How’s this for a good story to tell at cocktail parties? Dave Matthews Band inspired Nichole Dube to start a produce business.
In July 2019, DMB was coming to Tampa to perform a concert. Word got out that the band was searching for locally grown food to eat, as they do for every show. (They call it farm-to-stage.)
Dube worked a corporate job at the time, but she had recently attended a community gardening conference, so she set out to source the band’s food herself. She pulled it off.
That’s how the idea for Dube’s Mobile Market was born in November 2019.
“That’s kind of our claim to fame,” Nichole says. “How did you get started? Dave Matthews needed food.”
Today Nichole, along with her family, buys surplus produce from local growers and sells it at pop-up markets in the Wesley Chapel area. Her focus is on reducing food waste and making sure all members of the community—especially kids and seniors—have access to fresh, locally sourced food. Her goal is to one day have a produce bus, like an ice cream truck, only with fruits and veggies.
In the meantime, Nichole still supplies Dave Matthews Band with locally sourced produce, meat and seafood when they’re in Florida. She has a contract for their Tampa, Jacksonville and West Palm Beach concerts.
In this conversation, Nichole shares how a 2019 Dave Matthews Band concert led to her family’s business. She also explains the importance of eating locally, and she offers advice for encouraging kids to eat their veggies.
Related episodes:
- Hacks to Help You Eat More Veggies
- 360 Eats Takes Leftovers from Food Waste to Food Truck
- Why You Should Stop Haggling at Florida’s Farmers Markets
- Conscious Cuisine: Chef Justin Timineri of Fresh From Florida Offers Ideas for Eating What’s in Season
- It’s Always Sunny at St. Petersburg’s Brick Street Farms
- “Now Food Doesn’t Have to Travel”: Hyperlocal Agriculture with lemonGRAFT Founder Zach Correa
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