Morning Start Services Inc., a vending, foodservice and refreshment services provider based in Langhorne, Pa., has expanded into the mobile food business with one truck, and based on the results, plans to add more.
The truck, named “Dio’s Chef Express,” serves hundreds of people daily at a technical institute in Moorestown, N.J., offering cold and heated meals. The 18-foot truck has built-in deep fryer, grill, freezer, refrigerator, cold station and hot station. The truck has professionally designed food graphics on its sides and two serving windows.
One worker works the grill and fryer, one manages the cold food, and a third person takes orders at the window.
The truck is parked in an area close to the school’s break room, allowing students to take their meals inside. During warmer weather months there will be an outside area for dining. Daily specials are listed on a sign near the order window. Offerings include fresh coffee, deep fried foods, wraps, salads, sandwiches, pancakes, and special menu items created by cooks in the Morning Start family.
Since June, the truck has generated enough traffic to employ three people, including Jennifer Diodata, daughter of vending pioneer Edward Diodata, Armanda Diodata, daughter of owner John Diodata, and Antoine Woods, a former cook in the restaurant industry.
John Diodata came up with the idea for the truck after the school, a vending customer, asked him for a way to provide hot food to students. The school does not have an onsite manual feeding operation.
Brian Wilson, a longtime business associate of Diodata’s, took on the task of getting the truck established and now serves as its manager.
Wilson, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and an accountant and former business owner, said the products are sourced from the company’s main warehouse and kitchens. Morning Start Services has a manual feeding and catering division.
Wilson said the staff has to be prepared for “peaks and valleys” in customer traffic. At 8:30 a.m., when the school has its first morning break, as many as 35 students will converge at the truck.
The truck recently began accepting orders via smart phone. The menu will also be listed on a TV in the school’s break room.
The menu has been a work in progress, Wilson noted. He said students are encouraged to suggest new items. He decides whether the requested items can be met, based on cost and how easy it is to prepare the item.
Wilson said the truck has been a success, and the company is currently negotiating with customers for additional trucks.
