Community Directory & Digital Platform for Maui Food Trucks

Lauren Kunkel - Maui Food Trucks

Lauren Kunkel of Maui Food Trucks set out to create more than a directory: she wanted a living, community resource for Maui’s thriving food truck scene. The vision was to make it easy for locals and visitors to discover trucks across the island while giving food truck owners a professional, self-managed platform to promote their business and connect with customers.

Web Design & Development Ecommerce Strategy Website Care Plan
mauifoodtrucks.com

The Challenge

Lauren Kunkel of Maui Food Trucks came to me after a frustrating and costly experience with another developer that left her with a site that did not live up to her vision or project requirements. Lauren was disappointed and unsure who to trust with such an important project.

My Approach

The first step was listening. Lauren had a clear vision for Maui Food Trucks, but after her previous experience, she needed someone who could translate that vision into a reliable, scalable site. My role was to rebuild trust while creating a plan that balanced functionality for foodies with simplicity for truck owners.

To get there, I focused on:

  • Clarity & Strategy: Mapping out the site structure so trucks, cuisines, and locations all connected in a way that made sense for visitors and for SEO.
  • Scalable Tools: Rebuilding on WordPress with Bricks Builder, JetEngine, and ACSS — giving us flexibility, speed, and a solid foundation to grow.
  • Owner Empowerment: Designing a custom dashboard so food truck owners could manage their own listings without technical headaches.
  • Sustainable Business Model: Integrating SureCart for subscriptions so the directory could support itself financially while adding value for members.
  • Future Readiness: Planning next-step opportunities (like a community space for owners) so the site could evolve over time.

The Solution

The new Maui Food Trucks site launched as a dynamic, community-driven directory.

  • Visitors can browse trucks by location, cuisine, or events, with map filtering.
  • Food truck owners have their own dashboard to update hours, menus, and locations.
  • Surecart makes managing the customers
  • Integrated her site with her email service provider, Mailerlite so she can capture emails and communicate easily with food truck owners
  • Behind the scenes, the site is built for long-term growth, with a solid data structure and hosting optimized for performance.
The Maui Food Trucks map, list and browse pages on mobile.
An interactive map shows exactly where trucks are located, with filters for cuisine and region to help foodies find what they’re craving.
The Maui Food Trucks Home page
The homepage sets the tone with a bold welcome, a simple search and food categories, making it easy for visitors to dive right in.

The Results

Lauren now has the website she envisioned, one that not only looks great but actually works for both hungry locals/tourists and busy truck owners. She is now proud to share the site with her community and is starting to actively entice new food truck owners to list their trucks.

In the future, Lauren hopes to enhance the site for food truck owners further by offering an online community space for food truck owners to come together, share experiences and help Maui’s food truck scene continue to thrive.

Maui Food Trucks Browse page where you can select food categories and towns
The Browse page allows for exploring island eats by location or by cuisine with island favorites like plate lunch, bbq and shave ice.
Maui Food Truck Owner Dashboard on mobile
Business owners can log in and update their truck details through an easy-to-use dashboard.
Maui Food Trucks Events
The site provides the ability for the site owner to post local event such as first and fourth Fridays around the island. It accommodates, multi-day and ongoing events.
A brief look at the food truck owner dashboard.

Explore more projects

  • Mobile screenshots of the Maui Food Trucks interactive map that shows exactly where trucks are located, with filters for cuisine and region to help foodies find what they’re craving.
  • a laptop on a table
  • a tablet on a table
  • a laptop on a couch
  • a laptop on a table
  • a phone on a book
  • a laptop with a group of people on it

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