Kona Ice franchisees serve a variety of shaved ice treats from food trucks.
With nearly 2,000 trucks on the road in 49 states and gross sales of $352 million in 2024, Kona Ice is the largest food truck franchise in the country.
Sales grew 56.4 percent from 2022 to 2024 and unit growth was 26.8 percent during that period. CEO Tony Lamb said the company’s success extends much further back than that.
“Except for 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, we’ve added over 100 franchises annually since 2012,” he said. “It’s that consistent growth and the success of our franchisees that has made that happen.”
Tony Lamb is the CEO of Kona Ice.
Lamb touted technology and menu innovations made to the Kona Ice trucks that have helped boost sales. He said they started replacing noisy and dirty generators with lithium battery systems in the food trucks over the past year, which provided operators with more reliability and a much-needed additional power source for his new trucks.
Those trucks now include 46-inch digital menu displays that allow for interactive advertising and new product launches.
Lamb said 2025 was another big year for Kona Ice, with more than 140 trucks added to the fleet. He credited the introduction of smoothie drinks for spurring same-truck sales growth.
“My typical customer is an 8-year-old boy, so offering their parents an option was a big move for us,” Lamb said. “We can now go into new markets like craft fairs and farmers markets where adults are more prevalent.”