Vapouround magazine Issue 08 | Page 156

EVENTS THE WORLD SERIES OF VAPING M I AM I By Patrick Griffin 2016 HIVE JUICES & INTENSIVE CLOUD UNIT SHOW OFF THEIR VAPER EXPO AWARDS IN MIAMI Two juice companies exhibiting at The World Series of Vaping expo were proudly displaying the awards they won the weekend before in Birmingham. Hive Juices and ICU (Intensive Cloud Unit), both based in Florida, won awards at Vaper Expo UK - The Return and they were prominently on display at their stands. Hive owner Dario Vasquez started with just one juice flavor in early 2015 and now has 11 separate juice lines and 14 different flavors. Dario set up the business in Dania Beach, Florida, in a bid to persuade his son Dante, 23, to quit smoking and it worked. Now Dante works with him as juice maker and they have never looked back since. 156 ISSUE 08 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE His first juice - Sweet Honey - picked up two awards when it made its debut at Vape Expo New Jersey in 2015. It was voted Best in Show and Best New Flavor and is still hugely popular with customers today. Dario took a team of four to Birmingham and said he had an amazing time at the three day event. In fact it was so amazing that he totally sold out of every single juice line he brought to the show and took so many advance orders that he was still processing them a week later. Then the icing on the cake was being called to the main stage on the final day of the event to learn that he had won another two awards to add to his collection. “Our stand was busy from start to finish on all three days and we got so much much positive feedback from everyone it was fantastic.” His Mr Waffle Cone won Cream of the Show - it is a waffle cone with vanilla bean soft-serve ice cream - and the judges were highly impressed with how the flavor combinations worked. Next he won Best Dessert for his Crunchy Cream Churro Donut e-liquid which is a cinnamon sugar donut with maple glaze. Dario, from Boston, Mass., said he was blown away at how