Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1194330
One piece of advice I'd give to a new food business: I have two. Don't start a company to optimize your expected rate of return. If you simply want to earn money, that's a stupid decision. What makes it worth it is a burning desire; you have to do it and be willing to go through tremendous hardship. The second thing is you really need to be cognizant of the obstacles that are in your way, whether it's competition in the market, co-packing capabilities, margin structure given price points and costs, or the consumer and what you're able to deliver for them. WINTER 2020 61 Fancy Food Show Booth #527 Pruisken had introduced them to judged his fresh- baked wafels to be superior. They went over so well, in fact, that Pruisken began hawking them on campus and in the school's dining halls. They proved to be the number-two bestselling item at Brown after Chobani yogurt. "Okay, college kids like these, but they're just hungry and they'll eat anything," Pruisken reasoned, trying not to get too excited. On another trip home he visited stroopwafel factories to observe how they were manufactured. Soon, a team of engineers at school helped him develop a prototype machine to increase production. Pruisken got a food license and persuaded shops and cafes in the Providence area to carry his wafels. Adults liked them too, it turned out. Pruisken named the company for Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkel," a mythical Dutch- American who fell asleep for 20 years and woke up to the miracles of innovation. Pruisken's way of innovating was to make his stroopwafels a better- for-you convenience food, using a minimum of sugar while not sacrificing flavor. He points out out what solves a problem or fulfills a need. Why not learn to make stroopwafels? Pruisken bought a waffle iron on his next trip home to Amsterdam and set it up in his dorm room. One can imagine how the wafting scent of sugar enticed students up and down the hallway. His friends who had tried the commercial brands PHOTOS: RIP VAN