Come one, come all, because Stormy’s Food Truck has it all! Located at Vedder Park in Chilliwack and conveniently only a few minutes from UFV’s Chilliwack campus, this food truck is a whole food, plant-based, vegan, and gluten-free smoothie and bowl bar. I had the pleasure of speaking with Stormy Johansen, the owner of Stormy’s Food Truck, about her business. Along with her food options containing “no animal products and no oil,” it boasts “minimal refined sugar” as well.
Stormy’s has a wide variety of smoothie flavors, and each one is topped with fresh fruit and a sprinkle of their “Rawnola.” Johansen described Rawnola as “chewy like an energy ball, but broken up like granola. We wanted to put something on it that was so good for you, you could eat it every day.” The best part about Stormy’s is that they have joined the Student Perks program at UFV, so students can enjoy a discount when they visit. “Monday to Friday, students can get 10 per cent off of everything except our Rawnola,” she said.
Earlier this year, Stormy’s opened up their very first storefront in PickEco Refills, a zero-waste grocery store in Chilliwack. They’ve officially expanded, and with that comes more products. Exclusive to their storefront location, they’ve added rice bowls and bagels to their menu. Stormy said, “I’ve had a lot of people that are long-time vegans … come in and they’re like, ‘Wow, it’s so nice to finally have somewhere where I can just come and eat all the time.’” However, her clientele consists of vegans and non-vegans alike, which she appreciates. “They get a plant-based meal instead of eating whatever else they would normally eat,” she said. “That’s kind of what we wanna do, we wanna make people feel happy eating food that’s good for them and also tastes good.”
I got the scoop on how Stormy’s began. “Seven or eight years ago I went plant-based and I didn’t know how to cook anything, so in the beginning I started making smoothie bowls. I became obsessed with eating them for every meal, because they’re so easy and they’re so good, and if you’re craving something sweet you can have a smoothie bowl instead of chocolate ice cream or something like that.”
Johansen also spoke about what her initial business goal was. She wanted to “show people that plant-based eating can be good for you, tasty, and fun.” She noticed that Chilliwack didn’t have a ton of restaurant options for their vegan customers and she “wanted to be able to give people a healthy option in the community.”
Along with her desire to provide a healthy alternative for the local community, Stormy’s aim is “to make people happy.” In terms of what the future holds, Johansen said that Stormy’s will hopefully be doing more events in Abbotsford.
Veronica is a Staff Writer at The Cascade. She loves to travel and explore new places, no matter how big or small. She is in her second year at UFV, pursuing the study of Creative
Writing.
