I’ve never heard of a shaved ice truck before, so I pinged Get Shaved for the inside scoop. Kristin Roskowick, a co-founder, responded to my queries.

1) Why shaved ice from a truck? Aren’t trucks hot, with like griddles and burners and stuff? How do you keep it cold enough? Why not a pushcart?

When my husband and I were brainstorming ideas for our first business, we decided we wanted to do a shave ice and ice cream store because one, I’m a frozen dessert fanatic, and two, it is hard to find authentic Hawaiian style shave ice around here. We had two issues that we came across. One: we did not have enough money saved up to do the store the way we wanted to and it was nearly impossible for us to get a small business loan to cover the difference since we had no prior experience with owning a business (banks require a minimum of two years being in business before they will give you a loan — we couldn’t even get a business credit card!!) and, two, at that time (about two years ago), commercial leases were, what my husband and I considered, unreasonably high and we were concerned that we would be setting ourselves up for failure if we took on that kind of overhead. I think we were right for the most part because since then so many small businesses have gone under, due in part to their unaffordable leases.

Thus, we decided instead to create a mobile shave ice and ice cream store which required lower startup costs. Also, we believed it was less risky than a store because we would be able to go where the customers are.

Our truck was custom made specifically for shave ice and ice cream so there are no griddles and burners and stuff. We have a freezer that fits about 350 lbs. of block ice, an ice cream dipping cabinet which fits about 4 3-gallon tubs of ice cream, and a condiment refrigerator where we store our backup syrups, condensed milk, et cetera.

I think it’s obvious when you see the picture of our van that there is much more of a wow factor to our van than a pushcart which allows us to reach a much broader clientele. Also, we wanted a store on wheels and a pushcart did not give us sufficient storage space for ice cream, all of our syrup flavors (most pushcarts offer 4 or 5 flavors maximum, we offer over 20 flavors), and ice. We would also have to tow a pushcart which is much more of a hassle to park and unload versus driving up with our van.

2) What’s your background? When did you start?

I have a B.A. in Economics and my husband has a B.S. in Physical Education and Health. Before starting our business, I was working as a contract administrator for the Exposition Light Rail Transit Line in Los Angeles, and my husband was a property manager in LA. When we met over ten years ago, we always knew we wanted our own business but we never had the means (i.e. funding) until about two years ago. Planning started about two years ago but our actual operations did not start until October 2008.

3) Where do you operate? Do you have a fixed schedule/route? What’s the best spot for ice sales?

The van operates all over Los Angeles County. We also have a cart in Universal CityWalk. No, our schedule varies from week to week but there are a couple of spot that do remain fixed each week. We post our schedule for the week on our website and we update it each day via Twitter. It just depends, there’s not one spot that stands above all others. If I had to pick, the top three cities for ice sales, they would beNorthridge, Sherman Oaks and Torrance.

4) What’s the deal with block ice versus cubes? How much is a normal size?

Hawaiian style shave ice should ALWAYS be made with block ice. This allows the ice to be shaven very fine which creates the proper texture for shave ice (never crunchy) and allows the syrup to stay in the ice rather than sink to the bottom like a snocone. Also, “shave ice” machines that require the use of cubed ice are no longer permitted by the health department in Los Angeles County. How much is a normal size? Our prices range from $3 to $4.50 depending on size and add-in options like ice cream and/or azuki beans.

5) What’s the best flavor combo, and what sunglasses should I wear when I’m eating it?

Hahaha…that is a trick question my friend. It depends on the pallet of each person…some prefer tart vs. sweet and vice versa. My husbands favorite combo (right now) is the Root Beer Dream (root beer shave ice with vanilla ice cream at the bottom and sweetened condensed milk on top). My favorite combo (right now) is the PassioNut (passion fruit, coconut and melona shave ice with vanilla ice cream at the bottom). The most popular combo on the menu is the Monkey Brains (strawberry and banana shave ice with vanilla ice cream at the bottom and sweetened condensed milk on top).

As for sunglasses, hmmmmm, that’s a toughy but I think any pair will do…we’re not picky around here!

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