Revolutionizing the Ice Cream Truck Business: Tony Lamb's Journey as Kona Ice CEO

In 2007, Kona Ice CEO Tony Lamb launched the mobile shaved ice franchise that delivers colorful, fruity frozen treats from modern, elevated ice cream trucks. Since then, the brand has grown to over 1,700 Kona Entertainment Vehicles (KEV) across 49 states and Canada. 

Lamb has always been an entrepreneur; he followed in his father’s footsteps selling vacuum cleaners while still in college, and within a few years of his graduation he had six offices and a sales staff of 300. But Lamb has never been one to settle and has continued chasing success through entrepreneurship. Even when his friends doubted his idea for a new take on the classic ice cream truck, he persevered and proved them wrong.

“Being an entrepreneur isn't all glorious; an entrepreneur can never get out of his own way. He's entrepreneurial all the way into the grave. He's just always got this mindset of ‘I can do it better.’ There are a lot of hard workers, there are a lot of smart people,” Lamb said. “I had some good ideas that didn't work before; this one worked — I was able to pour some gasoline on it and it worked at a crazy level. There are 150 people here at Kona Ice Corporate now. I started off with one truck, driving around with my friends laughing at me, and now I have 150 people, an $8 million payroll, and I'm trying to figure it out.”

Lamb stumbled into franchising unexpectedly after an ice cream truck visited his neighborhood back in 2004. Lamb took one look at the dilapidated, creepy truck and was in shock. As he looked at his children holding their freezer-burned treats and watched the truck driving away, he started laughing.

“I’m looking at my wife and saying, ‘What has happened to that industry? What a mess,’” Lamb said.

Driven by a vision to revolutionize the ice cream truck business, Lamb launched Kona Ice in 2007, initially with the hopes of becoming a regionally recognized business. The brand simply kept growing; Lamb soon realized that he could dream bigger and that franchising was an excellent option. 

Kona Ice is now the leading shaved ice brand with over 1,700 franchise units and 800 franchisees nationwide. The brand brings a modern ice-cream-truck-meets-beach experience to every location it visits. The trucks are vibrant with colorful branding, and they play lively music, elevating the traditional ice cream truck experience. Kona Ice’s innovative Flavorwave® system offers guests a customizable treat using high-quality, fruit-based flavorings; consumers are handed an unflavored shaved ice and can customize their own treat.

Thanks to its mobile nature and memorable branding, franchisees quickly gain traction at local events, allowing them to focus on business growth. The streamlined operational model empowers owners to prioritize expanding their presence and securing more bookings, while Kona Ice’s innovative Flavorwave® system offers guests a customizable treat using high-quality, fruit-based flavorings.

The total initial investment to begin the operation of a Kona Ice franchise is approximately $160,725, which includes a $15,000 franchise fee.

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