🚛 Welcome to the Vegan Food Truck Business Podcast! 🌱
Hosted by Heather Zeitzwolfe, AKA the Savvy Frugal Vegan, this podcast is your ultimate guide to starting, growing, and thriving in the mobile vegan food industry. Whether you're running a food truck, cart, or pop-up, Heather offers expert advice, business hacks, and essential tips to help you turn your culinary passion into a profitable vegan enterprise.
🌟 Why Listen?
Learn how to transition from chef to savvy entrepreneur.
Discover strategies for financial success, marketing, and growth.
Avoid common pitfalls with actionable insights tailored for vegan food businesses.
Heather is on a mission to empower vegan entrepreneurs and spread compassion through delicious plant-based meals. Tune in for inspiring stories, proven strategies, and a roadmap to building a successful vegan food truck business that changes lives—one plate at a time.
💡 Get ready to save animals, protect the planet, and grow your business. Every episode will fuel your journey with knowledge, passion, and purpose. Let’s hit the road! 🚐
Are your incredible vegan recipes getting lost in the crowd? Wondering how to get people excited about your food truck—before they even take a bite? In this episode of The Vegan Food Truck Business Podcast, host Heather Zeitzwolfe talks with Chanel Goodson, the visionary behind the pink-and-viral Vegan AF Food Truck. Chanel reveals how bold branding and Instagram-worthy offerings can skyrocket your visibility—even in a saturated market. You’ll learn:
Why marketing and branding might matter more than your best recipe
How a bright pink truck captured the attention of celebs and everyday foodies
Actionable tips to stand out and build a dedicated following
Ready to stop blending in and start getting noticed? Tune in and discover how to transform your vegan business into a true must-try phenomenon!
Check out the website for upcoming workshops, events, coaching, and more Website
Heather:
I am Heather Zeitzwolfe and you are listening to the vegan food truck business podcast. my guest is Chanel Goodson the visionary behind vegan AF. a bright pink food truck that she started in Los Angeles. And even in that crowded foodie scene, she made a name for herself. She's taken this food truck way beyond the limits of LA County. She has traveled all over the world with her brand. She believes it's not just about the food. It's about the branding. You're going to learn so much today. let's dive in.I'm so excited to have Chanel here From vegan AF. And I think people know what that means. we're going to learn all about Chanel's journey as a food truck owner. and what she's up to, So Chanel, how long ago did you get started?
Chanel:
It's been four years it's been quite a journey. This is going into year five, Vegan AF is much bigger than a food truck. It's a brand, it's an expression. I came up with the concept of being AF because I was vegan. I've been vegan for, over 10 years about 12, 14 years, people would never believe me that I was vegan. Being a black woman growing up in a black family. I'm always saying, Oh, I'm vegan. AF, when I came up with the idea I knew this had to be the name because it was a way to express myself.
Heather:
I love that you've got a brand around it. of course, Pinky Cole who started Slutty Vegan. Yeah. she was a marketing person she's built an empire around it, which is so exciting. it started with that idea that brand. I love this because as a food truck, vegan separates you, but there has to be something else. got to be something that's going to pull people in, especially the non vegans. for me, my passion is. Getting as many people to go vegan, or at least try vegan. And vegan food trucks, it's so important to me that they stay alive because they really are giving people an opportunity to try veganism people think it's elite and it really isn't. where did you start the food truck? And, had you been a chef before?
Chanel:
My background was in marketing and branding I used to do marketing for like restaurants. I had a heavy corporate background and no food experience. from Chicago and my recipes were like actually designed and created in Humble Park, which is the neighborhood on the left side of Chicago. the whole concept came about because of my experience with marketing. I wanted it to be bold. I wanted it to be pink. I wanted it to be in your face I wanted you to laugh when you read my menu. I wanted you to engage with it. Notice I don't say food truck. I say a brand because I designed it to speak for itself. it started in LA, but kind of accidentally has now kind of involved into like this worldly kind of known name, which is so fascinating to me because I have toured the brand all over. We've been to different cities. We toured in London twice, Ghana, Toronto, South Africa. it's been so unique. seeing the fascination about something that I started way back in Chicago, in a little home in Humboldt park. It's been and interesting journey, but no whole experience. I worked at McDonald's a little bit when I was like 16, but that's it.
Heather:
This shows you the power of branding and how important it is what was that like? you had a brand idea. Then what was the next step? Did you have to buy a truck? how did you even know how to do this?
Chanel:
a lot of research. I am such a risk taker. I believe that the true beauty of life is taking risks. I knew I wanted to do it. I knew I had to do it. I started making calls. I'm like, okay, what does this process look like? What do I need to do? How much money do I need? there's a lot But I think we see so many brands fail, Because of that lack of like branding, marketing And you have to have them both to be successful in this industry, I feel.
Heather:
you did a lot of research. You're very smart and powerful woman. you're like, I'm going to do this. Then you started in Los Angeles. What is that? Like, navigating permits and all of that kind of stuff where you parked in one location or did you move around?
