Celebrity Chef: José Andrés

How I Built This · 14 Nov 2016 · 27m

What this episode covers

José Andrés, co-founder of Think Food Group, recounts his journey from tending fires for his father's paella to building a 25-restaurant empire in the US. He details his pivotal training under Ferran Adrià at El Bulli, where he learned to innovate through experimentation, and his early struggles opening Haelo in Washington, DC, while adapting Spanish tapas culture for American diners. The episode highlights his strategy of using a dedicated 'Think Food Tank' for R&D and his philosophy of sharing business success with long-term partners to sustain growth.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 27m

    Founder Feature: Edouardo Jordan of The Food with Roots

    Edouardo Jordan, founder of Food with Roots and a two-time James Beard Award-winning chef, explains how the pandemic pivot from his Seattle restaurants to CPG led to products like his award-winning pimento cheese and Southern cornbread mixes. He discusses the strategic decision to lead with product quality rather than Black identity to appeal to a broader retail audience, detailing his distribution in Whole Foods and Pacific Northwest markets. Jordan also shares his vision for coast-to-coast expansion into California and Texas, while highlighting his nonprofit Soul of Seattle's model of paying vendors to participate in events to support youth of color.

  • Core77 Podcast · 57m

    Afterschool Podcast, Episode 4 - Martin Kastner (9/9)

    Martin Kastner, founder of Crucial Detail, discusses his transition from a traditional blacksmith in the Czech Republic to an industrial designer in Chicago. He details his collaborative work with the restaurant Alinea, where he designed custom tools like a paraffin wax vessel to deliver hot and cold potato soup, and the Porthole infusion vessel for Aviary. Kastner also reflects on the operational challenges of scaling the Porthole via a successful Kickstarter campaign, including manufacturing delays and managing difficult backers.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 45m

    #211 - Acquisition Story: How Hector Saldivar Grew Tia Lupita Foods From a Family Recipe to a Successful Acquisition

    Hector Saldivar, founder and CEO of Tia Lupita Foods, details his journey from sharing his mother’s hot sauce recipe in San Francisco to building a premium, better-for-you Mexican-inspired brand and its eventual acquisition by Vilore Foods. He explains how he differentiated Tia Lupita in the crowded hot sauce market through unique bottle design, authentic branding that avoided stereotypes, and a focus on flavor-enhancing ingredients rather than just heat. Saldivar also discusses the realities of raising venture capital, his experience on Shark Tank, and the critical lessons learned about pacing growth and managing retailer relationships before selling the company.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 29m

    Founder Feature: Dina DiCenso of RIND

    Dina DiCenso, co-founder of RIND, a Brooklyn-based vegan cheese company, explains how they developed proprietary fermentation cultures to create aged Camembert-blue and blue cheeses, as well as a vegetable-based deli line called Veggie Underground. She details the strategic decision to bootstrapping the business with a four-person team, allowing them to compete against heavily funded private equity-backed rivals by focusing on product merit and direct consumer education through demos. DiCenso discusses their distribution strategy, which places RIND in high-end retail like Whole Foods and Erewhon, while targeting food service scalability for Veggie Underground, noting their recent appearance at the White House and success at the Shelfie awards.

  • The Startup CPG Podcast · 41m

    Taking Networking & Tortillas to the Next Level with Henri Revel, Founder of Eureka Tortilla

    Henri Revel, founder of Eureka Tortilla, explains how he transitioned from the aviation industry to creating snackable craft tortillas with bold flavors like pickled jalapeno and cinnamon orchata. He details the process of finding a flexible co-packer in the Bay Area and securing warm introductions to launch in Nugget Market and Hungry Root. Revel also discusses the operational challenges of scaling, specifically the packaging registration issues with printed bags and his strategic networking approach to build an advisory team including Noah Alper of Noah's Bagels.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by How I Built This. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.