The success of food businesses is primarily based on the understanding and control of logistics including: ingredient specifying, sourcing and procuring from all primary and secondary sources; manufacturing in a kitchen factory; distribution either in house to on site customers or off premise to distributors, retailers or end users; and, marketing and sales both to obtain new customers and to maximize the value of current users. Along this road there are new challenges in labor, market analysis, financing and customer relationship building both from start and into expansion.

The objectives of the course are to delve into the 4 major issues facing food businesses. Among the most important are: Labor Workplace Culture and New labor cost landscape, Food Logistics and chain management, Marketing – Customer Behavior Analytics, Gastrophysics, and Social Media, Financing – Industry Metrics and Capitalizing Businesses from start to expansion.

Each of the topics will be a day long exploration composed of a morning class presentation. Then we will hold a topical discussion featuring prominent guests – essentially a live case study. Finally, the afternoon will be a visit to an associated company/business to enhance the topic from a more immersive active perspective.

Stephen Zagor

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Stephen Zagor is a New York City based Consultant and Educator, focusing on restaurants and food businesses. He has developed an extensive knowledge of the culinary industry, specializing in the business side of food enterprises.
As a consultant Steve has provided comprehensive support to a wide variety of clients including entrepreneurs starting restaurants, food retail businesses and food products. His clients have included...

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