Gelato on Wheels: Combining A Love of Great Flavors and Food Trucks through The Wandering Scoop
Collider is passionate about sharing the stories of Rochester entrepreneurs and small business owners. We recently chatted with Jeremy Marquez, who last year was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of owning his own business through his mobile gelato bus, The Wandering Scoop. Here’s his story!
Photo by The Med City Beat
“Owning my own business was a childhood dream of mine,” Jeremy explained.
“I had some relatives that ran a furniture store and a restaurant which was cool to see growing up. I’ve never been much of a rule follower and I always liked the idea of having the freedom to do my own thing. I just didn’t really know what I wanted to do for a long time.” he continued.
Jeremy was raised in Rochester and has remained here for most of his life. After graduating high school, he pursued a college education in music and accounting at Winona State University. He met and married his wife, they settled down in Rochester, and started their family which has grown to include three children.
After college and for the following ten years, Jeremy managed retail at Trader Joe’s. He also worked “off and on” at Chocolatarie Stam in the Galleria during those years.
“I mean chocolate and gelato, what’s not to love? I kind of fell in love with gelato when Chocolatarie Stam asked me to make it for a summer about five years ago. Initially a lot of the recipes were just box mixes. I thought we could do a bit better than that. So I started researching traditional Italian methods of making gelato. The following summer I spent a good amount of time experimenting with recipes and focusing on better ingredients.”
As Jeremy was learning how to make delicious gelato, thoughts of owning his own business lingered, and an interest in food trucks developed.
“As the food truck scene was picking up I started thinking about how fun it would be to run one.”
In 2019, Jeremy rented a mobile cart from Chocolatarie Stam to experiment with serving at events and in various spots around town. The gelato was well received and Jeremy started thinking more seriously about the possibility of starting a gelato based food truck. His school bus business ended up being a lucky Craigslist find, as the bus was already outfitted as a diner inside. He and his wife purchased the bus and started building a plan for what would later become The Wandering Scoop.
Their plans were quickly disrupted by the pandemic.
“2020 was a difficult year. We wanted to start the business, but I wasn’t sure when restaurants would re-open or how long it would last. Everything was up in the air too long into the summer to get going in time and I had to push off our plans to the following year.”
In 2021, Jeremy licensed the truck, went through various inspections, and had the bus up and running for business in July. He felt challenged by the tasks of learning how to market his product, finding businesses to collaborate with, and establishing a consistent customer base during the all too brief six months when the truck can be open for business (and people are eager to buy gelato). “No one wants to buy gelato out of a food truck in January,” Jeremy said, chuckling.
During the months that The Wandering Scoop is operational, the now bright pink school bus can often be found at the Red Barn Learning Farm in Hayfield, the Farmers Market, and local breweries such as Thesis Beer Project, Little Thistle Brewing, and LTS Brewing Company.
Photo by Corrie Strommen
“Over the last year I’ve really fallen in love with a lot of the local breweries here. They’ve created some great atmospheres and it’s great to see people in their outdoor spaces enjoying the weather while having a drink and talking to friends.”
Jeremy also makes the bus available for events, whether that be at local churches or schools, or for graduation and birthday parties.
Jeremy enjoys developing the delicious gelato flavors which they rotate through often.
Photo by Corrie Strommen (the Raspberry Lemon Swirl is her favorite!)
“The gelato I would consider my ‘signature flavor’ I make with a special chocolate that I import from Ecuador. I spent a lot of time researching and working with a farm based in Ecuador to get the chocolate here.”
“I really like working with my hands and creating delicious gelato. I enjoy the process of tweaking recipes and making them better.” he continued.
Jeremy sources his milk locally from Kappers Big Red Barn in Chatfield as well as using local honey when he needs it for certain recipes. He would like to work with local farmers for fruit as well, but this can be a challenge as he uses as much as twenty pounds of fruit per batch of gelato; many farms can’t keep up with the quantity that is needed. Jeremy hopes to develop some uniquely Minnesotan flavors in the future. Looking forward, he would also like to work toward opening his own brick and mortar shop.
For now, he’s happy with The Wandering Scoop and sharing the experience of running it with his family. “My oldest son is seven and he just loves coming along and helping me out on the truck. It’s really rewarding seeing him interact with all these people he’s never met before.”
Though he’s busy with The Wandering Scoop as well as working another part time job, Jeremy spends much of his free time with his family. They spend as much time as they can outdoors, camping and hiking. As a musician, he also enjoys singing and playing the guitar, piano, and violin.
To those considering starting their own business, Jeremy said, “Just go for it. The biggest challenge for me was just getting over my own mental hurdles. I didn’t feel like I was ready when I got started, but I’m really glad that I did. Not everything is perfect, but I know that I’m serving an awesome product and I can just keep tweaking things along the way.”
“I love seeing people come back for more. There’s something amazing about creating a product that people love. It makes me want to keep going.”
Thank you for taking the time to read Jeremy’s story! If you find value in this content, please consider donating to help Collider continue amplifying the voices of Rochester entrepreneurs. You can also learn more about The Wandering Scoop and where to find their delicious gelato by clicking the link below!
A special thank you to our storytelling sponsor, Fredrikson & Byron, for their support! Their Midwest-based law firm is known as the firm “where law and business meet.” Their attorneys provide practical legal advice and advocacy that help people achieve their business goals. Just as Collider amplifies the voices or Rochester’s business community, Fredrikson & Byron helps new and growing businesses with a full range of services, combining a common-sense approach with decades of experience. to get things done for clients.
Article by Corrie Strommen, Director of Community at Collider.
