Hall and Courtney Boss are cruising for a cause with their new Kona Ice Truck.
The decked out, shaved ice truck features a tiki hut top, self-serve wild flavors like Island Rush and Tiger’s Blood and offers a healthier, innovative twist on the traditional snow cone.
With the capacity to serve 500 people in an hour, the Kona Entertainment Vehicle, or KEV, is a self-contained and self-sufficient machine that runs off battery power and solar panels with interior freezers to hold the ice.
“The neat thing about it is we shave the ice like Hawaiian shaved ice, so it’s not traditional,” says Hall Boss, who operates the ice truck with his wife, Courtney. “It’s real fine, soft ice. And we allow the kids and the adults or whoever it may be to flavor it on the side of the truck.”
The KEV features the company’s patented Flavorwave, a row of do-it-yourself spigots that dispense the truck’s top 10 most popular flavors from inside the vehicle.
The snow cone itself is not your traditional sugar water snow cone. With 24 calories, six grams of sugar, less than one mg of sodium per serving, the treats are loaded with vitamins C and D. The Kona Ice snow cone has been certified Smart Snack Compliant by the FDA.
According to Boss, the business is territory based with the husband and wife team having a stake in the western area of Acadiana, including Eunice, Crowley, Carencro, Arnaudville, Breaux Bridge, Sunset, Grand Coteau and Downtown Lafayette.
“We bought into that area, and we just decided to invest a little bit of money and see how it would work out, and it’s been great ever since,” says Boss.
The Bosses can also partner with schools throughout the area to host "Kona Days," which allow administrators to raise money for underfunded programs and initiatives.
According to Courtney Boss, the couple has given back more than $2,300 to local schools, organizations, youth sports leagues and families in need since they started their business in June. And nationwide, the Kentucky-based Kona Ice franchise has donated more than $35 million dollars to community-based organizations since its launch in June 2007.
“We do 20 percent givebacks to non-profit organizations such as schools, churches, cancer benefits and any type of fundraising activity," Hall says. "Obviously, it’s a business, but it’s unbelievable to see these people’s faces when you give them back something, and it helps them in the long run.”
To find out more about the Bosses' Kona Ice Truck operation, and to follow where they will pop up next, follow them on Facebook at Kona Ice of Acadiana.