Chanel:
at this time I'm new to LA, I'm navigating being a business owner and navigating also exploring a city for the first time. I don't know much. at this time. I can't tell you what's Hollywood to the Silver Lake to Koreatown because I'm so new. when I first started out, I actually started out very risky. I lived in Koreatown I'm like, let's start here. Then Korean Town was okay. and I'm like, no, we got to go big!. We got to do it crazy. So I'm like, let's go to Hollywood Boulevard. And I knew that there was a lot of trucks there. I knew there was foot traffic but I had this idea where I was like, no, we need to be late night. And we were out there late. I actually got Hella, hella parking tickets. I was parking in the red and I didn't give a shit. I'm like, I need this exposure for my brand. So I was on Hollywood Boulevard every single night. literally to 3 a. m getting tickets, but I was out there passing out samples and I had this idea I'm like, let's start recording reactions and i'm like even if they're bad, I want to record them But luckily they wasn't bad. So it was like, okay, let's post this like let's really give this raw uncut way of showing people trying our food. And that has been our constant theme. If you go through the page, you will see nothing, but these unfiltered uncut videos, raw reaction, that's how I got started. And then from there moved around, kind of played around with Melrose, kind of played around with downtown. it was a journey. And as far as permits, that's when the research came in. I feel like navigate my shit. I was like, okay. I gotta get a food permit. I gotta get a safety license. Y'all know what that looks like. Okay, what is food safety? Study and reading. I was actually going to food trucks. I'm like, hey, what works for you? What doesn't? What I gotta do? I was really going out talking to people that was in the industry to understand what I had to do. And I was a woman. So, the respect wasn't always there. I was constantly told hey, women don't do this. You're cute. Go do something else. So There was a different layer but it was a fascinating journey. I wouldn't change that, honestly,
Heather:
you had a pink truck, which is my favorite color. what was the decision around your, funny names for your menu items. Can you go into that and the pink truck, the visual parts of the branding?
Chanel:
my whole branding concept was done by women, even down to my truck wrapping My wrap design was done by a woman and it was me that said like, gotta be Pink I remember sitting down with the person who was wrapping my truck. She was like, you just want to do one shade of pink. I said, Oh hell no, I want to do several shades of pink. they got to blend and I need it to be bold. And the reason why is like, I needed people to say when they looked at it that a woman was behind it. And that was so important for me. It was like, I needed you to look at it like, this is a woman I own, and it's everything pink. I went overboard. I'm like, okay, cool. I'm doing egg rolls. I want pink boxes. I want pink fortune cookies. Everything had to be pink because I wanted a story behind it. But I most importantly wanted people to be like a woman owns that. it has to be. and what represents Feminity Girl Pink. So, I mean, I'm such a girl to girl, like Pink Nails if I could have pink hair, I would. but the menu names too had to be funny. my most popular bestseller, doesn't matter what I'm at. It's the Vegan AF Philly Roll, when people bite into that roll, they're always like, Oh my God, like this roll is vegan? I'm like, yeah, it's Vegan AF, and the next roll is called the Chill AF Pizza Roll. That name came about because I remember growing up, being in school when I wasn't vegan. I will make pizza rolls and it was like a chill day. Maybe I'm putting on Rugrats maybe I'm watching SpongeBob. Like I'm watching some type of cartoon, but I'm chilling. Like I'm a, you know, I'm a kid. I have no worry. when I designed that role, I wanted it to be chill. fun. then I did the, effed up ass cheeseburger roll. concept with that was, Okay, it's a cheeseburger, but it's deconstructed. It's different. It's like the opposite of a normal cheeseburger I came up with that concept. all funny names.
Heather:
you're tapping into memories of when you were a kid. that kind of comfortness associated with it which I'm sure people can relate to. And that's, what people gravitate towards especially when they're not vegan did you used to cook? suddenly you've got a truck. you weren't a chef.
Chanel:
I was in the kitchen, growing up, mother, grandmother, watching them cook, by the time I turned vegan, I'm like, okay. veganize that, I can make peach cobbler, but I ain't got to use butter, it was a learning experience for me. I had like a little food blog back then before I started Vegan AF and I would just post recipes. But for some reason, when I made my egg rolls, I'm like, I can't post these. I'm going to really design a concept about that. And I really thought like, okay, what's street food and do people veganize that or do people have a vegan element to that? And typically, no, when you think of street food, you don't think of veganism. You don't think of like plant based. that's how it came about. I'm like, okay, I can take this approach and veganize it. And really elevate it in a way, but yes, cooking was always in my like blood, in my spirit, but it wasn't like professionally done.
Heather:
some of the best chefs are home cooks. You don't have to go to some fancy school to be vegan AF. Yeah,
Chanel:
that's your thing,
Heather:
you told us about the parking tickets, which is a pretty common thing with food trucks. what other surprises along the way came about that you had to overcome?
