Jun 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By David A Kolman

“Along with the longstanding family recipe for Florida key lime pie, there are the good old recipes for tropical cheesecakes,” says Morehead. “South Florida has a heavy influx of people from Central and South America, Cuba, Jamaica, and the Caribbean Basin, and these types of cheesecakes are a favorite with them, especially the ones with Guava and Mango.”

Using closely held family recipes, production of the Florida Key Lime Pie Company's Tropical Guava, Island Mango, Caribbean Chocolate Marble, and Vanilla Bean cheesecakes were under way.

The key lime pies come as a 4-ounce individual serving cup, an 8-slice 9-inch deep-dish pie, and a 10-inch standard pie. The cheesecake selections come in 8 or 12 pre-portioned slices.

All the pies are made at a small bakery in which Morehead has an equity investment.

As soon as the pies are made, they are frozen to keep their freshness and maintained at a temperature of 0°F.

While most of the product is stored at the bakery, Morehead bought an 8-by-12-foot freezer from Arctic Industries and assembled it at his nursery for additional storage.

He did all this before he began trying to sell his pies.

Delivery truck

Morehead launched his Florida Key Lime Pie Company on August 7 of last year and began looking for customers. As he started meeting with success, he needed to purchase a “freezer” delivery truck.

He decided to go with a Dodge Sprinter van that he had modified into a freezer delivery truck. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, the truck didn't meet his needs.

It was about this time that the Florida Key Lime Pie Company participated in the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show. The company booth at the show's exhibition was near the Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America (MFTA) booth, manned by representatives from MFTA dealer Diesel Specialists of Orlando. Featured in the display was a Mitsubishi Fuso cabover FE 125 truck outfitted with a refrigerated body.

“Since our booths were near to each other, Louis and I spent a good deal of time visiting,” says Jeff Smith, a salesman for Diesel Specialists. “He told me about his truck problems, and we discussed how the FE 125 could fulfill his transportation requirements and needs.

“Plus, he thought the truck would be a much better vehicle than the Sprinter for his planned vehicle wrap.”

A short time after the show, Morehead met with Smith and purchased a 2008 model FE 125. The truck, with a gross vehicle weight rating of 12,500 pounds, is powered by a 175-horsepower diesel engine backed to a 6-speed automatic transmission.

Among the features that helped sell Morehead, Smith notes, is the truck's 5-year/175,000-mile powertrain warranty; good fuel economy; forward swing doors for easy, safe entry; fold-down workstation; and plenty of storage areas.