By Cecily Walters | Ballston Patch
Craving a cupcake? Sweet Fleet, LLC, offers a variety of treats—including cupcakes (flavors vary, but have included Red Velvet, Blueberry Lemon, S’mores and Apple Sea Salt Caramel), cookies and more—baked by Jason Reaves, who will compete on the Food Network in October.
The Sweet Fleet mobile visits numerous Arlington locations, including, but not limited to, Ballston, Courthouse, Rosslyn, Crystal City and Shirlington.
John Cox, owner of Sweet Fleet, LLC, shared more insight into the story of Sweet Fleet.
What is your most popular menu item? “Our most popular item is by far our Red Velvet cupcake.”
Describe your business a bit and what motivated you to start a food truck. “We are a family-run and -owned business. My wife and I started this company with a desire to bring a fun environment to an often boring lifestyle of working in a cube. We like to dance, sing and have fun. We are trying to bring a smile to faces that normally don’t smile too often anymore with such negative news in the press. We are all about fun and food.”
How has Sweet Fleet survived the sweltering summer heat? “Between the AC failing, cupcakes melting and workers melting, it’s been a real bear. We have spent thousands of dollars trying to stay cool, and we’re doing our best to keep up with what Mother Nature throws at us.”
How has business been since the truck got its start? “People have been fantastic; some have offered to do a flash mob, which we are excited for once it all gets put together. We have regulars that are very supportive, and people have been very responsive to our contests, promotions and dance competitions.
We try to provide a very fun environment with trivia, dancing and general pop culture from the 80’s, 90’s and today. People have worn Harry Potter outfits for free cupcakes, moonwalked, dressed like Michael Jackson, sung and danced and answered trivia about the USA during our Celebrate America Week leading up to the 4th of July. We have had people answer trivia regarding United States history, movie history, cartoon history, cupcake history, etc. The responses have been great, and it keeps us going.
We have also been asked to be at several events around the city, which we are excited about attending soon. We have been filmed for Channel 7 and interviewed for Northern Virginia Magazine, The Washington Post and different web blogs. It has been a very exciting first couple of months for us.”
Does Sweet Fleet have anything planned for the near future that you’d like to share with Patch visitors? “We absolutely have some plans in the works… let’s just say people are getting thirsty and we’re noticing.”
Sweet Fleet has been nominated as Favorite Food Truck for a Food Network competition. Vote at www.foodnetwork.com/foodtrucks. The food truck with the most votes will win a spot on the third season of the Food Network’s “The Great Food Truck Race.”
Where to Find Sweet Fleet
For more information on Sweet Fleet, including its scheduled location stops, visit its Twitter or Facebook. Cox reported that a Sweet Fleet website is currently in the works.
http://ballston.patch.com/articles/sweet-fleet-caters-to-arlingtons-sweet-tooth#c
