AZ Lemonade Stand is an up-and-coming beverage brand that has taken the Valley’s favorite drink and made it their own. The company did $1.35 million in sales last year and is projected to do $2.75 million in 2024. The sales goal for 2025 is even loftier – they’re hoping to reach $5 million.
Founded in 2020 by chef Tom D’Ambrosio and his business partner Kyle Hollenbeck, the brand had 700 accounts by the end of 2023. As of September 2024, AZ Lemonade Stand is sold in more than 60 Fry’s locations and is available in over 1,000 retail locations throughout the Grand Canyon State.
The Arizona natives met at Shea Middle School in Phoenix and are partners in Aioli Gourmet Burgers, where they started serving homemade lemonade in mason jars. The idea for concocting a lemonade brand came after they opened an Aioli inside a Fry’s grocery store. Hollenbeck said they were next to a sushi restaurant that was “cranking out all this sushi,” but they “couldn’t give away a burger.”
“We thought, ‘Oh, we’ve made it! We’re partnered with Fry’s,’ but then we realized nobody wants to eat a hamburger – a gourmet one, at that – while trying to shop in a grocery store,” Hollenbeck said.
Fry’s offered the opportunity to fill a cold case with one of Aioli’s products. They tried a burger kit and a salad, but neither worked. D’Ambrosio said that Hollenbeck recalled how successful their mason jar lemonade had been.
“Kyle said, ‘Why don’t we just do the mason jar drinks that you used to make?’” D’Ambrosio said. “They sold like crazy.”
According to the company, by the end of 2022, AZ Lemonade Stand had sold 1,698 jars of lemonade, mainly through its food trucks and at Aioli Gourmet Burgers. By the end of 2023, 489,000 jars had been sold.
D’Ambrosio graduated from Culinary Institute of America in New York and is a past winner on Food Network’s “Chopped” series. He said that what sets AZ Lemonade Stand apart from competitors is that their lemonade is made in small batches by hand, focusing on distinct flavors.
Prickly Pear – their top seller – is a nod to the Arizona desert, while Huckleberry is an example of a lesser-known flavor. There are also collaborative flavors such as Rising Raspberry, produced in partnership with the Phoenix Rising soccer club, and Peach (#Lovepup), in support of LovePup Dog Rescue. Other flavors include mango, strawberry kiwi, and berry-flavored Jamaica Tea.
The lemonade is made using lemons grown in Arizona and Florida and manufactured locally at BLT Kitchens, which has a shared kitchen in Sunnyslope.
Hollenbeck estimates AZ Lemonade Stand will have produced approximately 5,000 barrels by the end of the year. The business uses a process similar to beer brewing to make each batch.
As AZ Lemonade Stand continues to grow, its founders are focused on taking their handcrafted, Arizona-inspired beverages beyond the state’s borders.
With a strong foundation built on quality, local ingredients, and community partnerships, D’Ambrosio and Hollenbeck aim to make their unique flavors a staple across the Southwest and beyond. Their sights are set on expanding to New Mexico and Las Vegas, leveraging their partnerships with Cisco, Hensley, and Shamrock distributors to reach even more retail locations.
As they look to the future, the goal is not just to increase sales but to share their passion for creativity, flavor, and Arizona pride with a wider audience, one jar of lemonade at a time. For more information and to stay updated on their journey, visit azlemonadestand.com.
