Manheim farmer Linn Fahnestock spent five years squeezing his way into the local market. Now he's looking for maximum exposure for his all-natural fruit drink.

Orchard Freeze, a proprietary frozen mixture of several fruits, began selling in May at Sight & Sound Millennium, a Christian-theme theater that brings up to 25,000 people to shows each week.

Since then, Fahnestock said, "the sky is the limit" for him and his partner, Dave Wickert.

"I guess you could say it was worth the wait when you can access that many people with a start-up product," Fahnestock said.

The 12-ounce cup offered in orange and grape flavors sells at Sight & Sound for $3. It has a naturally sweet taste and provides the equivalent of three helpings of fruit, Fahnestock said.

He, Wickert and the theater staff offered samples of Orchard Freeze to about 7,000 people who attended three recent shows.

"We found out that we had to engage with people, and once we did that, the product sells itself," Fahnestock said.

Exposure at Sight & Sound has paid off for Orchard Freeze. Fahnestock said restaurant owners, vendors and other retailers, including Giant Eagle Foods grocery chain in Pittsburgh, want to sell Orchard Fresh.

"We're just on our feet and not ready for that yet," Fahnestock said. "Right now we don't know how to service all the people who've approached us ... we're still walking, not running yet."

Orchard Freeze has a rented warehouse in Manheim that features a recently-installed cold box, about a dozen slushy machines and no employees other than Fahnestock and Wickert.

Jonathan Merchant, Sight & Sound spokesman, said because Orchard Freeze fit perfectly into its business model and "its size is irrelevant."

"We are very concerned about appealing to healthier choices for our patrons," Merchant said. "Orchard Freeze has managed to come up with a product that meets the healthy criteria, yet still has a great taste and is a consistently goodselling product."

Orchard Freeze has focused on landing deals with local businesses such as Isaac's, Auntie Anne's, Hershey Foods, Dutch Wonderland, local fairs, area schools and others.

The men admitted running into several closed doors, but Orchard Freeze has impressed other influential people.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture recently awarded Fahnestock its 2007 Entrepreneurship Award for creating a new business by expanding the market of his onfarm operation.

PAgrows, Pennsylvania's program to help agricultural businesses use grants and loans, helped Orchard Freeze create a brand and find a market. Products in the PAgrows program must use 90 percent of ingredients from within Pennsylvania. So what actually is in the grape and orange Orchard Freeze?

Fahnestock's not saying.

"Obviously, oranges aren't produced in Pennsylvania, but they make up only a small amount of what makes up the drink," Fahnestock said. "I can't say what else is in it, but it's all fruit and almost all of it's grown right here."

Orchard Freeze is being tested in the lunch rooms at RR Donnelley's east plant and at Highmark in Camp Hill, and is also sold at the Lebanon Expo, Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire and at Cherry- Crest Farm.

Wickert said Orchard Freeze's proprietary mix of juices requires no artificial sweeteners, dyes or preservatives. He said it meets and exceeds federal guidelines for school districts.

The company is looking at ways of packaging the Orchard Freeze slushy into a frozen novelty item on a stick or a push-up style treat.

"This is the product that combats the obesity factor and provides a healthy snack to school children," Wickert said.

Wickert said restaurants and schools say they're interested in providing healthy foods like Orchard Freeze, but usually balk because natural foods cost prohibitively more than soft drinks.

"The trend is to go to a healthy initiative," Wickert said. "If the company follows that initiative they're showing their patrons that they care about their health, and not just necessarily about their profit and bottom line."

For more information go to www.orchardfreeze.com

E-mail: pburns@lnpnews.com