Latest news with #HolgerBuchwalder
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Brat' back: Tasty Kraut returns following food trailer explosion
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — Four weeks after the Tasty Kraut German cuisine food trailer exploded, the business has been brought back to life to serve San Angelo residents once again. Here's how the owners rebounded from a 'wurst'-case scenario. The Tasty Kraut food trailer exploded during the night of March 23 while being stored at the Affordable Self Storage site on United States Highway 67. Although it was reported by the Dove Creek Fire Department that no one was injured by the blast, photos shared online by The Tasty Kraut showed that the trailer sustained extreme damage. 'There's nothing left,' the business said in a Facebook post published the morning after the explosion. The Tasty Kraut — which Holger Buchwalder, husband of business owner Pia Buchwalder, told Concho Valley Homepage was his family's 'future here in the United States' — was only a few months old at the time of the explosion, having been opened by the Buchwalders in January 2025. The explosion occurred just after The Tasty Kraut's first week in San Angelo, with the business operating in Mertzon before that time. RELATED: Concho Valley food trailer 'exploded' in storage The loss didn't deter the Buchwalder family, however. Holger Buchwalder said that it is his wife's dream to provide West Texans a taste of Germany, a dream that has been decades in the making. 'She's a chef for over 30 years, so her dream is to bring German food to West Texas,' Holger Buchwalder said. 'So it's not only the business side of it … it's also fulfilling part of a dream.' Holger Buchwalder shared that the people of San Angelo helped them along the way, with thousands of dollars in donations from a GoFundMe fundraiser assisting in the purchase of a new food trailer and support from the community aiding in the business's recovery. The Buchwalders also received support from overseas, as friends and family in Germany spurred them along. Weeks after the explosion, it was announced that The Tasty Kraut was going to resume operations in a new food trailer on April 22, bringing back its usual menu of German foods as well as a new item: 'Bratkartoffeln,' also known as German fries. Holger Buchwalder said that, with The Tasty Kraut now back in operation, the business will begin to spend more time in San Angelo. He said the explosion was a bump in the road for their food trailer. 'It was just one stone in our way, we just get over it and do it again,' Holger Buchwalder said. The Buchwalders haven't forgotten the people who got them to this point, though. Holger Buchwalder stated that his family is making plans to give back to the San Angelo community. He also thanked the town's residents for the outpouring of care they received in the weeks following the explosion. 'I can't thank enough for all of the help and all of the support,' Holger Buchwalder said. 'I don't have any words to thank the people. That's why I want to come up with something to show appreciation.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Concho Valley food trailer ‘exploded' in storage
Update, March 24, 1 p.m. — A GoFundMe online fundraiser has been launched by Pia Buchwalder, owner of The Tasty Kraut, following the explosion that destroyed her food trailer. To visit it, click here. SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) Original — The family behind a new mobile German cuisine business operating in the Concho Valley is searching for answers after revealing online that their food trailer 'exploded' while being held in storage following its first week in San Angelo. According to a post made on The Tasty Kraut's Facebook page, the business will be 'out of business for at least the next few weeks' due to the incident. Holger Buchwalder, husband of The Tasty Kraut owner Pia Buchwalder, stated that the explosion occurred sometime between when the trailer was stored on March 23 at the Affordable Self Storage site on United States Highway 67 and when they arrived to retrieve the trailer on March 24. 'We were here yesterday cleaning the inside and put it back in the storage,' Holger Buchwalder said. 'When we came here to pick it up this morning to open at Office Depot, … it was like, nothing left.' San Angelo food trailer to expand operations The Dove Creek Volunteer Fire Department reported on March 24 that it responded to a structure fire at the Affordable Storage site at 11:45 p.m. on March 23 alongside mutual aid from multiple other fire departments. At the scene, 'it was observed that a storage unit containing a food truck had exploded' and that 'heavy smoke was coming from the unit.' Dove Creek VFD stated that 'there were no injuries reported and the incident was quickly mitigated.' Holger Buchwalder stated that he does not know what could have incited the blast. 'The only thing I know is that it exploded last night,' Holger Buchwalder said. In a separate post published on the Facebook page for The Tasty Kraut, it was stated that insurance would cover part of the damage. However, it was also said that 'we don't know how and when we can start again.' 'It was our future here in the States … it was insured, but I don't know how long it takes, and at the moment, we're out of business,' Holger Buchwalder said. Holger Buchwalder shared that he and his wife moved to Texas from Germany 15 months ago before opening The Tasty Kraut in January 2025. Originally beginning operations in Mertzon, The Tasty Kraut was brought to San Angelo to serve food at events during the week prior to the explosion. 'Last week was so amazing in San Angelo, all the support from the people, everybody liked the food,' Holger Buchwalder said. 'Now we stand here at the rest of our investment, and we don't know where it goes from here.' A representative of the Affordable Self Storage site where the food trailer was held declined to provide comments when asked for statements by Concho Valley Homepage staff. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
