TheFunnelCake Truck Wins KCSourceLink’s Battle of the Brands

The Funnel Cake Truck dominated this year’s Battle of the Brands, to take the gloves, the trophy and the title of the Aristo of Entrepreneurship in KCSourceLink’s Battle of the Brands.

This is our sixth Battle of the Brands between Kansas City’s Main Street, second-stage, innovation-led and microenterprise entrepreneurs. Our goal—to shine the spotlight on the types of entrepreneurs who contribute to our economy and to help entrepreneurs find the resources and inspiration they need to create their own buzz-worthy brands.

While this is the sixth ever Battle of the Brands, it is the first time a microenterprise business (small scale, small team) has ever taken the top crown. Michael Bradbury, owner of The Funnel Cake Truck, tasted victory last year when he won his quadrant before falling to the 2016 champion Pinsight Media+. Bradbury re-entered this year’s Battle with high hopes and many, many adoring fans. 

TheFunnelCake Truck’s Battle Rally

The road to Battle Champ wasn’t just fried Oreos and cotton candy for The Funnel Cake Truck, even though Bradbury is known around the KC metro as a sweet guy with an even sweeter truck.

In the first round, The Funnel Cake Truck took out Battle newbie Monarch Glass Studio. Round two saw goodies versus goodies, as the champion overcame KC Classic Gourmet Foods. The next round was one of the toughest for the food truck on a mission—KC Beard Balms put up an excellent fight all battle long, but couldn’t seal the deal. And in the penultimate battle, TheFunnelCake Truck won the microenterprise division by dousing Spicy Guys Pretzels in a two-day long match up.

In a first for the Battle of the Brands, the competition deviated just a touch from its bracket format and narrowed the field from four businesses to just one. This is when Michael proved that the community he has built online and at carnivals and parties across the region is a tour de force.

Here’s just a bit about the three quadrant champions The Funnel Cake Truck took out to win the crown:

Main Street Champ: Charlie Hustle

In just five years (started in 2012), Charlie Hustle has become a ubiquitous KC brand. Founder Chase McAnulty combined his passion for vintage t-shirts with the knowledge he gained studying graphic design at the Kansas City Art Institute to start this standout business.  

Second Stage Champ: Tippin’s

Tippin’s is a Battle of the Brands veteran, and they truly understand the core purpose of the competition—raising up all of Kansas City’s entrepreneurs. This year, after squeezing ahead of ARC Physical Therapy+, Tippin’s president Mark Boyer visited the ARC offices to drop off a few pies to say thank you for a Battle well fought.

Innovation-Led Champ: Happy Food Co

Happy Food Co launched its dinner kit service in a single Hen House location in January 2016, and one year later, the fresh, local dinner kits are in 18 retail locations, plus a standalone shop in Olathe, Kansas. “It's been a fantastic year of growth and learning!” says Jeff Glasco, who co-founded the company alongside Chef Kiersten Firquain in 2015.

TheFunnelCake Truck’s Secret Ingredients

If you search #KCBattle2017 on social media, you’ll find some pretty extravagant attempts from battling businesses to rally their community to vote. The Brewkery visited their competition SPIN! Pizza to enjoy a slice and share their one-of-a-kind kombucha. Sage Restoration brought their team together for a friendly, game of “Vote for us” dodgeball. And Updown Nightlife CEO Josh Lewis got the whole fam to battle along to encourage voting. 

If you check out TheFunnelCake Truck on social media, you won’t find any flashy posts or highly-produced spectacles. But what will you will find is lots of likes and a ton of comments, aka a highly engaged community that is happy to support the Kansas City business they love.

This devotion helped the TheFunnelCake Truck best much larger brands in the final round. And proved that the secret ingredients to winning the Battle of the Brands (and business, for that matter) are great customer service, an awesome product people want and fried Oreos.

Until next year’s Battle of the Brands, Bradbury can change the sign on the side of TheFunnelCake Truck from “Kansas City’s Favorite Dessert!” to “Kansas City’s Favorite Brand!”

Help us celebrate and enjoy some funnel cake

Join us at the Village Square's Second Friday event on Friday, April 14, to congratulate Michael on his big win and hang out with many of the Kansas City businesses who made #KCBattle2017 such a raging success. See you then!