If you’ve been downtown on a Friday night, chances are you may have seen the green H.A.F. Baked truck parked near a bar or somewhere with heavy foot traffic. A source of curiosity for many, the truck is a recent development in the entrepreneurial landscape of the La Crosse area.
The Racquet Press sat down for an interview with Joseph Lomen, the operations manager of the H.A.F. Baked truck.
The H.A.F. Baked truck is the mobile presence for the High Society store that was previously located inside the Valley View Mall before moving to downtown La Crosse. Lomen explained he had started with the company before the truck existed, but when the idea was pitched, he wanted to be the one to head the new wing of the business.
“There was some doubt…but once we got going, it was just a natural flow of things. ‘This is it, I enjoy this,’” said Lomen.
This August will mark three years of the truck’s existence and Lomen’s involvement with it. Lomen said that the most popular item at the truck is CBD pre rolls, which contain CBD-rich hemp flowers and are rolled in paper with a filter, similar to a tobacco cigarette. Other popular products include assorted varieties of edibles.
Customers come to the truck with various levels of experience using these kinds of products. Lomen explained sometimes people are confident with their CBD or TCHa use, while others are not.
“Many times there are people who have never had anything, so it’s important to provide the education and the proper guidance when starting somebody off,” said Lomen.
Lomen puts an emphasis on making sure customers purchase THCa and CBD products they can handle. He said he fields questions about the legality of the products and the business, given the still somewhat-recent rise of CBD and THCa in the United States.
Lomen made it clear that everything sold at H.A.F. Baked is perfectly legal under federal and state law.
According to Van Severen Law Office, THC products derived from the hemp plants that have “less than 0.3% delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] concentration on a dry weight basis” are legal in Wisconsin, while THC products derived from the marijuana plant is illegal because of a higher THC concentration. CBD can be derived from hemp or marijuana, but it doesn’t contain THC and can’t get someone “high.”
“Some of the biggest skeptics can become your strongest advocates once you start to talk to them and break down some of those stereotypes,” said Lomen.
As the operations manager, Lomen is involved in most things with the truck. This includes where and when to have the truck, communicating with customers and other businesses, inventory, selling of the product, advertisement and more.
Lomen typically has the truck out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. until 3 a.m., but will ensure he is out in the community during larger events. A recent example of this was a bar crawl downtown, where Lomen made sure to be out with the truck a few hours earlier than he normally would.
For him, the driving force of the business is customer connection.
“They’re the foundation as I’ve seen it…they’re advocates, they support in so many ways when they come to the truck,” explained Lomen. “It’s really rewarding and just a good feeling to see community develop, and the different connections that I’ve developed over time, how you’ll see them kind of cross paths.”
Lomen continued, “My goal is not to portray it as a party atmosphere, but definitely exciting times and [a] relaxed atmosphere…there are those times available for people that come up, they’re having a hard day,” he said. “Even if they aren’t buying anything or can’t buy anything, a conversation can go a long way.”
When he’s not working at the truck, Lomen is still in contact with customers, businesses and the other four to five employees at the High Society store. The store used to be in Valley View Mall and began as Hemp Plus before changing its name to High Society. Around two months ago, the store moved to its new downtown location on 223 Third St. N next to Del’s Bar.
In the future, Lomen hopes to expand the places and events he takes the H.A.F. Baked truck to, like weddings and private events. A High Society employee will have the truck in Green Bay for the upcoming NFL Draft April 24-26.
“Even though this may be primarily a college community, it’s surprising sometimes how this shift happens,” said Lomen. “You never know what situation will occur, who will come up to the truck.”
The H.A.F. Baked truck is currently parked by the West Ave Taco Bell on Thursday from 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. to midnight and downtown La Crosse on Thursday from midnight to 3 a.m. and Friday and Saturday from 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. until 3 a.m.
