Let me ask you a question: What does capoeira have to do with a healthy food truck?
For this story… everything.
In 2014, a man by the name of André Newman started a business called Purple Tree Organic Acai Blends — a mobile unit serving both delicious and seriously nutritious food. Newman was a huge fan of acai. It’s a berry native to Central and South America, which is a deep purple fruit that grows wild on the acai palm tree. Not only is the acai berry tasty, having flavors similar to blackberries and even dark chocolate (a bit earthy and bitter) but the health benefits from acai are something wonderful.
Nestled in that little princely pigmented berry are antioxidants that easily rival cranberries and blueberries. Plus, the acai berry helps to stimulate the immune system, reduces swelling, and even assists in lowering blood pressure. With all of those promising properties and a business plan in front of him, Newman purchased a truck, painted it a fanciful shade of purple, and rolled it out.
He began selling bowls, smoothies, and juices infused with the magical and magically delicious berries among a throng of other seasonal fruits and vegetables.
The Purple Tree truck was a near-instant hit with the good folk of southern Arizona. Sure, many of us love beef and beer but when that grows heavy on the belly and psyche you are going to need something to balance that act.
When Purple Tree was parked at a local farmers market, community gathering, fair, or on the side of the road, people lined up to take down what Newman was dishing out. To avoid long lines, I’d arrive at the Rillito Park farmers market early on Sundays just for a bowl of his frozen acai topped with granola and various locally grown citrus.
Sure, coffee amps me up but an acai bowl from Purple Tree was a completely different and delightfully uplifting way to start the day.
Then in 2020, Purple Tree stopped showing up. Their social media halted and all of us were left wondering what was going on. Unfortunately, Newman had passed away. The truck he put so much work into was now stagnant and dark without any notion if it would ever get back up and running again.
A close friend of Newman’s, Davia Moore, a capoeira instructor and director of Samba Southwest, was devastated by his passing as they became very close friends having met through capoeira.
“I was living in Hawaii at the time on the north shore on Oahu,” said Moore, referring to how she helped inspire Newman to open Purple Tree. “André and his family came out to Hawaii to spend time because that’s where they would visit often before living there. There’s a place where there are a lot of food trucks and I took him there because the mainland is like a long two-lane stretch.”
“There’s not a lot of businesses or restaurants on that stretch, just a couple of grocery stores every X number of miles. So, food trucks are very popular. You know, a lot of fish, a lot of poke, avocado, pineapple, banana — all kinds of great, delicious things. And he was impressed by that. André and his family put their minds together and before you knew it, Purple Tree was born.”
The legacy that Newman left behind was one that Davia and her husband both wanted to protect. Most people interested in buying the truck wanted to completely change the business and concept, but the Moores were not having that.
“Nobody wanted to keep the brand going. Everybody wanted to turn it into their own thing,” said Moore. “I just kept talking to my husband about the idea and then he was just like, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’ Then we bought the business. All of the recipes, all of the everything. I just made a promise to myself to keep the legacy going. If it ain’t broke, you don’t need to fix anything. You know what I mean?”
Having a business of her own, a husband, and a young daughter, Moore took her time to get it all right. Then in early 2023, the Purple Tree Organic Acai Blend truck gloriously and mercifully returned to us.
For those out there who are unfamiliar with what Purple Tree serves up, think of an ice cream truck gone 21st century. It’s a menu that doesn’t sacrifice flavor in any way because they actually give two shakes about you. In other words, that shake is both yummy and shaking things up inside you in the best way possible.
Purple Tree blends up the acai berries, freezes it, scoops the ball of advantageous elation into a bowl or cone, and then smothers it with all sorts of crunch and fruit. Others will wonder if you are biting into an icy sphere of purple drank or if a wizard had conjured an orb of vivid violet tasty awesome. Either way, you are in for an experience for all senses and your internal facilities.
Ever hear of mushroom coffee? No, it’s not that stuff you had at Coachella. Real mushroom coffee is a variety of fungi that’s crushed into grounds before being steeped in hot water, much like regular ol’ coffee. The flavor is surprisingly sublime.
For me, it’s reminiscent of a well-balanced chai but a chai that has high levels of antioxidants, is packed with nutrients, and comes without that dizzying buzz one can commit to after slurping down cup after cup of coffee. Purple Tree’s mushroom coffee is just as inviting as everything else on that health wagon.
We owe André Newman so much for opening and getting Purple Tree off the ground, but we also need to raise our smoothies to Davia Moore for keeping a promise and the tradition we have all known to expect and love.
“Well, I’m a community activist and I love things that bring community together to empower,” said Moore. “Purple Tree is just another way to do it. It’s been an honor and a joy. I mean, it literally gives me butterflies being a part of this. There is something within the job and the atmosphere that’s just so satisfying to me. We’re actually doing something better for our society — our community — one acai scoop at a time.”
To keep up with the latest, follow Purple Tree on Facebook and Instagram.
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