill in 1993, Strawberry Chill this year and will roll out Lime Chill
next year.
To better identify the product on the shelf, Moore has redesigned packages and begun to
advertise. Some Fort Worth buses display the new "splash of fruit" design being used.
In 1989, Lemon Chill was available only at Six Flags Over Texas. Now it's in Six Flags
parks in Chicago, St. Louis and New Jersey. Moore say he is negotiating to sell the
product in the three other Six Flags locations. On top of that, Lemon Chill is in at least
half of the nation's top 40 amusement parks. It's also available at zoos, water parks and
sports arenas nationwide.
The product's growth began a couple of years ago when the manufacturer who built the
display carts originally used at Six Flags asked for help at an International Association of
Amusement Parks of America trade show.
As a result of that show, Lemon Chill picked up many new customers, and the cart
manufacturer won a first-place award for Best Display.
Lemon Chill's debut in the retail market, though, happened unbeknown to Moore.
Because Lemon Chill is sold in 25 states, warehousing the product became laborious,
Moore says. So last year, it became more cost-effective to use a distributor network, he
says. As a result, some distributors were able to get the product into convenience stores,
including a fast-food restaurant on the Ohio Turnpike.
"Suddenly, without our knowledge, it appeared in retail locations, and it both surprised us
and we were concerned," Moore says. "How it got there nobody knows."

Now, grocery stores locally and in Illinois, Arkansas and Minnesota are carrying the
product as a test.
"It's one of the few products that has evolved out of the theme park entertainment
industry and is now going into the mainstream," Moore says. "Usually, it goes the other
way."
Moore recently hired Dan-o Strong as director of marketing and sales to oversee retail
growth. Strong comes to Lemon Chill from Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, where he served as
a sales director.
Because Lemon Chill has a strong customer base from those who have sampled it in the
parks, Strong predicts that grocery store sales will be good.
"This is the right time for this product," Strong says. "It reaches everybody."
Moore takes a more simplistic view of the product's popularity.
"The only reason products are successful is because people like it," he says. "I'm amazed
with the number of lives this product is touching."