Entrepreneurs Wendy and Marie Cooper operate their food cart in South Jersey, exclusively offering dumplings from Humpty’s Dumplings, the brand from business partners Patrick Doyle and Phillip Yesenosky, who launched their Philadelphia-based business in 2014.
Wendy and Marie could have become franchisees for hundreds of other businesses, but after discovering that that Doyle and Yesenosky’s licensing model made the most sense from a fiscal standpoint, they incorporated as Dumpling Divas, purchased a food truck and began selling Humpty’s Dumplings on their own, which has brought them a substantial ROI in less than 6 months.
This model saw Wendy and Marie, partners in life and in business, incur a lower entry cost and higher returns than franchising. And in just a few short months after their launch, business is already doing very well.
“Our calendars became really full right after we started operating, and we realized that we were on our way to paying back the first truck, and began planning on investing in a second vehicle very quickly,” said Wendy.
When Wendy and Marie met Pat and Phil, they were already big fans of their Humpty’s Dumplings products, and Marie had experience running a food truck in the past. The ladies were looking for a new business opportunity, and Marie loved the adrenaline rush she gained from running a food operation, so the business model worked for her and Wendy, who were looking for a niche business to launch their own family business.
“We actually accidentally clicked a tab online that took us to a licensing form while we were researching our options,” said Wendy, who was searching to see where Humpty’s had physical locations. “After filling out a form, we met Pat and Phil a month later and felt that we were a match made in heaven right away. We feel very lucky that we found people like them and got into business so rapidly. We really didn’t expect to be operational this year, but we quickly realized that we could literally go from zero to sixty in a few weeks, which ended up being the case.”
Their truck offers four or five different dumpling options per event, often doing five lately with the addition of Humpty’s Dumplings’ new bacon cheeseburger dumpling. They exclusively sell Humpty’s Dumplings, and while Pat and Phil will send Wendy and Marie new dumpling compositions to test and try with family and friends, they can only sell official flavors on the truck.
Their current boundaries are from Burlington County to Cape May, NJ, with potential expansion coming in the near future. The licensing agreement comes with zero franchise fees, so the Coopers simply had to pay for their truck, along with the truck wrap, branding and serving materials, culinary equipment, and product. All-in, they’ve invested roughly $54,000 after purchasing their truck in January 2024, and have made back nearly double their investment in only 6 months!
“The biggest obstacle with booking events at businesses that host food trucks is getting your foot in the door to get into the events and fill up the monthly calendar,” said Marie. “Humpty’s Dumplings’ reputation opened a lot of doors for us very quickly, and we’ve now gotten to the point where we’re turning away business because we can’t be in more than one place at a time. This is why we’re excited to be considering purchasing a second truck.”
Wendy and Marie met through a mutual friend and have been together for eight years, currently living in Franklinville, New Jersey. They have an almost two-year-old son, Brennen, and they refer to their business as “Brennen’s College Fund on Wheels.” Wendy has been an oncology nurse for 30 years, and Marie is a ten-year army veteran who served as a second lieutenant in military intelligence while being deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We knew as soon as we met Wendy and Marie that they were excellent candidates to license and sell our product,” said Pat. “Their enthusiasm, experience, and work ethic was very clear during our first meeting, and they jumped right in and purchased their truck shortly after we met, which demonstrated how serious they were. We were optimistic that they were solid candidates during that first meeting, but were completely blown away by how fast they learned how to merchandise, prepare and serve our dumplings. Looking back, it felt like they showed up with questions one day, and then a few days later they were already showing up at events throughout South Jersey. They’re really incredible partners who we are super excited to support any way we can. We’re completely ecstatic to help them grow their business!”
Best wishes to Wendy and Marie – and when you see the Dumpling Divas, check them out!
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