Appetite for Business
By Matt Crenson
Wharton entrepreneurs capitalize on trends in the food industry.
Marco Lentini, C'96, WG'02, wants to fix fast food.
That's fix as in repair, not fix as in prepare. With his freshly minted Wharton
MBA and a gang of childhood chums, Lentini aims to found a fast-food empire
that serves not burgers and fries but high-quality, healthy sandwiches made with
all-natural ingredients.
There's a giant hole in the American restaurant business, Lentini says. People
can find fresh, tasty, nutritious food at grocery stores like Whole Foods Market
and Trader Joe's. But when the discerning palate seeks lunch on the run, the
world seems full of nothing but greasy patties and slimy shakes.
Enter the Avanti Food Corp.
"What we are is really a Whole Foods Market food philosophy adapted to a
Starbucks operational model," Lentini says.
The food business is a difficult one, but determined
entrepreneurs can make millions by recognizing
major consumer trends and capitalizing on
them. Lentini is just one among a number of
Wharton alumni who are satisfying the public's
endlessly evolving appetite for good food.
Make that alumni and students. Kun Hsu,
W'03, hasn't even graduated yet, but he has
already launched a successful restaurant on Penn's
Sansom Row. The Bubble House serves various
flavors of iced tea spiked with tapioca, a weird-sounding
but incredibly popular and refreshing
Asian drink.
Several other Wharton entrepreneurs are also
responding to America's growing openness to
exotic cuisine. Assaf Tarnopolsky, WG'00, has
brought a dollop of Paris to San Francisco in the
form of West Coast Crepe King, a growing chain
of take-out restaurants offering a meal stuffed in a
pancake. Laurent Adamowicz, WG'84, is making
a French connection too, by bringing Fauchon,
the renowned Parisian luxury foods brand, to
American connoisseurs.
Denise Devine, WG'90, has latched onto
another trend, the growing need for appealing
children's food that does not contribute to obesity.
The rate of obesity among children has tripled
in the last 20 years, threatening to spur an epidemic
of diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic
illnesses. Devine's solution – a line of juices,
frozen desserts, and other treats that give children
the nutrients they need but not the empty calories
they can do without.
- Avanti Food Corp.
Marco Lentini, C'96, WG'02
- Bubble House
Kun Hsu, W'03, Greg Berman, W'02,
Jeremiah Boorsma, W'02
- Devine Foods
Denise Devine, WG'90
- West Coast Crepe King
Assaf Tarnopolsky, WG'00
- Fauchon
Laurent Adamowicz, WG'84
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