Taco Addicts needs a Caravan
By Amber Sturtz
PledgeMe.Project
Food,
NZ $16,523 pledged
182 people pledged
Closed
NZ $15,900 minimum target
This campaign was successful and closed on 13/05/2019 at 1:00 PM.
Make a PledgeAbout
Taco Addicts Needs A Caravan
Project 2019-04-01 11:54:25 +1300
Taco Addicts is a small, local business serving taco lovers around Wellington. Mostly a one-woman show, the owner Amber Sturtz creates delicious Austin style, Tex-Mex tacos for you, right here in Wellington.
The emphasis is on fresh, seasonal and local ingredients available in New Zealand. We value environmental responsibility, composting, and recycling whenever possible. We like to think we’re a food truck (currently without the truck) with a difference!
What makes Taco Addicts different?
Amber comes from Austin, Texas, and made New Zealand her home in 2005. During her career in travel & tourism, she dreamed of opening a taco truck in Wellington. She retrained to become a chef; worked in cafes, catering and a hotel, and in 2016 Taco Addicts was born.
My hometown of Austin is often considered the most taco-obsessed city in the USA. Throw a rock and you will most likely hit a taqueria.
A lot of people have this idea that Tex-Mex is yellow cheese and sour-cream, ground beef and crispy taco shells. This isn't what Tex-Mex is to me. It's fresh, it's delicious, it's inspired by Mexico but it uses what is locally available.
Lots of people ask - how are Austin style tacos different from those in Mexico?
Texas is close to Mexico, with a large Hispanic and Latin population, so it draws a lot of influence from various regions of Mexico. However it has developed its own distinct taco culture. In Texas you can get a BBQ taco because Texans love BBQ. Also, tacos in Austin are often served on a flour tortilla.
Here in NZ, I’ve tried to create a similar vibe, with a menu that always offers at least two plant-based options, because I was raised mostly vegetarian and love playing with my vegetables. With Canterbury-grown wheat available here in NZ, we hand-make all of our tortillas. At events, we offer the option of a plain flour, wholemeal flour, or a corn tortilla (gluten free, yo) to contain your choice of fillings. The flour tortillas we make can also be bought at Moore Wilsons, along with the Salsa Roja that we put on all tacos.
Everything is handmade – from the tortilla to the salsa; to the spice mix on the “choriz-no”; to the shredded brisket; to the vegan taco sauce. If we can’t make it, e.g. feta, we try and find a great supplier who can, e.g. Zany Zeus. We support local. We try to find the best ingredients. We only use free-range meat. We offer vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free and omnivore options.
I’ve never seen them before – Where is Taco Addicts?
Taco Addicts started by delivering ready to eat tacos to office workers during lunch times. Then we tried out the Underground Market below Frank Kitts Park. We moved to the Friday Night Market in Left Bank; as well as joining the Vegan Vault when it began two years ago. We set up at events such as Newtown Festival, Kapiti Food Fair, Aro Valley Fair, Cuba Dupa, Out in the Park, Karori Karnival, the Vegan Expo, etc.
Faces of Taco Addicts
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Taco Addicts has been operating for 2½ years out of gazebos. This is exhausting! Tables, gazebos, weights, water, pans, burners, LPG bottles, Bain Maries, chilly bins full of food – all this needs to be loaded into a car, unloaded at the other side, set up, packed down, unloaded again. It can require two hours of set up and pack down at each event we do. Not to mention a breeze, the rain, the gale force winds that try and steal the gazebo while we’re trying to serve your tacos!
Why do we want your money and where will it go?
We believe it’s time to make the move to bigger premises! We need a taco caravan! We want to keep most things the same – bring you the same awesome tacos, at the same wonderful events. However, with a caravan, we can bring you more tacos more often. We can offer Taco Tuesday lunch days around Wellington! We can save Amber’s body and wallet from hours of physio and acupuncture (leaving more time to make tacos)! We can create a job and hire a real person!
We have most of the equipment from under the gazebo. We need the caravan, as well as a bit of extra dosh to get it branded with the Taco Addicts slogan ‘seven days without a taco makes one weak’ as well as some colourful, eye-catching glitter (without the glitter because that is environmentally harmful). We’d also like to outfit the caravan with solar power to make it as energy efficient as possible.
Breakdown of your pledge money:
Caravan $12-15,000
Outfitting caravan for tacos $2000
Branding/wrap/painting $3000
Reward costs $3500
Solar panel outfit $3000 (stretch goal!)
