Kiva Iowa profile: Jay’s Water Ice brings Philly flavor to Iowa

When you see the Jay’s Water Ice food truck at area events from spring to early fall, you will have another option to beating the heat.

Owner Jermaine Wilson offers 27 flavors of a treat that’s like Italian ice, plus other foods. For the Cedar Rapids July Freedom Festival, you’ll find it just beyond the festival perimeter.

After following his girlfriend (now wife) to Cedar Rapids, he and his kids were always bringing “Philadelphia Water Ice” back in a freezer after returning to Philly for visits.

Because his family here missed the special Philadelphia Water Ice treat that he grew up with in Pennsylvania, he decided to start a business selling the fruit-flavored treat in the Cedar Rapids area 8 years ago, especially perfect for hot weather.

“It’s different than shaved ice cones, with more water mixed in with the syrup for a consistency like ice cream,” said Wilson. “In New Jersey and New York, it’s called Italian Ice.”

“I started trying it with our church family,” said Wilson. “I had an 8-foot-wide freezer in my truck that I brought the ice back in from Philly. I introduced it to people as chipped ice with a flavored syrup on top, and everyone loved it. They told me ‘You need to start this because we’d buy it!’”

Advantages of this product are that it is lactose-free, gluten-free, cholesterol-free, and fat-free. You can also get sugar free. When on a liquid diet, health professionals often give you Italian Ice. It’s served in scoops like ice cream.

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“It’s another alternative to ice cream that doesn’t use milk, so most can consume it, and it’s good and tasty,” he said. A small cup is $3.00 and a large $6.00. Flavors include banana daiquiri, orange cream, pina colada, chocolate, bubble gum, and strawberry lemonade, with mix and match available.

After pedaling his bike cooler around neighborhoods for only two to three months in summer, Wilson got smart and put the bike in a trailer to carry it around. In 2015, he found a food truck, more officially gearing his business to three seasons. He added freezers, plumbing, and learned to deal with the Health Department. At that time, he worked for a lawn service, and more recently, he has had a delivery job.

On the food truck, he added real ice cream scoops and ice cream sandwiches, plus a hot dog roller, and nachos and cheese. The ice cream flavors include blueberry cheesecake, pistachio nut, Snickers, and black walnut ice cream.

In 2019, he acquired a machine to make the ice himself. The Philadelphia company, which now ships to Chicago and LeMars, sells him the syrup for the ice. The company founders also grew up loving the flavored ice and grew it into a billion-dollar company.

Wilson plans to continue building his business to become a wholesaler. He’d like to offer discounts to churches or fundraising groups. He also plans to expand his cooking options with an exhaust system, grill, connectors, and fryer on his food truck. His dream is to purchase a more expensive ice-making machine to replace the smaller one he purchased in Des Moines.

“I want Jay’s Water Ice to be a household name,” Wilson said. He parked his truck at the New Bo Kiva event on June 12, and he will also be at Collins’ Aerospace on July 17, at a STEM event.

Jay’s Water Ice recently received a Kiva micro grant. He was fully funded in two months by 126 donors, including national and international groups. Kiva offers up to $15,000 loans, cost-free and interest-free. Lenders are repaid within three years. See www.newbo.co/kiva

“Kiva is amazing because it helps you realize that others believe in your dream, too, so it encourages you,” Wilson said.