Vegan food truck entrepreneur Jamel Minors has found a new home for his business at the east end of Victoria Street in Hamilton.

Mr Minors owns and operates Alkaline Triangle, which since 2022 has operated from several locations as well as being mobile.

The business was on Front Street in 2023 and spent the first eight months of this year on the move around the island, popping up at events and private parties, and providing catering services.

Since September 11, it has been based in a parking lot across the road from People’s Pharmacy.

Mr Minors said: “It’s been good. There is good walk-in traffic with the pharmacy next door, and lots of office buildings in the area.

“There’s the health department, the clinic and the police department, too – some police officers come to get food.

“Also, I get support from people who live in the neighbourhood.”

Alkaline Triangle’s clientele is predominantly local but Mr Minors said visitors are keen on its offerings as well.

“I am on Google Maps and I’m on TripAdvisor, and all of that, so tourists find me here.

“Some people came here the other day from off the cruise ship at Dockyard. They caught the ferry to town and walked to my food truck.”

He added: “People who are 100 per cent vegan want to eat from an establishment that only cooks vegan food.

“What sets my food apart from any other vegan or plant-based restaurant on this island is that there is no processed, packaged vegan food here.

“Everything is made from scratch, from dressings to buns for burgers. Everything is home made. There is nothing here that is store-bought, processed food.”

Mr Minors said customer favourites include a vegan steak ‘n’ take featuring shredded mushrooms on a vegan hoagie roll with all the fixings, loaded hand-cut plantain fries, and a chickpea mushroom burger and plantain fries combo.

Alkaline Triangle also features fresh-squeezed juices with no added sugar or additives in three flavours – hibiscus, mango and kiwi apple.

Mr Minors said: “Hibiscus is red, mango is yellow, and kiwi apple is green. Shout out to Bob Marley.”

The business is open Wednesdays through Fridays on Victoria Street, with weekends spent on the move to a variety of special events and catering jobs. Monday is a day off for Mr Minors, and Tuesday is “prep day”.

The food truck travels to events including Cup Match, Gombey Festival, Harbour Nights and the Agricultural Exhibition.

Mr Minors said: “What I love the most is the Vegan Festival in Dockyard. That was huge.”

The second annual one-day event, held on August 25, attracted 4,000 people, including visitors from two cruise ships in port.

“That was my best day ever; in fact, the Vegan Festival was the best over the last two years. I had a line outside my truck from noon to 6pm. It was all-day, non-stop, a never-ending line.

“I went until I was sold out of everything. I didn’t even have a bun left to put on a burger. I was the last vendor serving.”

In common with all commercial kitchens on the island, Alkaline Triangle is licensed annually and regulated by the health department.

Mr Minors said: "They pop up throughout the year, they take a water sample quarterly to test that the water is clean, and check the kitchen, too. They keep you on your toes, keeping the kitchen in good condition so that you’re putting out quality food.”

Alkaline Triangle is a one-man operation, but Mr Minors would like to take on an additional chef.

“I am looking to expand and grow it. My biggest struggle is to find employees that I can depend on so I can take some of the load off myself and grow it and focus more on the business side of it.”

Mr Minors said he was keen to offer his knowledge about nutrition and how foods affect the body to businesses.

He has done so before, sitting in a company’s boardroom with employees, and offering a sample lunch and a presentation.

Mr Minors wrote a vegan cookbook in 2017 and said an update would soon be up on the Alkaline Triangle website.