(We know this doesn't add up - some of the above costs will come from us!)
In exchange for your hard earned cash, we’ve got 10-trip taco cards, ethically made aprons, take-home taco kits, salsa and tortillas, tote bags, the naming rights to new tacos, lunch delivery, cooking classes, wedding catering and more rewards to say THANKS WHANAU.
Comments
Updates
Hey! Thanks for checking out this project.
We haven't made any updates yet, follow us if you want to be notified when we do.
Pledgers 182
09/05/2019 at 9:11pm
09/05/2019 at 8:41pm
09/05/2019 at 5:50pm
09/05/2019 at 1:14pm
09/05/2019 at 4:32am
"Best of luck! Your close!"
08/05/2019 at 9:57pm
08/05/2019 at 9:51pm
"Viva los tacos! "
08/05/2019 at 4:58pm
"Hey Amber - Good luck with the Caravan! This is for two people (that's why I paid $110)"
08/05/2019 at 12:37pm
"Can't wait to see you in your new taco-caravan! So excited for you!!"
08/05/2019 at 11:31am
08/05/2019 at 9:02am
07/05/2019 at 10:09am
07/05/2019 at 9:15am
"Yay! Congrats on your campaign =) "
07/05/2019 at 6:44am
"Amazing work Amber! Can’t wait to visit the caravan!!"
06/05/2019 at 11:15pm
06/05/2019 at 10:57pm
"Yum! "
06/05/2019 at 9:46pm
"Goooo taco caravan! Love your work Amber 💚"
06/05/2019 at 9:46pm
06/05/2019 at 8:32pm
"taco cat spelled backwards is taco cat."
06/05/2019 at 7:40pm
06/05/2019 at 7:28pm
06/05/2019 at 6:37pm
06/05/2019 at 5:03pm
06/05/2019 at 4:12pm
06/05/2019 at 3:59pm
06/05/2019 at 3:53pm
"<3"
06/05/2019 at 3:12pm
"Go Amber! You can do it!!"
06/05/2019 at 2:28pm
"All the best Amber, Wellington needs you to have a caravan!!"
06/05/2019 at 1:17pm
"Good luck with the business."
06/05/2019 at 4:51am
"I am so proud of you Amber. I wish I had more! I hope all your dreams come true! -Love you! P.S. I hope you still have time to hula hoop! "
Followers 3
Followers of Taco Addicts needs a Caravan
Taco Addicts Needs A Caravan
Project 2019-04-01 11:54:25 +1300
Taco Addicts is a small, local business serving taco lovers around Wellington. Mostly a one-woman show, the owner Amber Sturtz creates delicious Austin style, Tex-Mex tacos for you, right here in Wellington.
The emphasis is on fresh, seasonal and local ingredients available in New Zealand. We value environmental responsibility, composting, and recycling whenever possible. We like to think we’re a food truck (currently without the truck) with a difference!
What makes Taco Addicts different?
Amber comes from Austin, Texas, and made New Zealand her home in 2005. During her career in travel & tourism, she dreamed of opening a taco truck in Wellington. She retrained to become a chef; worked in cafes, catering and a hotel, and in 2016 Taco Addicts was born.
My hometown of Austin is often considered the most taco-obsessed city in the USA. Throw a rock and you will most likely hit a taqueria.
A lot of people have this idea that Tex-Mex is yellow cheese and sour-cream, ground beef and crispy taco shells. This isn't what Tex-Mex is to me. It's fresh, it's delicious, it's inspired by Mexico but it uses what is locally available.
Lots of people ask - how are Austin style tacos different from those in Mexico?
Texas is close to Mexico, with a large Hispanic and Latin population, so it draws a lot of influence from various regions of Mexico. However it has developed its own distinct taco culture. In Texas you can get a BBQ taco because Texans love BBQ. Also, tacos in Austin are often served on a flour tortilla.
Here in NZ, I’ve tried to create a similar vibe, with a menu that always offers at least two plant-based options, because I was raised mostly vegetarian and love playing with my vegetables. With Canterbury-grown wheat available here in NZ, we hand-make all of our tortillas. At events, we offer the option of a plain flour, wholemeal flour, or a corn tortilla (gluten free, yo) to contain your choice of fillings. The flour tortillas we make can also be bought at Moore Wilsons, along with the Salsa Roja that we put on all tacos.
