The Power of Food, Questions, and Connections

Continued from Activating Change Inside Higher Ed

One unique Food Sol design is the Quick Service Incubator, pictured above. Where most business pitches are all about competition, the Incubator is all about connectivity. Entrepreneurs invite the audience into their worlds by sharing real challenges they need to solve. The audience then works to come up with actionable ideas for them, which everyone gets to hear.

Food Sol Senior Fellow Patricia Duffy has helmed Community Table New York for the past five years. A seasoned food business consultant, she is an invaluable thinking partner and collaborator to Food Sol and serves as a guest expert at the Incubator.

While Entrepreneur-in-Residence Andrew Zimmern intently listened, Melissa Castro MBA’19 (above) pitched her inquiry for her food business, La Conexión. “The generosity was overwhelming. So many people handed me their cards and said, ‘Call me. I can help you.’ It took time to digest it all.” (She affectionately calls Rachel her Foodie Godmother.)

Nadine Habayeb MBA’17 pitched her challenge in October 2017. She launched Bohana in April. By summer, her unique snack foods got rave reviews in Self and the Washington Post. And now she’s in the PepsiCo Nutrition Greenhouse Accelerator. “Food Sol gave us the tools to build a food business, opened the doors to an incredible group of professionals in the industry (many of whom became our advisors), and provided so much intangible support. Without that, we would not have brought Bohana to life.”

Learn more: www.babson.edu/foodsol