Around Baking Company Food Truck Offers Pizza and Baked Goods

Daniel Crawford has been a Lowell resident for nearly a decade. The former CPA put doing taxes behind him to work full-time building and running his recently debuted Around Baking Company food truck. Locally, the truck has made appearances at New Union Brewery over the past month.

Making Lowell Home
Crawford moved to Lowell following spending time in Colorado. After renting outside city limits for a few years, he and his wife purchased a home within city boundaries.  Crawford also serves on the Lowell Light & Power Board where he has had a seat since September 2019. 

Just as COVID-19 shut things down in 2020, Crawford and his wife welcomed a daughter to their family. His wife has her own photography business and has also played a supportive role in the creation of the food truck. While the family dog, Gizmo, doesn’t contribute to household income, he is supportive of their efforts and does get sad when left out.

While living in Colorado, Crawford was putting together a concept plan for his business. He has always wanted to do something with food and quietly planned as he waited for the right opportunity. “We started with a general concept of what the business would be, then over the years the idea just kept growing and adjusting,” he says. Throughout his years of planning various details would emerge. Ideas would be able to become reality once he began reading about food regulations and crunching numbers. “We ultimately choose a food truck because of the control and flexibility it provides. Plus it just seemed like more fun!”

Focus on a Food Truck
After deciding he wanted his business to focus around a food truck, Crawford had to come up with the type of food he would serve. Pizza was tops in his book after longevity in making it for friends and family. Around Baking Company came about for the idea of being *around* local communities and incorporating ingredients from around the area from local Michigan vendors. The truck has the ability to provide more than just pizza in order to keep fresh ideas coming. 

So far “The Steve”, the truck’s pepperoni pizza has been quite popular with customers as well as the “Salt-n-peppers here”. Crawford believes there are endless varieties of pizza he can serve. His plan is to offer a core menu and change things up with specials, especially depending on seasonal and local availability of ingredients. A cherry chicken pizza was a recent special – with alfredo sauce, spinach, sauteed garlic and onion, chicken, and hand-picked MI Attikas cherries. Currently, a dill pizza (pictured below) is the special offering. Cookies or other dessert items may also be available for those wanting to wrap things up with a sweet treat. Crawford’s also looking to offer appetizers as wells as breakfast available soon.

When asked what his favorite type of pizza is, Crawford responds, “I don’t know that I can pin down a favorite out of all the great pizzas out there. Generally, when I do sit down to try a new slice, I will look for something out of the ordinary. A Cuban pizza with pickles…. sign me up!”

Crawford is still working on a regular schedule for where his truck can be found. Recently he has been spending time at New Union Brewery, which will continue weekly. As the business continues to grow he will look for additional regular spots as well as special events and catering. He’s also looking to become more involved with the community as well. 

According to Crawford, there are numerous people to thank for helping him achieve his goal of opening a food truck. He is eager to see how his business will grow through regular service locations, special events, and catering.

Look for Around Baking Company at the following locations:

For up-to-date information on where Around Baking Compay’s food truck will be setting up, what special pizza offerings will be available, and other baked items being offered, follow them on Facebook or Instagram. Those looking to book the truck for public and private events, catering, or drop-off catering can also use social media to reach out. Daniel Crawford is looking forward to seeing you around.