Long before many beachgoers unzip their umbrellas or spread out their towels, a team of South Jersey educators is already hard at work.
Cold brew that steeped overnight is poured into kegs. Ice is loaded. Flavor syrups are stocked. A coffee cart weighing hundreds of pounds is wheeled across the sand, ready to serve the first caffeine fix of the day.
By 11 a.m., the familiar call rings out across Margate’s beaches: “Iced coffee!”
What looks like a simple stroll through the sand is actually the result of hours of preparation, careful coordination and plenty of muscle. Behind the operation is a family of teachers who have trade classrooms for the shoreline each summer, bringing handcrafted cold brew directly to beachgoers through the Fudgy Wudgy Iced Coffee Cart.
A family business with a new twist
Bob Colombo and his brother Mike have spent more than a decade helping operate Fudgy Wudgy’s iconic beach ice cream carts.
When Margate began offering permits for beachside iced coffee service, they saw an opportunity to expand.
Last year, Fudgy Wudgy expanded their ice cream business into iced coffee, and the Colombo brothers brought it to life.
Today, the operation has become a true family affair.
Mike manages much of the logistics while overseeing the ice cream side of the business. Bob balances management responsibilities with pushing a coffee cart himself on weekends. Bob’s wife, Casey, handles the business’s social media, while Mike’s wife also helps operate the carts.
Together, they’ve built one of Margate’s newest beach traditions.
Teachers by school year, entrepreneurs by summer
Perhaps the most surprising part of the business isn’t the coffee—it’s who’s serving it.
Bob and Casey Colombo both teach at Seneca High School in Tabernacle. Mike and his wife also work at Mainland Regional High School, and many of the seasonal employees are teachers spending their summer break earning extra income.
“On any given Saturday or Sunday, you might find six to eight teachers selling coffee or ice cream,” Bob said.
He says teaching prepares them surprisingly well for running a busy seasonal business. “You deal with different personalities every day,” he said. “To be an effective teacher, you have to have a pretty strong work ethic.”
The carts can weigh several hundred pounds once they’re stocked with coffee, ice and supplies, requiring employees to push them through deep sand for hours while greeting customers and preparing drinks.
“We’re also working with high school and college students,” Bob said. “You want to make sure they’re doing their jobs efficiently and that they’re successful. You want them to make as much money as they possibly can.”
A day in the life
For beach barista Matt McDevitt of Egg Harbor Township, what started as filling in for a few weekends quickly became one of his favorite summer jobs.
The Colombos recruited him near the end of last summer, and he immediately found himself hooked.
“The biggest thing that stood out to me was the amount of fun I was able to have doing it,” McDevitt said.
Much of that comes from interacting with customers. “I enjoy talking to people,” he said. “The people I would sell coffee to were so interested in it, and they really liked it. They’d tell me how excited they were that someone was selling coffee on the beach and what a great idea it was.”
His personal favorite? The vanilla cold brew with a splash of half-and-half.
The work behind every cup
Customers may only see a smiling barista rolling by, but plenty happens behind the scenes.
The business brews its own cold brew coffee, which requires at least 14 hours of steeping before it’s transferred into chilled, pressurized kegs.
“It’s not like you can just make another batch,” Bob explained. “You have to plan everything ahead.”
Once the carts are on the beach, another team keeps them supplied. Managers remain in constant communication with each cart, delivering fresh ice, coffee, cups and syrups whenever supplies begin running low.
The menu is simple: three specials, and make-your-own-cold-brew options. “The Lucy,” the most popular offering, includes a homemade vanilla brown sugar syrup.
Depending on the day, as many as four coffee carts cover Margate, each assigned its own section of beach. Employees spend hours walking back and forth through their zones, logging thousands of steps while navigating soft sand and summer heat.
“It feels like it’s 125 degrees sometimes,” McDevitt said with a laugh.
Winning over Margate
The Colombo family wasn’t sure how beachgoers would respond when the coffee cart debuted last summer. Those concerns disappeared almost immediately.
“We weren’t exactly sure what the reaction was going to be,” Bob said. “But it was overwhelmingly positive.”
He estimates customers tell him “This is the best idea ever” countless times each weekend.
Even more rewarding, he says, has been hearing how much people enjoy the coffee itself.
He credits much of that success to Margate’s welcoming community.
“The people in Margate have been so incredibly nice to us,” he said. “We can’t say enough good things about the beachgoers and how supportive they’ve been.”
Learning the rhythm of the beach
Operating a mobile coffee business has also taught the family plenty about beach life. During the week, hybrid carts offer both coffee and ice cream to serve lighter crowds.
Weekends are different. Friday through Sunday, dedicated coffee carts roll alongside separate ice cream carts to meet demand.
Coffee sales are strongest during the morning, but Saturdays offer an unexpected second rush.
“People want coffee later in the day because they’re getting ready to go out that night,” Bob said.
The business has also partnered with local fitness organizations, serving coffee after Tone Up With T workouts and finding new ways to connect with the community.
Looking ahead
While no immediate expansion plans are in place, Bob says the family continues to discuss what’s next.
For McDevitt, the hope is much simpler. “If they’ll still have me,” he laughed, “I’ll keep doing it.”
For now, the team is content doing what they do best: waking up early, pushing carts across the sand and helping thousands of beachgoers start their mornings with an iced coffee in hand.
By Labor Day, they’ll trade beach chairs for desks and coffee carts for classrooms. But until then, the teachers of Fudgy Wudgy have no homework to assign—only cold brew to pour.
So look out for the blue Fudgy Wudgy flag on beach carts, and grab yourself a refreshing drink.
