A vegan popsicle vendor in Chicago has apologized and backed out of plans to sell from a push cart in a public park after being accused of 'cultural appropriation'.

Frozen desert startup Peachy issued the apology on Tuesday, after the company's enthusiastic announcement of the new push cart in Logan Square was met with furious online backlash.

Hundreds mobbed the company's Facebook page this week, accusing Peachy of stealing job opportunities from Hispanic street vendors, and of appropriating the culture of paleteros, as the roving ice treat vendors are known.

'Just get rid of this!' one person commented. 'Let the hardworking paleteros make their earnings!!'

Peachy owner John Lawrence Geary, 35, did not immediately respond to a message from DailyMail.com, but gave an emotional phone interview with Block Club Chicago. 

'I'm coming from such a place of love that it's just saddening to me that I'm getting so much hate for it,' Geary said, choking back tears. 

Geary explained that he had lost his job at a concert venue when the coronavirus pandemic hit, and in response poured his time and savings into the new frozen dessert venture.

His goal was to open a storefront healthy snack counter in the neighborhood, but when the plan hit regulatory snags he decided to start selling from a pushcart temporarily.