“When you can’t come to us, we take it to you,” Ainsworth said.
The business has been popular, Ainsworth said, but some customers have expressed an interest in more day-to-day accessibility and at local events in nearby cities.
“A lot of times you see trucks out there and you wonder, do you have a brick and mortar, as well?” Ainsworth said. “And for us, yes, we have a brick and mortar, so not just a mobile, so it’s going to add value but also just be able to serve more people.”
Ainsworth and Avdeeva have a “mission” to make eating healthy “accessible and easy.”
“That’s why we’re doing it,” he said.
Irie Smoothie Cafe offers smoothies and smoothie bowls with 100% natural ingredients, cold-pressed natural juices, Jamaican beef and chicken patties — a nod to Ainsworth’s Jamaican heritage — and crepes — something Avdeeva ate growing up in Russia.
Next, Ainsworth and Avdeeva are considering expanding to more brick-and-mortar locations in nearby cities after testing interest in those areas with the food truck.
Avdeeva and Ainsworth met while Ainsworth was managing a hotel in West Chester Twp. They married in 2023 just a month before signing a lease on the business.
Both are fitness enthusiasts who believe in eating healthy and encouraging the same for family and friends.
After purchasing a home in Middletown, Ainsworth said they were walking out of Planet Fitness in the Towne Mall one evening and he wanted a smoothie.
“There was no place in Middletown to get something healthy and nutritious and fast like a smoothie,” he told the Journal-News earlier this year. “I thought I couldn’t be the only one who feels that way.”
In January, the couple said they are excited about the ongoing new construction along Interstate 75 and especially the possibilities at the adjacent Towne Mall property, which is now owned by the city.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
About the Author
