New addition to Centre County mobile food scene serves up local products from vintage trailer

Visitors to local farmers markets this summer will spot a new addition to the roundup of Centre County mobile food options. Bees Knees Coffee provides espresso-based drinks in a goldenrod and white-striped, vintage and restored 1960s trailer.

The business, which made its debut at the Boalsburg Farmers Market on May 25, can now be found there every third Tuesday and at the Pine Grove Mills Farmers Market every Thursday. Bromlyn Fitzgerald is the owner, serving up caffeinated beverages and homemade baked goods with a honey-inspired twist.

Fitzgerald previously owned the Daily Dose Cafe at Gray’s Woods Geisinger. Fitzgerald’s foray into the world of food — and more specifically, coffee — was more happenstance than anything, but it’s become the perfect way for her to connect with the community and other local businesses.

“I worked at the movie theaters for eight years and I needed another part-time job. I was on Craigslist and I found out the cafe at Geisinger was hiring,” she said.

After working for the cafe’s owner at what was then A Perfect Blend, the owner moved out of the area, offering to sell Fitzgerald the business. “That was March of 2015. I opened under the Daily Dose Cafe name and did that for almost five years. I opened a second location at the old HRB building across from Raytheon and had that satellite location for a little bit.”

After closing The Daily Dose Cafe, Fitzgerald began to notice a void in the local food truck scene.

“I noticed there wasn’t really anyone doing espresso-based drinks or mobile coffee,” Fitzgerald said. “I found this trailer on our way to Pittsburgh for vacation last October. We went and looked at it and it was already the goldenrod color and white. I’d been playing around with the Bees Knees Coffee (name) for a bit, just because a lot of people call me ‘B’ when they can’t pronounce my name and I’d started putting honey in my coffee recently to help with allergies. Everything just kind of fell into place.”

When deciding where she wanted to take her mobile business, Fitzgerald turned to the familiarity of farmers markets, where she worked selling wine in college.

“I’d also really like to do events, like festivals or weddings ... and I’d planned on marketing myself for that before the coronavirus outbreak, but as soon as that happened, I decided to just focus on the farmers markets,” she said. “I definitely wanted to be in the farmers market scene and connect with those people who are focused more on local products and supporting small, local business. Having been in and working for small businesses for at least the last 10 years, I realize how important it is and how important it is to make connections with those people.”

Bees Knees Coffee serves locally roasted, organic and fair trade coffee from Cafe Lemont. The specialty drink is the Bees Knees Latte, featuring local honey from Spring Creek Honey in Bellefonte. All homemade baked goods are sweetened with the same honey and milk used in coffee beverages comes from Meyer Dairy in Boalsburg (Fitzgerald points out, though, that milk alternatives such as oat and soy milk are available, as is decaf coffee for those wanting to avoid a caffeine buzz).

So far, Fitzgerald says she’s received a positive response from farmers market patrons.

“One thing that everyone sees is the trailer. I get a lot of comments about how cute it is and how much people like the idea of it. People are very excited to have something cool with caffeine in it at the farmers market,” she said.

As for the baked goods, she said the crowd favorite has been the homemade banana bread.

“(It’s) something that always brings people back, or I hear people saying, ‘Oh my friend told me your banana bread is so great and I have to get some,’” Fitzgerald said. “I think the banana bread is a best seller and something that’s taken off more than I thought it would.”

That happy response from delighted customers is one of the most rewarding parts of the business for Fitzgerald and her small team of one employee.

“My favorite thing about all the businesses I’ve owned is people coming back and saying, ‘Do you have more of this — the banana bread or the sugar cookies — because I had it last week and it was so good,’ or, ‘My husband or friends brought me this and told me I had to come out here and check it out.’ Hearing that people are really uplifted by the things I’m giving them is the best part about this,” she said.

In the future, Fitzgerald hopes to accommodate coffee bar needs at parties and weddings, as well as to attend more farmers markets and events in the Centre County area. You can follow Bees Knees Coffee at beeskneescoffee.com.