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What began as a novel concept for community outreach has morphed into the centerpiece of a competition for up-and-coming chefs that will be featured on a Minneapolis TV show.
Spire Credit Union purchased a food truck this summer with the idea, suggested by Executive Vice President Stan Edwards, of using it as a “reverse food truck,” traveling to local events to serve snacks and drinks and to accept donations for local food pantries. The 28-foot truck wrapped in the colors and logo of the Falcon Heights, Minn., credit union has made the rounds to such events as the Minnesota State Fair and CHS Field, home of the St. Paul Saints baseball team.
Then came a new idea to use it as a vehicle for fostering entrepreneurship by hosting a competition for budding food truck chefs and offering part-time use of the truck as the prize. In September, Spire managers were busy interviewing prospective competitors and planning the culinary event, which will be featured in short segments on the local Fox affiliate show, “Discover Delicious,” says Jim Ganger, VP/member and partner development for the $858 million credit union (www.myspire.com).
During the cook-off event in October, three competitors were scheduled to take over vendor stands at CHS Field and prepare one signature dish and their own unique take on cheese curds to feed about 120 guests and five judges, including Edwards, a local celebrity chef, and a Saints ballplayer, Ganger says.
The winning chef will have use of the Spire food truck for 16 days a month from March 15 through Sept. 15 (given its winters, food trucks are not a winter phenomenon in Minnesota), throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and to attend for free the Food Truck 101 course cosponsored by the credit union on the business of operating a restaurant on wheels. When the chef is not using the truck, Spire CU employees will continue to motor around to events to promote the CU and accept food pantry donations.
The food truck chef competition could become an annual fall event, Ganger says—a way to support local entrepreneurs and recent culinary school graduates and to showcase Spire CU’s business services by offering loans to help competitors purchase their own trucks.
The Spire food truck was also featured at the Minnesota Food Truck Festival in September, which just happened to be located across the street from the CU’s newest branch, set to open in November in the St. Paul Lowertown neighborhood. That appearance coincided with a social media launch of the truck’s own Facebook page and Twitter account, to announce its appearances around the area.
“This all began with Stan’s idea for a reverse food truck, but the deeper we got into it, the more ideas we had,” Ganger says. “It’s definitely taking on a life of its own.”
The food truck is not Spire CU’s first foray into motorized marketing, he adds. Archie, a 1947 Ford pickup named for founder Edgar Archer and tied to the credit union’s motto “Driven by Midwestern values,” is a regular at area parades and festivals and the model for diecast replica toys sold for $10 to raise money for charity.
Karen Bankston is a longtime contributor to Credit Union Management and writes about credit unions, membership growth, marketing, operations and technology. She is the proprietor of Precision Prose, Portland, Ore.
