Southern Living recently named Stephen and Jessica Rose “the South’s Cutest Couple,” but don’t expect them to be on the cover of any magazine – unless it’s a recipe book or a food journal. As founders of The Peach Truck, Stephen and Jessica are on a mission to bring fresh Georgia peaches to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio each summer through their “small town tour.”
The male half of that couple lived in Owensboro for 7 years before meeting the girl of his dreams and settling in Nashville. But that’s when Stephen was faced with a situation. Having grown up in Georgia before moving to Owensboro, Stephen knew how good those juicy, Georgia peaches could be. The problem was he couldn’t find any peaches quite like he was used to in Nashville, and he really wanted Jessica to taste how good they were.
To solve his dilemma, Stephen did the only thing he knew to do: he took his girl on a road trip back to his family’s farm in Georgia and hand-picked the perfect peach just for her. Of course after one bite, Jessica completely understood his love for Georgia peaches and became an instant believer herself. Together they came up with a plan and soon after traded in their car for an old jeep truck, loaded it with as many bags of fresh picked Georgia peaches as they could fit, and then drove it back to Nashville to spread the love.
Thus, the Peach Truck was born.
What began as a nights-and-weekends passion project by selling to friends and family and taking The Peach Truck to local farmers markets quickly grew. “People loved them,” Rose says. “They went nuts for these peaches everywhere we took them.”
So, in February of 2013 Stephen and Jessica both quit their full time jobs to devote all their time to The Peach Truck. Now, they get to share the peaches they love so much with everyone.
Rick Haley is the deliverer for the “small town tour,” which routed through Owensboro twice this summer. According to Haley, the tour covered 11,000 miles through Tennessee, Kentucky, and as far North as Cleveland, Ohio. Check back with Owensboro Living for the return dates next summer. In the meantime, stay in touch with the Roses and the Peach Truck at www.thepeachtruck.com.
