In this summer of soft serve, the Scream Truck has found a new twist — or, well, swirl.
You might recall the Scream Truck, a tech-enabled remake of the old-fashioned ice cream truck concept. Whether you knew it as the popsicle truck, Mr. Softie or the Good Humor man, it was a beloved tradition in bad need of modernization.
An old-style ice cream truck steadfastly cruises my neighborhood, endlessly repeating an off-key rendition of “Turkey in the Straw,” (sometimes known as “Do Your Ears Hang Low”) and hawking packaged popsicles that appear to be from 1962. I’ve never seen anyone buy anything from it.
The Scream Truck is not that.
But it was a similarly “crappy ice cream truck” that inspired founder Eric Murphy to launch the brand in 2020.
“One day I saw a really beat up, crappy ice cream truck driving around our neighborhood and I just thought, wow, why has no one actually invented a better version of the neighborhood ice cream truck?” he said.
So he did.
Here’s how the Scream Truck works: The trucks operate along reserved routes. People along those routes can sign up to receive text messages when the truck is coming. Those messages also invite them to order a treat from a menu of cones, sundaes, shakes and more with high-end toppings, and it’s all customizable and freshly made when the truck arrives.
Customers order and pay ahead. (If the neighbor kids come running, the truck offers a free ice cream and card to sign up for next time.)
Of course, like most food trucks, it’s also designed for event bookings, influencer activations, and parties, from bar mitzvahs to weddings.
Based in Short Hills, New Jersey, Scream Truck operates 13 trucks in New Jersey, and it’s a franchise concept. Murphy has signed franchisees for Monmouth, N.J., Las Vegas and Miami. At that point, there will be 20 trucks on the road, with plans to add another 25 next year, and 50 each year for the next four, Murphy said.
Now the Scream Truck is adding a new layer of revenue, one that captures the experiential marketing trend of late.
Scream Truck is doing brand partnerships, giving an opportunity to reach consumers in a one-on-one way that Murphy argues will create a memorable experience.
The trucks recently did a six-week co-branding with packaged product Pretzelized, for example, which has a line of crackers, pita chips and more. Scream Truck developed a sundae using the product and the trucks were used for retail popups. The entire fleet was wrapped with Pretzelized branding, and trucks gave out free samples along the regular routes.
“We gave out over 100,000 samples, and had a really, really successful campaign,” said Murphy. “We’re not looking at this like advertising, or like, we’re just pulling up a billboard to your house. It has to be experiential and has to enhance the experience for the customers at their home.”
Scream Truck has worked with other brands, like Levain Bakery, and a Halloween promotion is coming with cupcake specialist Baked by Melissa.
The marketing concept would work for non-food brands as well, he said. Let’s say a movie was coming out that targets families. The studio could use Scream Truck at activations or to reach the families along the reserved routes.
“We’d basically tell them, 'hey, the ice cream today is on Warner Brothers Studios' or whatever,” said Murphy. “It’s a really easy way to get that kind of reciprocity type of marketing.”
Consumers are subjected to a swamp of digital ads in their daily lives, most of which are “interruptive,” he said.
Scream Trucks, meanwhile, reach roughly 40,000 people a month now in real-world interactions, and that number will grow exponentially as the franchise business grows, he said.
Murphy is planning to start working with a franchise broker to accelerate the franchise push. He also plans to refranchise most of the company-owned trucks in New Jersey, though he will keep some to use for testing and operational insights.
The menu is also expanding.
The soft serve has mostly been limited to chocolate and vanilla because of lack of space on the trucks. But options will expand with the launch of new Scream Squares. These are bite-sized cubes of flash frozen soft serve that soften in minutes and can stack into sundaes or be used for drinks, like the new Screamy Sodas (a variation of dirty sodas) with soda and liquid ice cream layered with Scream Squares.
With the Scream Squares, which are made ahead in the commissary, Scream Trucks can offer new flavors, or non-dairy options, in addition to the flavors in the truck soft-serve machine. Murphy said they’re also working on a frozen yogurt Square made with kefir and yogurt.
Soft-serve Squares serve as literal building blocks for new creations. | Photos courtesy of Scream Truck.
The newest product is on the menu is called a Shaker, “like a deconstructed milkshake,” in which liquid ice cream with eight Squares is drizzled with caramel, cookie butter or peanut butter, for example, and shaken like a cocktail.
“It turns into this rich, delicious drink and it kind of evolves as you drink it because those Squares are melting even more into the drink,” he said.
Annual revenues are at about $4 million, Murphy said. But the focus has been on building profitability and preparing the infrastructure for franchise growth.
Murphy said Scream Truck is in the process of a fundraising effort, hoping to raise another $2 million. The company has already raised about $7.5 million, and investors include New York City radio personality Elvis Duran (who is also popular in Miami, hence the push to South Florida).
There were also dreams of applying the model to other concepts, not just ice cream. Murphy said the company attempted a pizza truck, but soon found it was just operationally too challenging.
Still, Murphy said the software and logistics built for Scream Truck could have other applications.
“We could use our software and technology to bring other food trucks into the ecosystem, but I don’t think that we would produce another food concept ourselves,” he said.