Chanel:
definitely expenses, navigating taxes, understanding what that looks like. when I started, California, minimum wage was a little bit lower, but I wanted to pay my employees a livable wage. I'm like, okay, I want these people to enjoy working for me. And we're going to be busy. So really navigating those experiences, learning how to make money and understanding what it takes to run a brand is way bigger than inventory costs, rent. you want people to work for you, but you want them to be happy to work for you. You want them to show up and be honored. And one of the ways you do that is paying people well. You take care of that. trusting God and my faith saying I don't have all the resources, but give me everything that I need to pay people well. First year being open I paid a lot six months in, I spent about 60, 70K on payroll. I was paying people well, we were busy and I wanted them to show up for me and I needed their help. It really does cost. If you want to be a boss, it costs.
Heather:
that's one of the issues I see when they start a business, they're very passionate about what they do. oftentimes they've been the one who's been doing the work. But if you want to grow your business. You have to step out of that role and let other people take over so that you can become the manager, the visionary, not stuck in the weeds, people get into it and they're like, I didn't know I was going to have to manage people right away. You were like, okay, I know to grow this, I'm going to have to have a team.
Chanel:
Yeah. Cause quite quickly, like me being on Hollywood Boulevard at 3 a. m. That got me into my first Eater LA article, shout out to Matt. he's still messages with me to this day. Shout out to Matt. one of the head, editors at Eater LA, that got me in my first article. then the booklets came, the celebrity clients, I've been quite fortunate, but that doesn't mean this journey was easy. It has been difficult. we see vegan restaurants come and go, all the time.
Heather:
you've started this brand. you're getting in these, blogs. you had celebrities coming in to eat at your truck. how cool is that? if you want to tell us some celebrities, would love to hear that.
Chanel:
Yeah, you know, I'm shocked. I'm on these articles, top places to eat in LA. I'm the only black food truck. remember being from Chicago. I don't know what it was, but I was number five and above me was a well respected chef who's not vegan She run the restaurants out of chicago called grilling the goat little goat she opened in la and i was listed right under her i was like wait me I was the only food truck on this list. I've been so honored to get those type of mentions and I'll take them for granted, but I think it's just proof that like that dedication, that hard work, that pushing through, more so innovation. My concept isn't a concept that is kind of out there, right? I do egg rolls and these variety of the kind of fried and like now you kind of are seeing a little bit of more egg roll places out there but. at the time it wasn't a thing and I designed a whole concept on these luxury burrito soft monster egg rolls and banana pudding and expensive lemonade. the celebrities came organically. I think it was more like, I want this girl, her brain is on point. I always tell people this, people eat with their eyes first, not their stomachs. everything needs to be on point and it needs to be something that people want to Instagram about. I kept saying that. if I don't get my branding right and people don't want to Instagram it and TikTok about it, I need to rephrase it. I need to take a step back and I'm not ready. So I'm like, okay, the box need to be pink. I need to have a certain wax paper. I want pink fortune cookies because I do egg rolls. if you're thinking about going in food, how do you make it look good? it has to taste good too. That's how you retain customers. But how do you get the ones that never taste you? It has to look good. that's been the biggest thing for me. I think that brought in the celebrities. the coolest celebrity I've ever worked with. is Childish Gambino. He hired me for his kid's party. I knew who he was, but we didn't find out, until we got there, I had signed an NDA, I told my team, I'm like, hey, it's completely confidential, everybody has to sign this, all my employees have to sign we can't post about, right? this is the only time I've ever gone on a record, I cater for his child's birthday party. But here's the thing, I'm a super fan of him. I had to like, stand by him for it. I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna let you guys take this. And he was the nicest guy. He loved the food. His kids, his wife, everybody loved the food. They took pictures with him because he let it. And he like got on a truck it was the craziest experience for me. and probably the coolest ones
Heather:
I know that you've got some plans Would you mind telling us about that a little bit?
Chanel:
I am currently in Miami. I'm still going to be operating in LA, but we're coming to a new city. Miami was our first tour stop that we've ever done. I'm announcing it here.
Heather:
How exciting. Now, are you in South beach or where in Miami
Chanel:
at this time I can't tell you but we're going to pop up in Miami and add to the vegan scene out here.
Heather:
there's some very vegan friendly places in Miami. any last words of advice for someone who's wanting to start a food truck.
Chanel:
come up with a. Phenomenal. And excuse my, a fucking phenomenal marketing plan. That has to be key. I don't give a shit if you think that your grandmother's recipes are going to make you millionaires and everybody told your neighbor that it's good, that doesn't matter. And I would just want to be straight up. That does not matter. Your food tasting good is the least important element. And people are just going to say I'm crazy, but it's not. What is your marketing strategy? who is your demographic? Who are you targeting? How much are they spending? Figure that out first. then work on getting the money. the money will come. If you really wanna start a business, you can actually come out. What a good game plan to start a business. That's the easiest part. But what is your marketing strategy gonna look like? come up with that and be extremely detailed about it.
Heather:
I love that. Chanel, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?
Chanel:
we are on Instagram, which is is Vegan AF food truck. You can't miss it. And then I have my personal Instagram, Chanel Coco, C O C O 5, spelled out F I V E
