Tony Lamb

Founder and CEO Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee Truck

Last Reviewed: September 19, 2026

Executive Summary

Tony Lamb is the founder and chief executive of a family of mobile food and drink franchises run from a seven-acre headquarters in Florence, Kentucky. The first and largest is Kona Ice, which he started in 2007 and which the company describes as the world’s largest food truck company, with more than 1,700 franchisee-owned trucks across 49 states and Canada. Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee Truck, founded in 2020 and named after his father, applied the same model to mobile coffee; Beverly Ann’s Cookies, named after his mother, is the third brand. What distinguishes the business is not the product but the giveback mechanism built into it: Kona Ice franchisees return a share of what they take at school and community events to the host organisation, and the company reports that more than $200 million has gone back to schools and charities on that basis. Lamb himself came to franchising from door-to-door vacuum-cleaner sales, and a University of Kentucky business and accounting degree.

Career Highlights

• Founded Kona Ice in 2007 and grew it to more than 1,700 franchisee-owned trucks operating in 49 states and Canada, by the company’s own account the world’s largest food truck company.
• Kona Ice and its franchisees have given more than $200 million to local schools and charitable organisations.
• Founded Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee Truck in 2020, with its first trucks on the road in 2021; by the end of 2023 it had 150 franchised trucks and over 300 further reservations placed.
• Founded Beverly Ann’s Cookies, a mobile dessert brand named for his mother.
• Inducted into the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame in 2023.
• Named 2021 Chief Executive Officer for a Large Private Company by the Cincinnati Business Courier and NKyTribune’s 2025 NewsMaker of the Year.
• Kona Ice was Entrepreneur magazine’s #1 New Franchise in the US in 2013 and has ranked first or second for franchisee satisfaction with Franchise Business Review for twelve consecutive years.
• Told the Kona Ice story on the How I Built This podcast with Guy Raz.

Professional Journey

Lamb, a Parkersburg, West Virginia native, took a business and accounting degree at the University of Kentucky and then spent years selling vacuum cleaners door to door – an apprenticeship in customer satisfaction and team leadership that he has since credited as formative. The origin story of Kona Ice is domestic: he and his three-year-old daughter had an unpleasant encounter with a conventional ice cream truck, and he concluded there was room for a cleaner, friendlier, better-run version of the same business.

Kona Ice launched in 2007 on a shaved-ice concept with a self-serve Flavorwave dispenser, patented equipment, and a franchise model aimed at owner-operators rather than fleets. Its real innovation was commercial rather than culinary. By pitching itself at schools, sports tournaments and community fundraisers and returning a share of proceeds to the host, the company converted what is usually a permitting headache into an invitation. That giveback is now quantified at more than $200 million, and it underpins the franchisee satisfaction rankings the brand cites – first or second with Franchise Business Review for twelve consecutive years, and Entrepreneur’s top new franchise in 2013. The corporate operation grew into a seven-acre site at Florence, Kentucky with additional storage at Latonia, and an annual franchisee KONvention.

In 2020 Lamb founded Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee Truck, named for his father Tom, who has continued to work at headquarters. The first trucks reached the road in 2021 and the brand expanded quickly, reaching 150 franchised trucks by the end of 2023 with more than 300 further reservations in the pipeline. The proposition is the same one that worked for Kona Ice, transposed to handcrafted hot, iced and frozen coffee served at corporate events, weddings, festivals, school functions and hospitals. A third brand, Beverly Ann’s Cookies, named for his mother, extends the portfolio to mobile desserts.

Recognition has followed the growth. The Cincinnati Business Courier named him its 2021 Chief Executive Officer for a Large Private Company, the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame inducted him in 2023, and NKyTribune made him its NewsMaker of the Year for 2025, citing community engagement as much as commercial scale. He has also appeared on How I Built This with Guy Raz. Notably, none of this appears on the consumer-facing Kona Ice or Travelin’ Tom’s websites, which foreground the franchisees rather than the founder.

Education

University of Kentucky

Bachelor’s degree, Business and Accounting