Four Years of The Missing Link Carts & Catering
On Saturday, March 29, 2025, we’re celebrating the four-year anniversary of becoming The Missing Link Carts & Catering! It’s been such an exciting, challenging, and rewarding journey, that wouldn’t be possible without help and support from numerous family and friends, and of course…our wonderful customers.
In honor of the special day, we’re looking back at how we got here. From our humble beginnings as a tent (and even before!) to finding our home here in Kalamazoo. We hope you enjoy this tour through the timeline of The Missing Link!
September 2020 — Shane begins to prepare and cook take-and-bake style meal delivery for friends and family. Menu items ranged from salads and soups to casseroles and bakes. Most items were vegetarian or met other dietary restrictions.
November 2020 — After much discussion, we settled on a hot dog cart. We decided to start saving some money and figuring out how to start a business.
March 29, 2021 — The Missing Link Carts & Catering officially becomes a registered LLC!
May 2021 — We ordered our food cart, which was manufactured in Michigan and estimated to be ready for pick-up in eight weeks. (Spoiler…it was not ready in eight weeks.)
June 2021 — The Missing Link is announced on social media, and the website goes live.
Summer 2021 — We get certified with the Health Department as a food stand and begin setting up at farmers markets and other events in the Ann Arbor area, where our business was located. We had a great time at the Dexter Farmers Market, Dixboro Farmers Market, and our biggest event of the summer—Astronomicon. It was a challenging summer where we were forced to change plans due to restrictions in our commissary kitchen. We learned a lot.
October 2021 — Our brand new food cart is ready to use…at the end of food cart season.
Fall 2021/Winter 2022 — We launched our Bigfoot Bakes delivery and pick-up service with several tasty casseroles and meals hot and ready to eat.
April 2022 — We open for season 2…this time with a fully licensed food cart! Throughout the spring we set up at several locations including Ann Arbor Distilling Co, Dexter Farmers Market, Stony Lake Brewing Co, and the Halfway to Halloween event.
July 2022 — We relocate to Kalamazoo! We’re excited for the new community and start setting up at the Battle Creek Farmers Market, Murray Street Brewing Co, Horrocks, and more.
Fall 2022/Winter 2023 — We start offering a small catering menu featuring some of our bakes, along with soups, salads, and charcuterie.
Summer 2023 — We begin our first full food cart season in Kalamazoo! We set up at the Kalamazoo Night Market, Begg Park, Battle Creek Farmers Market, Vicksburg Farmers Market, the Augusta Arts & Crafts Fair, and more.
September 2023 — We cater our first wedding — our own! Margo and Shane get married.
October 2023 — The Missing Link wins 2nd Prize in the first-ever BC Food Prize Competition’s prepared food division!
Fall 2023 — We launch our delivery and pickup catering menu. Now you can enjoy The Missing Link for gatherings of any size, all season long!
Spring 2024 — We begin the food cart season with a new regular spot — the Saturday morning Kalamazoo Farmers Market. Thanks to the support from Food Prize, we have a new tent, lights, POS system, merchandise, and other upgrades.
Summer 2024 — We have our best vending season yet and get to fulfill one of our bucket list items: hosting a hot dog eating contest!
October 2024 — We are honored to win 3rd prize in the BC Food Prize’s second annual competition in the packaged food category. We soft launch The Missing Link’s new packaged food line.
March 29, 2025 — We celebrate 4 years of The Missing Link filled with gratitude for the support we’ve received! We love getting to serve this community.
