Today we’d like to introduce you to Pucker Up Old Skool Lemonade.
Hi Pucker Up Old Skool Lemonade, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always wanted to start up a lemonade business! I wanted to travel to different events, spend more time with the kids and have fun!
Christos and I previously worked together at a restaurant in Titusville. We always talked about working for ourselves. I would share my past experiences working a lemonade stand at events across Florida. It was so much FUN! I asked him if he could build me a rustic lemonade stand out of wood…it expanded to so much more!
Christos had the idea of making the business a food trailer. We started sharing ideas and worked together to create our new business plan. I wanted to stick with the logo my friend Todd Reed (Your Local Art Dealer) had drawn for us because it has such a great story behind it!
East Orlando Farmers Market in Waterford Lakes gave us a beginning to this amazing madness. We have grown so much with our lemonades. We have exceeded expectations and quenched thirsts of thousands! At Pucker Up, we offer a unique twist on the ideas of traditional lemonade! Starting off in Orlando, we felt we had to stand out amongst corporate businesses. Christos and I used our culinary talent and have expressed our love for flavor through our craft lemonades and vegan menu!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Are you kidding!? Every day is an obstacle! With a total of six kids, sports, school projects, juggling two households and daily prepping, every day is always a challenge!
Honestly their are so many obstacles and challenges we face on a day to day bases. There is not a day of silence in the food truck industry. The struggle of trying to find a commissary kitchen to get licensed when we first started was one. To get a business to agree to share space with you and trust you with their space was super challenging and a huge blessing for us! Finding a food distributor that would deliver for us on a small scale without a minimum was hard. We use plant-based meat alternatives and finding a distributor that carried our products and works on pricing was and still is a challenge to this day. Food cost is skyrocketing and although we were under the radar for a decent stretch, we too are starting to see the effects of rising costs, lack of product, and more so lack of quality in produce.
We also rely on local events to keep busy, we have some local businesses that allow us to set up on their property but it isn’t always a successful day. Being a vegan food truck like we’ve mentioned is definitely a struggle in our community. We knew from the beginning it would take time for people to come around. Some of our greatest following are customers who ordered not knowing our food was vegan and blew their mind when a friend said, “you know that’s plant-based right?”
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Christos and I have both worked in the hospitality industry, for him over 20 years, for myself 17 years. We have both worked various positions within the industry including management, cook, prep, server, marketing manager, host, you name it we did it!
We love what we do! We strive to exceed expectations of our customers! Food for me personally has always been my happy place. It’s a work of art! Not only does it have to look good, but it has to taste even better! Excellent food and good vibes bring people together.
I’m stoked I get to work with my best friend. We have learned to set aside our pride in order to succeed professionally. It has been amazing to watch each other grow!
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Risks, everywhere I was seeing that word “take RISKS.” I follow a lot of successful entrepreneurs and it only made sense. What did we have to lose after a foundation was built?
With the whole world literally on shut down, things didn’t look too promising. We couldn’t start our business. It was pointless, but Christos talked about expanding the business to a plant-based food truck. “We didn’t need events to get started,” he said. That didn’t sound too promising either! At that time, I was new to the plant-based diet that was highly suggested by my gastroenterologist. I was so against it for myself let alone for a business! It’s a very niche market where we are in the Space Coast!
This was a huge financial risk for us to take during Covid. I wanted a rustic lemonade stand made from wood with a swift trip to Lowes for a couple of hundred dollars. Obviously, with food now on the menu that wasn’t an option anymore.
We visited various trailer companies that specialized in food trucks/trailers. It was very discouraging to say the least. We finally came across a company in Waycross GA, Southern Dimension Trailers. Took a trip, toured the facility, gave them our ideas and within a few hours we were driving home confident with our decision.
Contact Info:
- Email: PuckerUp321@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puckerup321/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Puckerup321/
Image Credits:
Halim Urban – Village Food Tours – www.villagefoodtours.com – pictures of Christos and I David Christopher – Foto Tropix – fototropix.com – food pictures
