Nothing says summertime like the sweet taste of a fresh, juicy, perfectly ripe peach.
Just ask the founders of Music City’s summer staple, The Peach Truck, Jessica and Stephen Rose. The husband-and-wife duo quickly discovered Nashville’s need for fresh peaches that bland grocery store stock just couldn’t live up to; especially Georgia-native Stephen, who longed for the hand-picked peaches he grew up on.
The couple’s dreams turned to action in 2012 when the Rose’s partnered with Stephen’s hometown farm and loaded up their newly acquired ’64 Jeep Gladiator with a literal truckload of fresh hand-picked peaches. Just like that, The Peach Truck was born, and since its humble inception has expanded to over 60 booths across Nashville, 28 state tours, and nationwide with online shipping, but the values behind each brown bag of goodness have remained the same every step of the way.
We chatted with the Rose’s about their journey of bringing thoughtfully grown, hand-picked, and perfectly ripe peaches to folks in Nashville and beyond, and why The Peach Truck is so much more than a business—it’s a love story.
Homegrown: Jess grew up in Seattle and I grew up in Fort Valley, Georgia, the heart of Peach County. We moved here in 2010, right after the flood, for a sales job. Two years later the idea for The Peach Truck was born in this incredible city. It’s a funny story. My car’s air conditioning died, and Jess really wanted me to get a truck. I had always dreamed of having a Jeep Wrangler. I came across the Jeep Gladiator on Craigslist and it was love at first sight. We met the gentleman selling it in a Walmart parking lot, and frankly he was asking for too much. In the best trade I ever made, I convinced him to trade my 1995 Ford Thunderbird straight up for the truck. I told him about all the issues with the car, and he was all in. I drove The Gladiator to Cool Springs for work every day for a year; 48 mph in the right lane down I-65. We just got it restored at Team Witt Custom and it’s absolutely gorgeous.
Dream It, Do It: We were craving freedom. We were craving owning our time. Before we got married, I wanted to show Jess my hometown and it was on that trip she tasted her first peach right off the tree. I was so proud to share this taste of my childhood with her because they truly taste unlike anything else. It was on that trip we were talking to my family friends, who are fifth-generation peach growers, about the issues of distribution to grocery stores and how peaches can’t handle a long time off the tree. That was our lightbulb moment: What if we bring peaches directly to our neighbors in Nashville? We called Matt and Carrie from Imogene + Willie and they were all about us parking The Gladiator in front of their iconic store in 12 South. We stopped by City House and Tandy Wilson said, ‘Please bring us these peaches when they’re ready.’The city welcomed us immediately. We couldn’t be more thankful to have started The Peach Truck in Nashville, and I believe we couldn’t have started it anywhere else.
Growing the Business: Insane is the word that comes to mind. We didn’t know what we were doing in so many ways, but the thing we always wanted to do was create a beautiful experience for our customers and make sure our booths looked pristine. The tablecloths, the brown paper bags, the way we set up our boxes, the way we talked about our peaches, we knew we had too set ourselves apart and thankfully people took notice. But driving all over town, figuring out how to manage inventory, delivering to restaurants, and taking care of customer service seven days a week during the summer was an absolute ride. Doing it all in the Jeep Gladiator on those 100-degree days with no air conditioning and a hot metal interior was especially memorable for Jess, who grew up in Seattle. What an introduction to summers in the South. Looking back, I loved nothing more than pulling up somewhere and seeing people waiting. I couldn’t believe it. Watching the idea catch on was absolutely incredible.
The Power of the Peach: Peaches are the Queen of Fruit. It seems like no matter where we go (we’re now all across the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast) people have had that one peach experience as a kid that they’ve been searching for ever since. “I had a peach like this with my grandpa on the back of his truck when I was a kid, and I haven’t found one like it since until The Peach Truck.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that. Peaches create an emotional response. Peaches are to summer what pumpkins are to fall. We get to help our community make summer memories, and peaches are the background to all of them. There’s nothing like summer, and there’s nothing like peach season. [The Peach Truck’s website] is where to find us all summer and we’re all across Nashville from mid- May through mid-August. Our peaches are picked tree ripened and they’re in your hands within hours of being picked. Freshness is everything when it comes to peaches, but you also have to work with the best growers. We have both boxes checked so you don’t have to take the risk of going to the grocery store and having another subpar experience.
Ripe with Passion: I truly can’t believe it.We sell millions of pounds of peaches every summer, and the reason people come back is because the taste of our peaches is so superior to anything else they can get. We didn’t initially have the ambition to be as big as we are, but we kept taking the next right step every year, and it kept working. I couldn’t be more thankful. We get to deliver joy. It’s so real. The Peach Truck gets to be this massive part of summer for people, and I love getting to hear all the stories from our community every year. Getting to be a part of the fabric of Nashville’s culture is one of the biggest joys. (thepeachtruck.com)