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Food truck wannabes get a crash course on 'The Great Food Truck Race'

"Rolling Indulgence" made it to the seventh week before being eliminated from the competition, and while the Dayton trio didn't win first place, the competition taught them a lot about menu planning, branding, soliciting locations and customer service

Jess Sarra, Travis Day and Drew Ballard had an exciting time competing in The Great Food Truck Race.

August 7, 2019 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

Part one in a two-part series

Drew Ballard, his fianceé, Jess Sarra, and his longtime friend, Travis Day, dreamed about having their own food truck. As foodservice professionals with different areas of expertise, they've long believed they have what it takes as a team to succeed in the challenging but exciting food truck business.

Little did they know they would have the chance to put their skills to the test this summer in Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race," which airs at 9 p.m. Sundays and is hosted by celebrity chef Tyler Florence. It was a great opportunity for the three young food truck wannabes, all of whom hold top management positions at a Dayton. Ohio steakhouse, Carvers Steak & Chops.

Tyler Florence samples the Rolling Indulgence menu served by Drew Balland and Jess Sarra.

This summer, the trio competed in Season 10 of "The Great Food Truck Race," pitting their cooking, selling and business skills against eight other food trucks in a series of contests on beaches along the Atlantic Coast. The TV show followed the teams' efforts to outsell each other on a different beach every week, with one truck being eliminated each week based on sales, and aired on national TV from June 9 to July 28.

A rewarding experience

Ballard, Sarra and Day's truck, "Rolling Indulgence," made it to the seventh week before being eliminated from the competition. And while they didn't win the $50,000 first place prize, the experience has reinforced their drive to make Rolling Indulgence a real business. The competition taught them a lot about menu planning, branding, soliciting locations and customer service, the trio told Food Truck Operator in a group phone interview. The competition was fierce and they highly respected both Florence and their competitors.

Florence gave advice to each team individually throughout the competition. He encouraged them to focus on their brand and stick to it, Ballard said. 

"If I could do it again, I'd do it three more times," Day said.

"Essentially, it was a crash course," Ballard added. "Crash course university of food truck 101."

Each three-person team of food truck novices had to figure out how to apply their foodservice experience to operating a food truck. This included finding locations to sell the trucks, buying the food from local stores, getting customer's attention on the beaches and being able to serve them satisfactorily.

A supportive community

The Dayton trio had no trouble getting permission to take time off from their restaurant, Carvers Steak & Chops, where Ballard, 27, is head chef, Sarra, 26, is head of marketing and Day, 35, is head bartender. They enjoyed the moral support of not only Carvers Steak & Chops, but the Dayton community. The Dayton Daily News chronicled their progress in a series of articles.

"We eventually want to branch off and do our own thing in the industry," Ballard said. "We had this concept, and when the show came about, we put our idea on paper. And then it quickly built up to a real thing."

Ballard came across the casting call for the show on Facebook.

"I was a fan of the show," he said. "I'd watched the show for quit a while. When I saw the casting call, I read the questions for it. It sounded like a great idea."

Season 10 of the Great Food Truck Race was looking for aspiring food truck operators who had never previously owned or operated a food truck. Ballard submitted an explanation of his concept for a food truck, including a menu and a budget.

"We had to come up with all of that prior to going on the show," he said.

He didn't hear anything for eight months. His mind was actually on other matters in early February, as he was getting ready to propose to his girlfriend, Sarra, when the call came in from Food Network.

"I thought it was a one in a million chance, and it turned into reality," Ballard said. Food Network interviewed the team twice by phone and five times on Skype. Ballard, Sarra and Day answered the questions as completely as possible. And at the end of what seemed to be a long process, they earned their chance to compete.

As elated as they were, it wasn't long before they were put to the grindstone. Their food truck education was soon to begin with a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Part two of this two-part series will explore the lessons they learned on their journey.

Photos courtesy of Food Network.
 

About Elliot Maras

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Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.