SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4 Utah) – The odds are that you’ve seen one of those colorful, pint-sized campers known as Bean Trailers rolling down a Utah roadway. They were named “The Coolest Thing Made in Utah” by the Utah Manufacturers Association in March 2019. 

Bean Trailer’s 55,000 square foot manufacturing facility is based in Salt Lake City and employs more than 100 people. The campers are not only “the coolest thing made in Utah” right now, but they’re one of the hottest things on the market. Mark Harling, President and Founder of Bean Trailer says his team is working hard to keep up with the demand for Bean Trailers.

Harling started Bean Trailer 18 years ago basically as a passion project. Harling and his wife are avid mountain bikers and enjoy exploring Utah, but they had a hard time finding the perfect camper to meet their adventure needs.

“The reason that we built Bean in the first place was that we really couldn’t find anything that we thought would withstand the rugged nature of the area we live in,” Harling said. Bean Tarilers are engineered here in Utah to handle the diverse Utah terrain and extreme temperatures and they can be customized to include some of the essential comforts of home, Harling added.

“The range goes from the Beanstock to Classic Bean to Mean Bean and Meaner Bean. Mean Bean and Meaner Bean being of course off road capable,” Harling said about the different camper styles Bean Trailer offers.

“They basically have a galley or a kitchen and they have very comfortable sleeping quarters. We say that Bean is meant for a queen, meaning that it has the capacity for a queen-size bed. Don’t let the outside fool you, it’s very spacicous in there.” Harling admits to being a bit claustrophobic himself and said he never would design anything that he wasn’t comfortable in.

 The Beans are easily towed by a regular size SUV or any size truck. Harling says the creative design plus the Beans’ functionality and durability is what sets them apart from other campers on the market.

“We wanted something that would stand the test of time and it also would have a good design.”

So where did the name Bean come from? Harling says it’s a tribute to his granddaughter who was the size of a little bean in her mother’s tummy when he and his wife hatched the idea for Bean Trailer.

“While she was developing, we were developing Bean Trailer, so we thought it would be appropriate to call the trailers Bean.”

For more information about Bean Trailer, visit beantrailer.com.

Watch ABC4 News at 4 p.m. every Thursday for more Made4Utah stories. Made4Utah is sponsored by the Utah Manufacturers Association, visit them online at UMAWEB.org, and also by Tunex – find a location near you online at Tunex.com.

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