The only thing worse than an 8 a.m. math recitation is the marathon that is 3 back-to-back classes without a break for lunch. Nothing makes your stomach grumble like Finance 100, am I right? Wharton Senior Zander Berlinski was tired of braving the Bridge Café line during the 10 minute between-class shuffle, and his Entrepreneurship course proved the perfect venue to devise a business plan that would provide an alternative to the Bridge.
Zander and his teammates Austin Kinn, Chance Harper, Iris Fuli and Matt Weber bring you Penn Food 4 Thought, a venture that delivers food truck favorites to Huntsman, making a midday meal available to students who once monopolized Bridge or chose to forgo lunch altogether.
We at Spoon are always interested in how students are pioneering innovative solutions to food-related problems, and with just $20 in startup capital, the team has been able to get their business off the ground. They built a website for free and will be doing all of the actual food-running on their own two legs as of now – if the venture grows they’ll invest in updating their website to allow you to pay by credit and will hire students to deliver orders. In the meantime, all profits will be donated to Philabundance, in the spirit of helping to fight hunger in Philadelphia.
Based on his personal experience, Zander identified an underserved market and recognized that “people at Penn are passionate about food and have a routine with food trucks as well as a nice rapport with the people who work there.” He and his team wanted to extend that experience to the segment of students confined to Huntsman for lunch.
Penn Food 4 Thought allows you to order anything off the menu at Hemo’s, Lyn’s, Bento Box or Koja. If the project is successful in the next three weeks, Zander and Austin will consider expanding their venture to offer food from a larger selection of trucks as well as pick-up from multiple campus locations.
As for their personal food truck favorites, Zander opts for the Hemo’s grilled chicken sandwich topped with onion, pepper and hot sauce while Austin keeps its simple with a bacon, egg and cheese from Lynn’s.
Already thinking about tomorrow’s lunch? Place your order here.