Logo for 'The Best Route' featuring stylized text with a location pin and leaf design.
Three smiling people taking a selfie in front of a green banner for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. They are wearing green shirts with the food bank logo, and one person is wearing a white cap. The banner in the background displays the food bank's name, a spoon graphic, and images of berries and a slice of fruit.

We are your mentors, advocates and champions from start to finish.

We have been in your shoes. As mobile market operators, our team understands the complexities of mobile markets and program development. We take the time to listen, understand your goals and provide you with the best path to achieve those goals.

The Best Route provides guidance to private and public organizations that may already have an existing or emerging mobile market as well as those interested in starting one.

As a leader in mobile market consulting throughout North America, we provide services including needs assessment, evaluation, program and vehicle design, budgeting, development, training, partner connections, and more. Our goal is to help clients create a sustainable mobile market program that is best suited to their organization and their community’s specific needs.

Our Services

  • We will help you map your community and organization assets, and choose the right market model.

    • Map community needs and assets

    • Infrastructure assessment

    • Short and Long-term Budgeting

    • Identifying partners and key collaborators

    • Identify funding and revenue sources based on your business or organization

    • Trellis for Tomorrow 2024 Mobile Market Pilot

  • There are many market models, depending on your geography, your access to food sources, the community you are serving and many other factors. We can help you design a program that fits your community and your organization. Some of those design elements include:

    • Identifying partners, host site locations and operational needs

    • Choosing what food you will carry and how you will source and store it

    • Preparing for permitting and licensing

    • Identifying a vehicle type based on your geography, market model and staffing structure

    • And much more!

  • Defining program goals, identifying impactful outcomes and choosing appropriate metrics can sometimes feel overwhelming. Our experience working with mobile markets nationwide can help you get your program started on the right footing, helping you reach your goals from day one.

  • Mobile markets operators tend to be multi-talented individuals who do everything from safe food handling to vehicle maintenance. They have to manage messaging to various stakeholders, work with staff and volunteers and provide exceptional customer service. Sometimes a mobile market is a departure from an organization’s typical frame of reference. We can help navigate the complexities of operating a mobile market by:

    • Facilitating trainings and providing training materials

    • Coaching staff through messaging and marketing options

    • Providing best practices for operations based on over 15 years of combined experience

    • Food safety and demonstration best practices

    • One-on-one mentoring

Book a Free 30-Minute Consultation

Client Reviews

From the outset, The Best Route worked closely with us to ensure our vision was brought to life. Their extensive experience in this field was evident in every aspect of the project, from planning to execution. They not only met our expectations but consistently exceeded them in both delivery and outcomes. We couldn't have asked for a better partner in this important initiative!

— Jennifer Anderson, Executive Director, Trellis for Tomorrow

The Best Route has been instrumental in helping us build this project from the ground up… Our team is so grateful for all the support you’ve given us — you all are absolute pros!

— Amanda Frankeny, Director of Food Justice, Community Action Partnership Lancaster

The Best Route has been a true pioneer in the mobile market movement. They’ve been in the trenches, they understand the work, and they’ve become an essential partner in how we train, support, and serve communities. We’re proud to build this future together.

— Fred LaForge, CEO, Farmers' Truck
Grocery store aisle with fresh vegetables and fruits on metal shelves, including bananas, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, and apples.
A display of fresh fruits on a three-tiered stand outside a store, featuring papayas, bananas, and various other fruits, with a background of a parking lot, lush green trees, and a building labeled 'HANA HEALTH'.
A mobile farmers market truck with fresh vegetables displayed on shelves outside. There is a sign advertising the market serving the community, with a picture of various produce.
Green and white mobile fresh produce truck with open side displaying fresh vegetables and fruits, parked outdoors with a grassy field and blue sky in the background.
A mobile farmer's market truck with a colorful sign, selling fresh produce to customers on a sunny day.
A queue of people waiting outside a building for an event, with tents and tables set up in the parking lot, police officers and children in the scene.
Farmer's market stall with various fresh vegetables and tomatoes on an orange table, a white truck in the background, and vendors under a white canopy.
White mobile market van with 'Mobile Market' logo, open side door showing interior shelves, and various branding and partnership logos.
A red food truck with an
Fresh produce stand set up in a parking lot with a white canopy, green bins, and signs, with a vehicle and some trees in the background.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • We provide comprehensive guidance for every stage of development. Our services include community needs assessments, program design and evaluation, budgeting and development, and partner connections. We also specialize in the technical aspects of operations, such as choosing and troubleshooting vehicles and providing staff training

  • We differentiate ourselves by being operators first. With over 30 years of combined non-profit experience and a decade of operating food access programs, we "have been in your shoes". Because we actively operate My Mobile Market and The Best Route Farm, our advice is grounded in current, day-to-day operational realities rather than just theory.

  • No, we support programs at any lifecycle stage. We guide organizations launching new markets, but we also provide technical assistance to private and public organizations with existing mobile markets that need evaluation or operational improvement. We act as mentors and advocates to help established programs become more sustainable.

  • We believe in a community-driven, culture-driven approach. We do not offer a "one-size-fits-all" solution; instead, we take the time to listen and understand your goals. Our objective is to design a program that integrates into your unique community and serves its specific needs.

  • Yes. Securing funding often requires proving that your program is working. We specialize in program evaluation, data collection, and reporting. With a background in research and sociology, we can help you design metrics that accurately measure food access improvements and community engagement, ensuring you have the data needed to satisfy grant requirements and secure future funding.

  • A: Yes. We work with established programs to improve efficiency and sustainability. We provide troubleshooting for existing operations, helping you identify budget leaks, improve route logistics, and diversify revenue streams. Our goal is to move your program from "surviving" to "thriving" by applying best practices we have learned from over a decade of direct operation.