Business Spotlight: Southern Nibble

Local food truck Southern Nibble is delighting the taste buds of Sequim residents and visitors alike with its authentic Southern comfort cuisine. Caleb and Charmaine Messinger, the husband-and-wife duo behind the culinary endeavor, have been serving up their Southern dishes at festivals and events around the peninsula for the past three years.  

“We love the small-town atmosphere of Sequim,” said Charmaine. “We’re originally from Beaufort, South Carolina. We moved out West to be near family eight years ago and wanted our kids to experience the same smaller community feel that we grew up with.” 

Sequim delivered the close-knit community that the Messingers were looking for, but they found themselves missing Southern fare amongst the local cuisine.  

“Food is really important to us in the South,” noted Caleb. “I started working in restaurants in South Carolina when I was 15 years old. We’re excited to bring those local Southern flavors to the Pacific Northwest.” 

From starting at the Shrimp Shack on Saint Helena Island to mixing cocktails in swanky downtown eateries, Caleb has long felt at home in food service. A food truck seemed like a natural progression from that experience and passion for Southern cuisine. Owning a local business also helped the Messingers engage in more community events, whether they are serving up food or attending local sports during their off hours.  

“We love to support our local high school teams,” said Charmaine. “Southern Nibble has offered up free meals to our varsity athletes and half off to our JV team on game days.”  

Their ties in the local community led them to switch banks to First Fed.  

“Several of our friends here recommended First Fed,” said Caleb. “We’ve been banking with them since before we opened our business. We love that they are a community bank that really cares about their customers.” 

One of the crucial elements of running a transaction-based small business like a food truck is managing customer payments. Partnering with the right bank for merchant services is an important part of getting the most out of point-of sale systems like Clover.  

“When we were working with a national bank it would take a long time for checks to clear and for credit card payments to process,” explained Caleb. “Plus, we would end up with so many extra fees. When we switched our Clover merchant account to First Fed, it made a huge positive impact on our business.” 

“As a community bank, First Fed can work with our business customers to solve problems and streamline financial transactions specific to their situation,” said John Textor, a First Fed Treasury Management Officer serving Clallam County.  

“It’s been a pleasure working with John,” added Caleb. “He recommended switching our merchant account to First Fed after hearing about our struggles with our last bank. It’s made a huge difference to solve those problems and increase the speed of our financial transactions. Getting your money the next day instead of waiting three days, and at a lower transaction percentage rate, really makes a positive impact to our business.” 

“Customer service is really important to us and in our industry,” said Charmaine. “We are happy to make the extra effort, like walking food out to our neighboring customers. We love that First Fed also has a commitment to personalized service.” 

The menu at Southern Nibble includes chicken tenders with a variety of sauces, pork sliders, mac-n-cheese, fried pickles, BBQ wings, and other Southern delights. View their menu and find their truck on the Southern Nibble Facebook page.