From his tricked-out truck parked before dawn on the edge of the gritty construction site of the new Minnesota Vikings stadium, Ryan McCann sells a smorgasbord of food from pizza rolls and pears to Cheetos and chimichangas.
Ryan McCann's tricked-out food truck keeps stadium workers well fed
December 24, 2014 at 12:58AM
At 33, McCann is the proprietor of McCann Vending, a company he bought from his uncle. Every day he runs a tightly scheduled route of construction sites and manufacturing companies where workers, who don't take languorous lunch breaks, toil in areas with a dearth of dining options.
At the stadium site, McCann swoops in three times a day at roughly 6:30 a.m., 9 a.m. and noon. He flips up the steel flaps on the sides of his truck to reveal a dazzling bounty of drinks atop a bed of crushed ice. There are teas, energy drinks, Tahitian Treat and the plethora of pops.
Packets of condiments from soy sauce to salsa and strawberry jam sit on a steel counter to be palmed by the worker on the go.
Above the drinks, he stocks a variety of bagged treats to meet tastes from the unusual (dill pickle-flavored sunflower seeds) to the mainstream (potato chips) to the healthy (canned fruit) and the sweet (carrot cake and candy bars).
On the back of the truck, four glass cabinet doors showcase foods kept warm by a propane heater. The cheese on the turkey sandwich comes out soothingly melty. Spaghetti-Os and Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup come warm from the cans. Those pizza rolls? Toasty and gooey.
"People always ask me: 'What do you sell the most of,' and I say, 'Everything,' " McCann said. Mountain Dew is the exception. McCann said he almost sells more Dew than all other pops combined.
Having served the workers during the construction of Target Field site and the Metrodome roof repair, McCann feels like part of the crew so his margins are minimal. Those 24-ounce bottles of Dew sell for $1.25.
"I try to keep my prices as low as I can because I see the same people every day," McCann said.
Rochelle Olson 612-673-1747 @rochelleolson
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