Luis Rivera and business partner win at Rhode Island school competition
By L.J. Gambone
Apple Valley Review
Taking a big bite out of his competition proved to be a piece of cake for Apple Valley resident Luis Rivera, who won the People’s Choice Award on April 2 at Johnson and Wales University’s 4th annual SharkFest competition (a takeoff on the TV show “Shark Tank”).
Rivera, along with his business partner Becky Giambaressi, scored the honor at the Rhode Island school after giving a 90-second presentation on a new company they hope to launch this November.
The business will be called “The Hippothecary Food Pharmacy” and it will produce convenience foods that promote health and well-being. Rivera believes it’s an idea whose time has come.
“Our philosophy is to take snack foods and turn them into therapeutic foods,” said Rivera. “They all will have compounds in them that promote good health. For instance, one of our line of products will be ice creams that are heart healthy. Our flavors so far are banana-maple and lemon-ginger. And they’re both nondairy, as well.”
Rivera grew up in the High Desert and graduated from Apple Valley High School in 2011. He said he decided to pursue a career in the culinary arts field in his junior year after placing second in the Skills USA Cooking Competition.
By the end of his senior year, he began preparing to make his move to Rhode Island to study at Johnson and Wales. At first, Rivera said he planned on earning his degree in the school’s Culinary Arts program. Fate, however, steered him in an unexpected direction.
“I actually had hoped to become a registered dietician before I started out on my current path,” said Rivera, who changed his major to culinary nutrition after learning all that the field had to offer. “But what I’m doing now combines all of aspects of what I wanted to do with my career. I can not only cook but also create foods that benefit people’s lives and help them to feel their best.”
Along with earning bragging rights for winning the People’s Choice Award, Rivera and Giambaressi also received a check for $500. Rivera said the money is being used for further research and development of their products.
According to Madeline Parmenter, a representative for Johnson and Wales University, the People’s Choice winners also receive mentoring by an industry professional and assistance from the institution’s Entrepreneurship Center.
“Our school is very big on experiential education,” said Parmenter. “We offer students who want to start their own businesses a great deal of support and also help them get off the ground by giving them a stipend while they are still in school.”
When Rivera and Giambaressi graduate this June, Rivera said they will hit the ground running with their marketing and promotional efforts. Down the road, they hope to open a Hippothecary Food Pharmacy in every state.
Rivera admits it’s a lofty goal, but well within their reach now that he knows exactly how to make it happen.
“As an entrepreneur, you have to think big,” said Rivera. “With the resources that have been made available to me at Johnson and Wales, I can now see the big picture and know exactly what I need to do to take our business to the highest level.”
Johnson and Wales University is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution that was founded in 1914. It offers degree programs in arts and sciences, business, culinary arts, education, nutrition, hospitality, physician assistant studies and engineering and design.
Visit www.jwu.edu for more on the university.