Today we’d like to introduce you to Jochen Esser.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Having a strong hospitality background, I have had a passion for great food for as long as I can remember! Working for an internet marketing company, I started seeing food trucks surface in social media and other online venues in the South Florida area in late 2010. After driving to Miami to experience some of the amazing Food Trucks and their creative takes on Street Food, I immediately fell in love with food trucks.
Living in North Broward, my family and I started looking for food truck events that, at the time, were limited to Miami. After a while, we got tired of taking on I95 traffic and asked some of the food truckers we had met along the way why they would never come north to Palm Beach County. There were no events up north for them to join and they felt it would not be worth the drive.
This is where I decided to put on one event only, to show that Palm Beach County would be worth the drive. I had no real experience producing events and was hoping that I was going to be able to generate enough interest in the Palm Beach County residents to make it worth the food truck’s while to take the drive from Miami to Boca Raton. Boomers of Boca Raton on Airport Road was a great partner for our endeavor!
The event took place on May 11, 2011, and had amazing turnout! Gourmet Truck Expo was born on this day. We had amazing attendance and lots of press coverage. Following the event, I was inundated with calls, emails and social media messages from people, that wanted me to set up an event at their locations. For the next couple of years, I worked in the evenings on creating new events with dozens of great locations as a hobby in the evenings,
In 2013, I made the jump, leaving my corporate job as a VP of Operations for an internet marketing agency and decided to focus all of my attention on Gourmet Truck Expo full time. It was a somewhat scary decision, leaving full-time employment with benefits and a steady paycheck at first but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made! I could not have done this without the wonderful encouragement of my family! It enabled me to make a living, doing something I absolutely love! Gourmet Truck Expo is taking me full circle, allowing me to combine my hospitality experience with my internet marketing experience and my absolute passion for these amazing, creative Food & Beverage companies we call Food Trucks!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like most small businesses, there are ups and downs over time. In the almost eight years of building Gourmet Truck Expo, I have seen the Food Truck industry grow from just a few Food Trucks in South Florida to an industry of well over 200 active trucks in the area! Producing public events with amazing turnout in 2011 was easy, in part due to the novelty factor. People were curious and excited to be part of the Food Truck movement! Fast Forward to 2019, food trucks has become a part of everyday life. There is a large number of public events where people can come out, grab a bite and enjoy some live entertainment, family activities and more. Today, we are not only creating events, adding food trucks to other types of events, but we are also providing catering services for many corporate events like product launches, employee appreciation events and of course private events like family reunions, weddings and many more! Adaptability to the ever-changing socioeconomic environment is key!
Please tell us about Gourmet Truck Expo.
Gourmet Truck Expo’s focus is the creation of amazing experiences for our guests. This applies to public events and to our corporate and private catered events alike.
Our business is a relationship business. Our deep understanding of hospitality, customer service, combined with our integrity and will to deliver for our clients, as well as to the amazing food trucks we are fortunate to be working with is what differentiates us from other companies trying to do the same.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We look forward to continuing to work with our existing clients as well as creating new, amazing and rewarding relationships in the future! Stay tuned for new locations and amazing new offerings!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://GourmetTruckExpo.com
- Phone: (855) 483-3663
- Email: info@gourmettruckexpo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gourmettruckexpo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GourmetTruckExpo
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/wcfla
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