Family Bean coffee truck coming to Dayton

The Family Bean coffee truck is a new family-owned business that has announced its plans to open in Dayton later this month.

This new coffee shop on wheels will be launched by Ed and Rhonda Hart, their daughters Tara Heid and Courtney Smiddy, and their husbands Sean and Mikel. The daughters and their mom will be the ones inside the truck handing out delicious coffee, frappes and smoothies, while the men will be their “muscle behind the scenes,” Tara Heid said.

The family always talked about running a business together, but could never seem to make it work.

“We have always been such a close family,” Heid said, “but we all had separate busy careers.”

One day, the plan seemed to fall perfectly into place while they were on their way to see a certain Sesame Street resident, oddly enough.

“Rhonda, Courtney and I took a day off work to take our kids to see Elmo live in Columbus and spend time together,” Heid said. “The road trip sparked the conversation of our love for coffee and dream of going into business together and everything from then on fell right in our lap.”

The family is perfecting recipes and putting finishing touches on the truck, and are shooting for a June 29 grand opening outside Turbo Zone Fitness in Centerville if all goes according to plan.

Family Bean will serve a variety of familiar favorites, including regular coffee options like Columbia, dark roast and decaf. Other drinks like caramel macchiatos, chai tea lattes, cold brew and much more will be available. For those who don’t drink coffee, the food truck will offer non-coffee selections like frappes, with flavors ranging from cookies n’ cream to cotton candy. The truck also will be selling fruit smoothies.

The truck will offer several signature drinks, including caramel dream, chocoholic and purple haze, just to name a few. They will also include seasonal drinks throughout the year.

If you’re craving a snack with your coffee, the truck also offers Umpqua oatmeal, and plans to extend the food offerings in the future to include muffins, cinnamon rolls and other pastries.

In honor of Heid’s daughter Harper, who has Type 1 diabetes, drinks and treats will have carbohydrate counts to better help them manage their intake, she said.

The truck plans to travel all over from corporations to festivals and farmers markets. They will use their Facebook and Instagram accounts to post where they will be each day. They will be running their truck five to six days a week.