Cal Poly Pomona Rolls Out Food Truck With "We Proudly Brew" Starbucks Items

On May 28, Cal Poly Pomona Foundation (CPPF) Dining Services is launching the Poly Trolley food truck that will serve the California State Polytechnic University-Pomona campus community. Most unusually for a campus food truck, Poly Trolley will serve coffee drinks from the Starbucks "We Proudly Brew" program.

“The Poly Trolley will feature the first mobile Starbucks operation in the country,” claims Aaron Neilson, CPPF Interim Director of Dining Services. “We are all incredibly excited to introduce such a groundbreaking food truck to the campus.”

Cal Poly-Pomona has a Starbucks located just outside the university library, which often has a constant flow of customers. Neilson says he hopes that the Poly Trolley will help alleviate the long lines at the on-campus Starbucks.

To develop the food menu, CPPF Dining Services manager Jennifer Waggener researched items from various food trucks around the area, then worked with Executive Chef Arnold Zavalza and other CPPF Dining Services personnel to create an original and flavorful array of choices. These include a unique blend of Asian and Southwestern-inspired cuisine, including tempura avocado tacos, BBQ pork tacos, Angus beef sliders, and BBQ pork sliders.

The Poly Trolley’s specialty will be fresh-fried russet potato chips, which can be ordered with either sea salt, roasted garlic truffle oil or Greek style. A variety of breakfast burritos and pastries will be served in the morning.

Poly Trolley traces its history back to the 1980s, when it operated with a menu focusing on burgers, burritos and pastries. It was eventually taken out of service for repairs, then discontinued due to budget cuts.

Over 25 years later, the Poly Trolley has been reinvented with a new menu, design and technological innovation and will operate during breakfast, lunch and dinner hours. While the location during lunch hours is still to be determined, the truck will park in front of CPP’s CLA building near the student parking lot for breakfast and will make its way to the student housing complex, the University Village, for dinner.

The design of the Poly Trolley reflects the essence of CPP with silhouettes of the campus’ iconic Arabian horses and the University Union Plaza, which was once cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg’s horse stables.

“For the design, we included the Arabian horses and stables building (Union Plaza) to pay homage to CPP’s heritage, especially since it is going to be the campus’ 75th anniversary this year,” says Edwin Santiago, CPPF Director of Marketing. “We also infused green and gold into the design to emphasize Bronco spirit.”

The Poly Trolley will implement an advanced mobile ordering system that has a cashier taking orders from customers standing in line and electronically submits them to the truck’s kitchen, quickening service time.

Anticipation seems to be high as within the first week of announcing the launch of the Poly Trolley, more than a hundred students started following the food truck on Twitter (@polytrolley).The truck will operate this summer on campus despite the sparse student population and will use the time to test locations, give staff experience and make any necessary adjustments.

The truck will also be available for catering and on-campus events.