Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anny Scarabelli. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Anny, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

The food truck industry has grown tremendously in the last few years. A trend we’ve seen grow lately is people wanting healthier food options. Food trucks are usually associated with burgers, tacos, fried foods, etc. A lot of our clientele have mentioned how happy they are to find a truck like ours, a healthier option that is fun and convenient.

Anny, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My husband and I are originally from Brazil and have been in Sarasota since 2004. Acai bowls are very popular where we come from. One day we started talking and dreaming about starting a business selling high quality acai bowls, something we felt was lacking. After doing some research, we decided to start a food truck. The overhead was a lot lower, and it is the kind of business that would give us flexibility as a family while also allowing us the possibility of growth. We spent the next two years working on a finding a brand of acai we liked, working on the recipe for our ‘bol blend’ (the base of our bowls), and getting the truck ready for business. While making the recipes of the base at home, our daughter, who was 5 at the time, began to call acai “purple ice cream” and that was the start of Purple Bol. Our main goal from the start was to provide a healthy and delicious acai bowl for our community. We pride ourselves in the fact that our bowls do not contain any added sugar or dairy of any kind. Our ‘bol blend’ consists of fruit and apple juice. All our bowls can be vegan and are gluten free. It’s simple, but they are delicious, fresh, and people feel good when they eat it.
We love hearing our customer rave about our product, and we have now gathered a good following of people who say our bowls are the best in town (something we fully agree with, but we are a bit biased). We put a lot of work into ensuring we are providing not only the best product, but also the best service. When you come to our truck you will be greeted with a warm smile, a good conversation, and sometimes even a little 7 year old taking your order. It is a family business after all.

How did you build your audience on social media?

A while ago I heard someone say that social media is the new lobby to your business. It’s the first place people (especially the younger generation) will go to look you up. From the beginning we knew we would have to grow our social media presence in order to gain clientele. We started by adding all of our friends and kindly asked them to share our business with their friends. We then made it a goal to post our locations and schedules on a regular basis, and to create posts that would be inviting. There is also something to be said about being intentional on social media by asking customers to follow and like, however, I will say that the greatest asset to growing our social media presence has been the customers. They share our posts, but more than that, they create their own posts and tag us (it helps to have a product that is ‘pretty’ and looks good on photos), share them with their friends who in turn get curious about what they’re sharing so they go to our page and start following us as well. It’s a win win!

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Word of mouth is definitely the main way our business has grown. Friends tell their friends, who tell their friends, and so it goes. This is why we believe in the importance of customer service. If you have a good product but lack in customer service it is likely that people will not be willing to recommend your business. We find that putting effort into getting to know the people we are serving is just as important as putting effort into what we are selling. We try to remember names, and what our regular clients like to order. We try to remember little bits of conversations we’ve had, and ask about their kids. It’s simple, but the more you do these things the more the customer is likely to talk about your business to the people in their lives. Being kind, polite , loving, happy while serving people makes an impact in a world that can be so lonely for so many.

Contact Info:

• Website: purplebol.com
• Instagram: purplebol
• Facebook: purplebolsrq
• Yelp: Purple Bol

Image Credits
Ying Photography