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Island Inspired, Home-Grown Coastie's puts a beloved Hawaiian treat on wheels in SoCal quality ice creams and sorbets we put underneath," says Chris. "It's just a totally different dessert experience." ough November might not seem like the ideal time to launch a frozen dessert business, Coastie's was an instant hit. "I had a high degree of confidence it was going to be very successful, but I don't think I ever anticipated how successful it would be even in the winter months," says Chris. e business plan was simple, with family and the community at its heart. Chris contacted the sports organizations that their kids were involved in, competitive surfing and soccer, offering to come to events at no cost and even donating a portion of proceeds back to the organization. "We're all about supporting the youth athletic programs and extracurriculars that have really helped our family and keep our kids on a good path," says Chris. "So, when I get an opportunity to donate — we donated almost $4,000 to the Scholastic Surf Series — I [don't] even blink an eye." After Coastie's launched, word spread quickly and they expanded their visibility at water polo and flag football tournaments and beyond, as well as private bookings such as birthday parties and corporate events for a fee. Brie has left nursing to manage the business, and though Chris won't retire from the Coast Guard for two more years, he's still diligently planning the next phase for Coastie's — primarily, adding a new van every year. With demand so great that they're unable to commit to every booking request, a second van will enable them to grow and give back even more. A sweet treat, indeed. Instagram: @coastiesshaveice, 858.374.3113 F or Chris and Brie McFarland, theirs was a love born on the island of Kauai. But the Encinitas native and her Connecticut-born husband also found a mutual love of the refreshing shave ice dessert that's a signature sweet on the Hawaiian Islands. Two kids and many years later, the McFarlands were on a surf camping trip when their daughter casually mentioned how cool it would be to sell ice cream on the beach. As serendipity would have it, a man happened to be selling shave ice out of a little trailer nearby. Chris remembers, "I spent a fortune on shave ice for my whole family from his trailer and I loved what he was doing, but I walked away from that going, 'Man, I just dropped a hundred bucks on shave ice for my family, and we could do this so much better.'" e seed for Coastie's Shave Ice was sown. Chris, an active duty Coast Guard officer, set to designing a vehicle for a mobile shave ice concept and settled on converting a Mercedes Sprinter van to do the trick. e inside of the vehicle is a state-of-the-art facility; the outside is painted with vibrant imagery that reflects both the Hawaiian and SoCal sides of the Coastie's heritage, from its rooster mascot and the Hanelei Bay shoreline on one side to SoCal's bluffs and distinctive landmarks on the other. Following about six months of planning, Coastie's was up and running in November 2025. e battery-operated van is silent on site — as opposed to traditional, generator-powered food trucks — and Brie, a board- certified holistic nurse, carefully selected all ingredients to be clean and corn-syrup free, featuring syrups sourced directly from Oahu. A block shaver creates feather-like ice the consistency of snow. "And then, you add on all the Hawaiian toppings, and the high BY DEANNA MURPHY Focus business PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF COASTIE'S ranchandcoast.com 50 APRIL 2026 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE