Mint Meadows in the coming months will be a new dining option in Manteca.

It’ll be an eclectic offering of desserts, bowls, meal preparation, fresh teas, and more.

The home grown concern — a slice of Manteca with three women entrepreneurs (one Hispanic, one Indian, and one Caucasian) — prevailed in a Shark Tank-style completion involving six other entries conducted on Tuesday by the City of Manteca at the Manteca Transit Center.

As winners, they will get use of a city-supplied and fully equipped food truck trailer for a year or so plus received a $500 check from the Manteca Chamber of Commerce to help get their business off the ground.

It was part of the aptly named Culinary Launchpad Pitch Event designed to generate more local culinary options for Manteca. In doing so, it will also generate more sales tax to help underwrite day-to-day municipal services.

“It’s good food, it’s healthy food, and it is something we don’t have in Manteca,” said City Manager Toni Lundgren who was one of a five-member panel that judged business plans, presentations, and — of course — the food and drink.

For their presentation, Mint Meadows offered four bowls — Coastal Garden, Himalayan Harvest, Sol Valley, and Vineyard Grove.

There was also a healthy dessert options featuring cottage cream and others that were yogurt parfaits as well as fresh teas such as hibiscus.

The other entries ranged from soul food, Indian baked goods, and dirty soda to tacos.

The concerns were dubbed Dirty Cup Pop & Brew, Sol Ice Co., Namma Ooru Kauai, The Allens’ Soul Food Co., Sippin Sodies, Rick’s Root Bar, and La Canasta De Mi Mama.

All of the entries, to various degrees, sourced ingredients from local sources whether it was fresh cut meat from a butcher shop or valley grown fruits and vegetables

Lundgren was as impressed with the back stories of why the entries were pursuing a food truck as well as the food and drink.

The city manager noted they all wanted to make a better life for their families as well as be part of Manteca’s growth.

The food truck launchpad program — a rarity for a city in California to offer — is a way of removing a big barrier to morph dreams into reality, which is startup costs.

The truck, that includes everything right down to a point of pay device, was acquired by the city using $50,000 in federal COVID relief funds.

The city bought it from a Lodi food truck operator that moved into their own brick and mortar restaurant based on their success in the food truck businesss.

The roughly year or so use of the food truck will allow the three partners to save up toward going on their own.

And it’s not just the money that they will accumulate after covering expenses.

A year’s worth of profits and loss data is invaluable in securing a loan

“We’re putting money back into the community,” Lundgren said.

Meadow Mints will be able to access all city events that feature food trucks in addition as well as use the food truck at day-to-day locations.

The goal is to do future competitions on a set rotation of a year or more to help kickstart even more culinary options for Manteca.

Lundgren noted the competition wasn’t just about electing a winner. It was also about creating opportunities, building connections, and learning how the city can better support the next generation of culinary entrepreneurs.

Other judges were Mayor Gary Singh and Councilman Mike Morowit who serve on the council’s economic development subcommittee as well as City of Manteca economic development staffers Vanessa Carrera and Joseph Viorge-Koide.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com