Aww Shucks food truck business gives corn a gourmet upgrade
By Chanda Temple
One day in March 2020, Phillip and Avrie Powell were sitting in their garage, thinking of businesses they could run during the pandemic.
They wanted to create something different that was healthy, fun, guilt-free and definitely not fried. And thus the Aww Shucks food truck was born.
“Aww Shucks started July 4, 2020, and it was just supposed to be a job we did on the weekends,” said Phillip, 42. “Little did we know it would take over both of our lives.”
Today, the Powells are running a successful food truck that sells 15 flavors of gourmet fire roasted corn, which has added a global recognition to its already growing list of local and national commendations.
The company was nominated in 2021 and 2022 by Restaurant Guru for “Best Vegetarian Restaurant.” They also won Food Truck of the Year in 2021 by Success in the City; appeared on Fox and Friends national telecast twice; and was featured in a four-page spread in the fall 2022 issue of the national New Pioneer Magazine.
“We are up late at night, working on ideas and recipes all the time,” Phillip said.”We don’t get much rest because we love what we do, and when you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.”
Because he loved wings so much, Avrie, a vegan, challenged him in early 2020 to go 30 days without meat. Phillip found corn as an alternative, and thought other people would like it, too. Phillip never roasted a single ear of corn in his life, but he wanted to go against the grain and offer something wholesome and healthy to the public.
“I burned so much corn when I started. There was a lot of trial and error,” he said. “Every single day was a curve in trying to learn and figure out what matches well with this (flavor) and what blends well with that (flavor).”
“Once we got it right, the rest is history.”
Growing up as a child in Collegeville, the librarian at Phillip’s own elementary school distributed books for students to read every week. One of Phillip’s favorites was the Guinness World Record book. He carried his fascination about the Guinness World Record with him into adulthood. So, when he started Aww Shucks, he thought how great it would be for his company to break a world record.
Phillip started researching and found what could work for his whole team: husking corn.
On Sept. 25, 2021, Phillip, Avrie and their two nephews, Harris Brooks and Brandale Oliver, set a Guinness World Record by husking 38 corn cobs in a minute. (A four-man Canadian team had previously held the record of husking 31 corn cobs in a minute.)
To congratulate the Powells and their future goals, Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin declared Sept. 25, 2022 as Aww Shucks Day. Woodfin did it on Sept. 20, 2022 during a Birmingham City Council meeting.
“The (world record) competition could have been held anywhere, but Mr. Powell wanted to put Birmingham on the map and decided to break the world record right here in the Magic City,” Mayor Woodfin said.
To commemorate the company’s one-year anniversary record, the Powells will host the Aww Shucks Fall Festival on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022 from 12 to 5 p.m. at Cahaba Brewing.
The free festival will feature face painting, food trucks, a DJ, arts and crafts, and a corn eating contest.
Another big thing coming for Aww Shucks is that in late fall, the Powells plan to open a restaurant in North Avondale, where they will not only sell fire-roasted corn but also their creamy skillet corn-stuffed baked potatoes and a variety of vegetables.
“We have this entire plan for Aww Shucks to become Alabama’s ‘Must Try,’ ” Phillip said. “We are going to rename our garlic herb Parmesan, which is our most popular flavor, have it be named the ‘Birmingham Street Cob.’ This is my way of giving back to the city I love and my hometown.”
Avrie, a vegan and a former educator, said she wants to educate the community about the benefits of having a vegetarian and plant-based lifestyle.
“We have witnessed so many of our customers adding more vegetables to their diet just by visiting Aww Shucks,” Avrie said. “We want to make eating vegetables delicious, affordable and fun.”
Said Phillip: “Once we saw the difference Aww Shucks was making in people’s lives by them eating more vegetables we knew it was vital for us to have more of an impact on our community.”
For more information about Aww Shucks and to get details on their food truck locations, visit http://www.awwshucks.online.