Country Time Lemonade starts Legal-Ade team to help pay fines and permits for kids
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Summertime and sunny skies can only mean one thing for the nation's youngest business owners: lemonade stands.
It's a hallmark tradition of American childhood. But in recent years, kids selling this cool drink are getting heat for not having proper permits.
Now a company known for its lemonade mix is stepping in to keep these sidewalk shops running.
Country Time Lemonade is creating a team to help pay fines and permits for kids nationwide who want to run their own lemonade stands. And in the spirit of the drink's name, they're calling their initiative Legal-Ade.
The group will cover fees up to $300 for stands that were fined in 2017 or 2018 or for permits bought this year.
"Life doesn't always give you lemons, but when it does, you should be able to make and share lemonade with the neighborhood without legal implications," Legal-Ade says on its website. "That's why we're here to take a stand for lemonade stands across the nation."
Last week, two Denver brothers selling lemonade for charity saw their stand get shut down because they didn't have a permit. In Texas, two sisters set up a lemonade stand to raise money for a Father's Day present, but they were shut down and fined for not having a permit or health department approval. And in Maryland, fines for permitless stands have reached a hefty $500.
Kids outside of the US are also getting in trouble for selling lemonade, including a girl from East London who was fined 150 pounds.
Adam Butler, Kraft Heinz's general manager of beverages and nuts, said the Denver incident is an example of what inspired the company to help. Kraft Heinz owns Country Time.
"When we saw these stories about lemonade stands being shut down for legal reasons, we thought it had to be an urban myth. After looking into it and seeing even more instances, we realized these weren't myths, they were real stories," Butler told CNN. " A very real response seemed the best way to shine a light on the issue."
To apply for reimbursement, parents or guardians can upload a picture of their child's permit or fine to Legal-Ade's website. The team will cover up to $60,000 in total.
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Here is the reality of this story: Country Time is wanting and getting free advertising off this little scam. They're never going to have to pay the $300 they say they'll pay because kids lemonade stands getting shut down for not having a permit is as rare as a blue moon.
The example cited in Denver was of a couple of kids who set their stand up right next to The Denver Arts festival lemonade stand which was permitted and they were undercutting an existing business within a few feet.
"The stand was set up right next to the Denver Arts Festival, and a lemonade vendor. Knowles understood why someone would be upset, given the circumstances. The vendor was selling lemonade for $7 a glass versus their two cups for a dollar."
In the Texas case "the city agreed to waive the $150 permit fee for the Green sisters", all they had to do was show that the lemonade was being kept cold so as to not spoil in the heat.
The Maryland case centered around a county official who said the size of the operation made all the difference, "Kid's selling lemonade making five or ten dollars is a bit different than making hundreds."
Other than those extremely unusual cases they had to reference a case in another country as if it's relevant and was also another example of an unusual circumstance.
The father and his daughter "had set up the stall in Mile End, east London, while thousands of music fans were on their way to the Lovebox Festival at the weekend."
"Tower Hamlets Council has since cancelled the fine and apologized."
So don't get "squeezed" by this marketing attempt from Country Time, it's a stunt based on less than a handful of cases worldwide where the full story gets obfuscated by misleading headlines. Not that Country Time is bad lemonade, it's just their dishonest marketing department who is trying to profit off our being soured over nothing.
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Good !
What harm are Itsy Bitsy Kids doing by putting up a cardboard sign to sell a few trinkets of lemonade in itty bitty plastic cups.
Folks don't have to buy one ya know.
It's just ridicules out there these days.
This may start a wave of Sidewalk Lemonade Stands by kids.
The "REAL" Good Old Days are coming back ?
This is the most asinine thing....people who rat on kids selling lemonade etc. need to get a friggin life.
I had a lemonade stand back in my day, and not one person said a thing.
Who can pass up a cup of Lemonade by a little kid on a hot day, for just a nickel, and I squished the lemons all by myself. My parents made me, since it was my idea.
Did the same thing but with Koolaid.
Did you use the unsugared packets ?
Yes.
That was work for sure. Like squishing your own lemons. Needed these days.
Now-a-days.....it's "Instant" in a package !
At least these kids are working for something.
"Instant" by "Parents" and "Grandparents" is a fault of youth today !
Wise guy
this is awesome
little conservatives need to be able to learn how to make a buck without big govt stomping on their little dreams.
I have seen a few of those stories on the news. It makes you wonder how miserable with life one must be to turn in children selling lemonade.
Their homes need to be egged and TP'd.
I second that!! Let's not forget the flaming bag of poop. lol
Trump is not the topic.
Makes me all nostalgic for liquid LSD.
As horrible as it sounds to treat lemonade stand kids like their corporate counterparts, will Country Time be paying off judgements for Salmonella deaths from dirty lemonade stands?
Right. Cuz that's an actual national crisis.
You'd be the first one to hypocritically sue the parents for everything they are worth if your loved one got poisoned. Guaranteed.
Nothing wrong with that. And nothing hypocritical about it, either. I don't need government regulations to encourage people to be careful. Common sense combined with the threat of an individual private suit is enough. Why punish all the conscientious lemonade sellers with regulations?
You trust the grubby hands of a 7 year old over a food processing giant to deliver a germ free lemonade. Why am I not surprised.
I kinda do...I'e heard of food processing giants poisoning people. I've not heard of anyone getting sick from a kids lemonade stand.
I’m not saying that it is happening, I’m just saying that I get why community governments are doing this. They’re staying ahead of the curve. At some point it will happen that several people get sick from an unlicensed food provider. Imagine being that health inspector, explaining their historical indifference to kids preparing food for the public, after some nasty germ has been caught and spread through hundreds of people. It’s just thinking ahead.
I would think that the majority of these kids are operating under the supervision of a responsible adult. It’s the ones that aren’t that are a concern. Just because you’re an enterprising kid, doesn’t mean you are responsible.
Oh puhh-leeeeeze! Millions of kids have sold lemonade for decades and I've never read a report about salmonella from those stands. On the other hand, there have been many reports of salmonella from eggs, poultry, meat, vegetables, spices, and nuts sold in grocery stores.
Kids pick their noses and need to be told to wash their hands after they poop. You deserve a nice cup of lemonade from a child.
So do adults who work on farms and in food processing factories and in restaurants. Haven't you ever seen men and women picking their noses, rolling the snot, and then eating it while driving? I have. What's your point?
If they work in food processing plants, or restaurants, or grocery stores, they do not do any of those things while handling food (the vast majority of them anyways). Oddly, it sounds like you would be more willing to drink koolaid from a random child than a random adult. Help yourself.
Do you think the kids are dipping their hands in the lemonade jugs?
Uhhhh ... have you ever met a child?! Do you think no child would ever stick the stirring spoon in their mouth either? I’m not here to judge, drink it up. Don’t think too hard about why you ended up with a summer cold, or violent diarrhea.
Yep! This is where the regulation sickness takes us. Busting kids for lemonade.