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TRUFOO – Interview with Gavin Rudd
You tell me a person who doesn’t like a lovely, fresh juice and I bet you’ll show me a liar. We all love them, right?! And although I sadly don’t get to attend many weddings these days, I have been to a couple where there has been a mobile juice and cocktail bar present. Much of my time is spent either on the dance floor or by the juice bar. There is also the famous“juice cleanse” and let’s not forget a delicious cocktail made with fresh juice rather than those weird pre-mixes.
Basically, juice is where it’s at!
One person who knows this more than most is Gavin Rudd, founder of TruFoo, a mobile juice business. As interesting as it would be to interview a juice bar owner, Gavin is also a true Brave Starter: You could say that the catalyst for Gavin setting up on his own was a poor employer. He was very unhappy in this job, which even caused him insomnia, and realised something had to give. Thankfully the job had to go.
Pre-COVID you would find TruFoo’s mobile juice and cocktail bars at corporate events, weddings and festivals. Not so many corporate events, weddings or festivals happening at the moment…. Instead Gavin pivoted. And this is why we at Brave Starts are such fans; Gavin has set up a blog called street food central where he writes about how to set up a street food or a mobile juice business. Because he likes to help. Because he wants to share what he has learnt over the years; things he wishes he had known when he started. We could not love this more!
Listening to Gavin talk about his food and juice business it is clear that juice was not the only way this could have gone. Gavin is a true entrepreneur at heart as is clear from his pivoting during the COVID crisis. He doesn’t panic, he sees more opportunities. He is resilient like few, forward thinking. He believes in “sticking with it” and he knows that successful results will likely take a couple of years of hard work. He also believes there is a lot of room for more players in the street food/mobile juice bar market, which is also why he is so keen to help.
So what keeps someone like Gavin motivated? Travel, it was always travel. So you see, it all makes sense now. Here is a man with a real passion; travel, but instead of solely focusing on his passion to pay the bills, he looked at what was reasonable and sensible. He saw a gap in the market for Caribbean street food and having seen a mobile juice bar where he thought: “I could do better than that”, he pivoted.
He has picked up many skills along the way and has learned from some of his earlier mistakes: He should have gone with his gut feeling and not opened a fixed premises juice bar. He should have done more research– juices and smoothies are mostly enjoyed in the warmer months, unless of course you attend an event indoors. This knowledge and so much more is what is fuelling his new venture; the street food central consultancy, where he gives away some information and research for free but is also an opportunity for start-up helpfuls to get professional and hands on help from someone who has already successfully done it. Opportunities wherever you look! And rest assured, that passion for travel certainly hasn’t gone away. It is highly likely to find its way into a business opportunity under the Gavin Rudd brand very soon. Watch this space.
If you are someone who has thought of setting up your own mobile food business, Gavin is one of Brave Starts’ experts, so you too can benefit from his knowledge and expertise through a phone call and/or a shadowing opportunity.
Email lucy@bravestarts.com for more information.
