{"id":229562,"date":"2025-09-15T20:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T20:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/229562\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T20:18:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T20:18:11","slug":"a-husband-and-wifes-dream-began-12-years-ago-with-a-tricycle-cart-now-they-own-a-store-in-jacksonville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/229562\/","title":{"rendered":"A husband and wife\u2019s dream began 12 years ago with a tricycle cart. Now, they own a store in Jacksonville"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 Twelve years.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how long it took Julieta Mosqueda and her husband, Oliver, to go from selling ice pops from a tricycle cart to opening a brick-and-mortar store in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the place that we were dreaming of 12 years ago,\u201d Julieta Mosqueda, co-owner of Guanabana, told News4JAX.<\/p>\n

Julieta and Oliver’s dream began with a tricycle cart 12 years ago. (Courtesy of Julieta Mosqueda)<\/p>\n

Guanabana, a handcrafted ice cream and smoothie store, started with Julieta and Oliver\u2019s desire to bring something different to Jacksonville, something that would allow them to embrace their Colombian and Venezuelan roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to bring something fun and natural here. We don\u2019t like the artificial colors or the artificial flavors, so we want to bring something natural. Really refreshing,\u201d Mosqueda said.<\/p>\n

Guanabana, also known as soursop, is a fruit native to Central and South America. Mosqueda said that fruit has that unique flavor that they want to be known for.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur name is a little difficult. For people is very hard to pronounce. But we want something very Latin,\u201d Mosqueda said.<\/p>\n

But the road to the store on Gate Parkway has not been easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the mentality at the beginning to figure out how to start a business is very hard. All the paperwork, the permits. It\u2019s very hard. Also, another big problem was the funding,\u201d Mosqueda said. \u201cThe language is very hard because we try to do it, but it\u2019s an obstacle.\u201d<\/p>\n

But with the help of local organizations and the determination to make their dream come true, Julieta and Oliver have been making things happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle by little you start to get all the stuff, all the processing and you see back, and you see, wow, that was not that hard,\u201d Mosqueda said.<\/p>\n

Guanabana food truck. (Courtesy of Julieta Mosqueda)<\/p>\n

Now that the store is up and running, their focus is on customers, like Alexandra Louie, who has been a Guanabana customer from the beginning \u2014 from tricycle cart, to food truck, to brick-and-mortar store. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been almost, what, nine years, almost ten years since I know them. And I feel again proud of our heritage of who we are, and that they have been able to extend who we are to other communities, not only American people,\u201d Louie said. \u201cJulieta and Oliver are a great example of hard work, dedication, and it\u2019s paying off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexandra Louie has been a loyal Guanabana customer for almost a decade. (Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

For Mosqueda, nothing makes her happier than seeing her customers leave satisfied.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel very proud when people come and try very unique items here. For example, the Latino-style fruit bowl, that is very special because it\u2019s the real fruit bowl from my country,\u201d Mosqueda said. \u201cWhen they try, they love it and they come back and back for more.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why she said they try to not only include Colombian and Venezuelan items in their menu, but also treats from other countries. They want everybody to feel included.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s the secret ingredient to a successful business like Guanabana?<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a real family business,\u201d Mosqueda said. \u201cOur kids always help us. A little by little, they start to learn more about this business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guanabana family. (Courtesy of Julieta Mosqueda)<\/p>\n

Because at the end of the day, family is the driving force behind Guanabana.<\/p>\n

To learn more about Guanabana, visit this website.<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Twelve years. That\u2019s how long it took Julieta Mosqueda and her husband, Oliver, to go…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":229563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,718,3188,723,990,55553,101743,7310,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-229562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-community","10":"tag-fl","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-food","13":"tag-hispanic-heritage","14":"tag-hispanic-heritage-month","15":"tag-jacksonville","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115210164930665100","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}