Hannah Nygren didn’t set out to be a fruit-slinging kingpin when she started with a kayak and a hand-drawn sign in 2023. But now, she’s the captain of a Fruit Float fleet and owner of a recently opened brick-and-mortar cafe.
Her four Fruit Float boats sell fresh-cut fruit sourced from Lily Jo’s Produce and Florida coconut waters to Pinellas County boaters and beachgoers.
The Fruit Float Cafe, which opened Sept. 19 at 13050 Gulf Blvd. in Madeira Beach, builds on that with smoothies, açaí bowls, fresh fruit, toasts, and coffee.
“It’s really a joy to provide something fun, fresh, and unique to our community,” Nygren told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
Fruit Float is one of the only women-led marine businesses in Pinellas County. The 12 women who work for Nygren work both on the boats and at the new cafe, which now allows them to work in the off-season.
The cafe’s grand opening “blew my expectations out of the water,” Nygren said. “It was really, really humbling and gratifying to see how many people support what we’re doing.”
The turnout reminded her of the official Fruit Float’s first outing in the spring of 2024. A massive line of customers waited at Madeira Beach for two hours, and the boat sold out.
“That’s when I realized that it was going to be a really successful beach amenity,” Nygren said.
With Nygren’s success, there came challenges. During her first year of business, Hurricane Helene devastated Pinellas’ shoreline community, including both Nygren’s business and home.
“Obviously, nobody was on the beach or at the sand bars for the following months after Helene, and that was definitely a difficult obstacle to overcome,” Nygren said.
“But as a lifelong Pinellas County resident, I don’t feel scared of hurricanes, and I feel excited about building a business in our community, despite the risk of natural disaster. If anything, Hurricane Helene made our business stronger.”
But the aftermath of Hurricane Helene brought support through the struggles. Precision Marine in Largo and Suzuki worked together to gift Fruit Floats Boats two new motors. Florida Tiki Tours and Hubbard’s Marina embraced Nygren and her business.
“I think the common negative perception that we have about having a women-owned, operated, marine business is that there would be maybe some level of cattiness, or, you know, this, like negative perception that we wouldn’t be capable of doing these tasks on our own,” Nygren said.
“But I will tell you that working with women has been such a pleasure. All of us get along really well. We empower and uplift each other. It has been an incredible experience to watch these young women gain confidence and grow into themselves with the support of such a unique job.”
The Fruit Float Cafe is open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. For more information, follow @fruit.float and @fruitfloatcafe on Instagram and Facebook.
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Fruit Float Cafe
This article appears in Sept. 25 – Oct. 1, 2025.