Dayton, Ohio – The grocery store is where you’ll find Shafton Greene on an early week day morning. But he doesn’t go there to grocery shop for his family.
He’s here to buy food for his new Caribbean business: SOCA Food Truck.
“No one is selling it so we figured we couldn’t just go out and buy it,” said Greene. “So we mind as well cook it for the people who came from Trinidad and came from the Caribbean.”
Greene who’s from Trinidad and his brother Ricardo Modeste started the business about six months ago. He says Dayton residents have grown to love the food.
“We’ve been having awesome reviews,” he said. “We’ve had thousands of people follow us on Instagram and Facebook so it’s really been a blessing.”
With supplies in hand he has all the necessary ingredients he needs o start his day and head to his kitchen on wheels.
And from there he travels over to the Wright Dunbar Historical District where he prepares and cooks the food. He says what makes Caribbean food so delicious is that it’s different than most.
“Basically you’re tasting a culture when you have a plate of food in front of you and you don’t know how it’s going to taste. It’s almost like a surprise and when you first bite into it you’re like oh my goodness. It’s really good.”
And it adds a different flavor to the local economy–the US Census estimates that only 29-percent of businesses like SOCA are minority-owned.
That is why Dayton is making sure to highlight black-owned businesses through a Black restaurant week something Greene hopes to be an annual event.
“This is a part of my community,” said Greene. “Dayton is my home. So participating in something positive and good it makes you feel good. It makes you feel like you belong.”
For more information about the menu and store hours check out the SOCA Food Truck on Instagram and Facebook.
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