Everything is handmade – from the tortilla to the salsa; to the spice mix on the “choriz-no”; to the shredded brisket; to the vegan taco sauce. If we can’t make it, e.g. feta, we try and find a great supplier who can, e.g. Zany Zeus. We support local. We try to find the best ingredients. We only use free-range meat. We offer vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free and omnivore options.
I’ve never seen them before – Where is Taco Addicts?
Taco Addicts started by delivering ready to eat tacos to office workers during lunch times. Then we tried out the Underground Market below Frank Kitts Park. We moved to the Friday Night Market in Left Bank; as well as joining the Vegan Vault when it began two years ago. We set up at events such as Newtown Festival, Kapiti Food Fair, Aro Valley Fair, Cuba Dupa, Out in the Park, Karori Karnival, the Vegan Expo, etc.
Faces of Taco Addicts
|
||||||||
|
Taco Addicts has been operating for 2½ years out of gazebos. This is exhausting! Tables, gazebos, weights, water, pans, burners, LPG bottles, Bain Maries, chilly bins full of food – all this needs to be loaded into a car, unloaded at the other side, set up, packed down, unloaded again. It can require two hours of set up and pack down at each event we do. Not to mention a breeze, the rain, the gale force winds that try and steal the gazebo while we’re trying to serve your tacos!
Why do we want your money and where will it go?
We believe it’s time to make the move to bigger premises! We need a taco caravan! We want to keep most things the same – bring you the same awesome tacos, at the same wonderful events. However, with a caravan, we can bring you more tacos more often. We can offer Taco Tuesday lunch days around Wellington! We can save Amber’s body and wallet from hours of physio and acupuncture (leaving more time to make tacos)! We can create a job and hire a real person!
We have most of the equipment from under the gazebo. We need the caravan, as well as a bit of extra dosh to get it branded with the Taco Addicts slogan ‘seven days without a taco makes one weak’ as well as some colourful, eye-catching glitter (without the glitter because that is environmentally harmful). We’d also like to outfit the caravan with solar power to make it as energy efficient as possible.
Breakdown of your pledge money:
Caravan $12-15,000
Outfitting caravan for tacos $2000
Branding/wrap/painting $3000
Reward costs $3500
Solar panel outfit $3000 (stretch goal!)
(We know this doesn't add up - some of the above costs will come from us!)
In exchange for your hard earned cash, we’ve got 10-trip taco cards, ethically made aprons, take-home taco kits, salsa and tortillas, tote bags, the naming rights to new tacos, lunch delivery, cooking classes, wedding catering and more rewards to say THANKS WHANAU.
Comments
Hey! Thanks for checking out this project.
We haven't made any updates yet, follow us if you want to be notified when we do.
09/05/2019 at 9:11pm
09/05/2019 at 8:41pm
09/05/2019 at 5:50pm
09/05/2019 at 1:14pm
09/05/2019 at 4:32am
"Best of luck! Your close!"
08/05/2019 at 9:57pm
08/05/2019 at 9:51pm
"Viva los tacos! "
08/05/2019 at 4:58pm
"Hey Amber - Good luck with the Caravan! This is for two people (that's why I paid $110)"
08/05/2019 at 12:37pm
"Can't wait to see you in your new taco-caravan! So excited for you!!"
08/05/2019 at 11:31am
08/05/2019 at 9:02am
07/05/2019 at 10:09am
07/05/2019 at 9:15am
"Yay! Congrats on your campaign =) "
07/05/2019 at 6:44am
"Amazing work Amber! Can’t wait to visit the caravan!!"
06/05/2019 at 11:15pm
06/05/2019 at 10:57pm
"Yum! "
06/05/2019 at 9:46pm
"Goooo taco caravan! Love your work Amber 💚"
06/05/2019 at 9:46pm
06/05/2019 at 8:32pm
"taco cat spelled backwards is taco cat."
06/05/2019 at 7:40pm
06/05/2019 at 7:28pm
06/05/2019 at 6:37pm
06/05/2019 at 5:03pm
06/05/2019 at 4:12pm
06/05/2019 at 3:59pm
06/05/2019 at 3:53pm
"<3"
06/05/2019 at 3:12pm
"Go Amber! You can do it!!"
06/05/2019 at 2:28pm
"All the best Amber, Wellington needs you to have a caravan!!"
06/05/2019 at 1:17pm
"Good luck with the business."
06/05/2019 at 4:51am
"I am so proud of you Amber. I wish I had more! I hope all your dreams come true! -Love you! P.S. I hope you still have time to hula hoop! "