From shaved ice to hot coffee: Kona Ice owners launching Pensacola Beach coffee truck
A Travelin’ Tom’s coffee truck will be rolling out to Pensacola Beach soon headed by local Kona Ice owners Russell and Karen Bartlett.
They were approved in late January for Travelin’ Tom’s to begin operating in Pensacola Beach by the Santa Rosa Island Authority (SRIA). The Bartletts acquired the truck in recent months and plan to operate it in the same areas as their Kona Ice trucks.
As a part of the amended license agreement, the two trucks cannot operate at the same location simultaneously. In his request to the SRIA, Russell said that the Travelin’ Tom’s truck would occasionally operate in lieu of the Kona Ice truck at whichever of their two locations, Park East or West, is vacant.
The Travelin' Tom's truck has already begun to roll through the Pensacola area. The Bartletts have been working since November to put word out about their new coffee truck are events across the area. They own eight Kona Ice trucks in total, serving customers and doing events from Niceville to Perdido and even in some parts of Alabama.
“It’s very different in that it’s more complicated than shaved ice, it just takes more knowledge,” Karen said. “But it’s fun to do something different.”
The Bartletts said that they intend to bring the Travelin' Tom's truck out to Pensacola Beach for the first time during Spring Break. As long as Travelin' Tom's isn't booked for an event during that day, their coffee truck will replace their Kona Ice truck in the evening.
Here’s what we know about the coffee truck that’ll be rolling onto Pensacola Beach soon.
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What is Kona Ice?
Launched in Kentucky in 2007, Kona Ice is a franchise of shaved ice trucks that was inspired by founder Tony Lamb and his young daughter's encounter with an ice cream truck that was "creepy, dirty and off-putting," according to the company's website. That inspired Lamb to create Kona Ice as a mobile shaved ice company with four cornerstones: cleanliness, friendliness, a delicious product, and giving back to the community.
Kona Ice began franchising in 2009. By 2016 the business hit 800 Kona trucks sold, and by 2019 had expanded to 49 states, according to the company.
What is Travelin’ Tom’s?
Travelin’ Tom’s is a multi-state mobile coffee truck franchise that is a venture of Kona Ice and serves a variety of customizable drinks. The coffee truck’s customers can choose from coffees, lemonades and teas as well as their signature “Tilt” Nitro Energy drinks, among other options.
Similar to how its parent company operates its shaved ice trucks, Travelin’ Toms’ business model is traveling to different events and locations across their respective areas such as schools, hospitals and festivals.
Since its inception, Travelin’ Tom’s has grown its operations to 19 different states across the U.S. All of the coffee truck’s franchisees already own Kona Ice trucks, similar to Bartlett, as you must be an existing Kona Ice franchisee to become one with Travelin’ Tom’s.
Prospective customers can book an event with Travelin’ Toms through their website.
Where will the new coffee truck operate?
Pensacola Beach’s incoming Travelin’ Tom’s is set to operate at whichever of their two locations that the Bartlett's Kona Ice truck is not utilizing at the time, according to their updated Mobile Vendor Service License Agreement with the SRIA.
The primary location of the Travelin' Tom's on Pensacola Beach will likely be Park West, according to Karen.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Kona Ice venture, Travelin Toms coffee truck coming to Pensacola Beach