My Biz: Food truck serves up burritos

IOWA CITY - Kyle Sieck took a somewhat unlikely path to becoming the owner of a food truck that serves up burritos made with fresh. local ingredients.

A 2008 graduate of the University of Iowa, Sieck studied geography, philosophy and environmental issues while in school. That led him to working at Echollective CSA in Mechanicsville. 'I became interested in connecting back to the land,” he said.

During his time at Echollective, Sieck worked the organization's booth selling produce at the Wednesday and Saturday Iowa City farmers markets. 'Back then, egg rolls and baked goods were the only things market attendees could find to eat,” he recalls. So Sieck decided he'd use his background and interest in local foods to start offering farm-fresh burritos at the market.

'I started really small not knowing what to expect, and here we are six year later still doing it,” he said.

At Local Burrito, Sieck said his No. 1 priority is sourcing local food for his products. 'Not only does it taste great, but it's better for the community when I am buying for local suppliers. We really put a lot of effort into this.”

Beyond creating and testing new recipes, Sieck handles many tasks in any given week to keep the business up and running.

'I am calling grocery stores to check on inventory, answering email and catering quotes, calling farmers and egg suppliers, cooking the food and managing the accounting,” he said. 'It's a little bit of everything.

When business is busiest - from April through October - he will have as many as five employees working for him. He often hires University of Iowa students affiliated with the Environmental Coalition and is happy to help them get some first hand culinary experience.

While Sieck stays busy as a vendor at the Iowa City Farmers Market, his food truck business now offers lunch and dinner options as well as catering options for weddings and corporate events. 'We did three wedding this summer and have a few booked for this year,” he said.

Local Burrito products are also available to purchase in the frozen section of many local grocery stores, including Hy-Vee, the New Pioneer Co-ops and Bread Garden Market. 'Most frozen burritos you can buy come from California or beyond,” said Sieck. 'So my goal was to create a burrito with local foods that people could buy in the frozen food section.”

Know a manager or company in business for more than a year that would be ideal for 'My Biz”? Contact Chelsea Keenan at Chelsea.Keenan@thegazette.com

At a glance

Name: Kyle Sieck

Company: Local Burrito

Phone: (563) 241-2857

Website: localburrito.com