The Art of the Pitch: Future Food All-Stars Challenge

This story uses material prepared by JWU Charlotte Baking & Pastry Arts and Entrepreneurship student Katara McGee '28.

JWU’s Future Food All-Stars Challenge is an annual food entrepreneurship pitch competition that puts students’ culinary expertise and entrepreneurship to the test. This year’s edition was held at the Charlotte Campus and showcased three very different business concepts:

Just Add Sugar

• Isabella Mock '27, Food & Beverage Entrepreneurship
• Concept: Geared towards motivating kids to cook, Just Add Sugar is a monthly subscription-based baking kit with recipe cards, shelf-stable ingredients and a math activity sheet.

Epicuria Food Hall

• Gabrielle Tringali '26, Baking & Pastry Arts and Food & Beverage Entrepreneurship
• Concept: Showcasing local and established culinary talent under a single roof.

Sweet Sentiments

• Jordyn Miller '26, Entrepreneurship
• Concept: Curated gift bundles designed to delight and motivate employees. Items include freshly baked goods, locally sourced products, vibrant fresh flowers, and more.

Bringing business concepts to life takes more than a solid business plan — it also requires strong storytelling and a firm understanding of your audience.

‘Love the Brand You Want to Build’

Although the primary focus of the Challenge is the live pitch competition, the hard work takes place over the semester, as the students refine their concepts, research their competitor set and finesse their pitches. College of Food Innovation & Technology (CFIT) Dean Jason Evans, JWU Charlotte Master Instructor Fred Tiess and Entrepreneur in Residence Scott Redler served as mentors.

“You have to be passionate about the brand. If you don’t love the brand you want to build and grow, it does not work.”

Redler’s background is in hospitality and franchising. Redler is the founder of Redler Hospitality LLC, a consulting firm based in Wichita, Kansas. From 2002 until 2022, he served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, a fast-casual restaurant chain based in Wichita, Kansas. (He also founded the company.)

Over intense Zoom strategy sessions, Redler, Evans and Tiess provided feedback and guidance on the students’ concepts. Redler emphasized what he considers central tenet of entrepreneurship: “You have to be passionate about the brand. If you don’t love the brand you want to build and grow, it does not work.”

For Tiess, the process really guides the students to “understand the risk-versus-reward dynamic. It also challenges them to critically assess the feasibility of their ventures, pushing their boundaries and building entrepreneurial confidence.”

Redler outlined his approach for mentoring as follows, “I believe in the basic business model (BBM), which must be solid for a venture to be profitable, and then the student must have the capacity and passion to make it work.”

All three competitors found different aspects of the development period beneficial. For Isabella, it was getting the pitch right: “I am involved in many school events, so finding the proper time to allocate to this project wasn't easy. Through this challenge, I gained more experience with public speaking, which overall boosted my self-confidence.”

Making the Pitch

Each competitor was given 10 minutes to present their pitch, with an additional 10 minutes allotted for questions from the panel of judges: Redler, JWU Charlotte Professor Julie Bilodeau and Garden City Equity’s Nick Illuminati.

Jordyn’s idea for Sweet Sentiments was sparked by reading about national declines in employee retention rates. In her pitch, she explained, “It is imperative for businesses to express gratitude to their workforce and foster a more satisfying work environment. This is beneficial to employee well-being and is crucial for the success and profitability of the organization.”

“Baking offers a great opportunity to tie in scientific concepts, making learning both practical and enjoyable.”

“Personalization is a key part of our service,” Jordyn explained. “Through our app, users can input details like the employee’s name and preferences. This information allows us to offer customized options such as personalized cups or tags, as well as multiple gift box choices that cater to the individual recipient.”

Isabella’s concept, Just Add Sugar, uses cooking as a strategy to boost childhood math and organizational skills. She explained, “We will conduct research to align our offerings with what children are learning in their respective grades. By targeting specific topics and subjects based on age and grade level, we can create boxes that parents can purchase to complement their child’s education.”

“Math would be the initial focus,” Isabella noted. “It was the biggest challenge I noticed with the kids I worked with. As we grow and scale, we aim to incorporate more subjects, especially science. Baking offers a great opportunity to tie in scientific concepts, making learning both practical and enjoyable.”

Gabrielle Tringali described her concept, Epicuria Food Hall, as “rooted in the community,” adding, “We aim to collaborate with local, established businesses rather than starting from scratch.”

For Gabrielle, location is everything: “Choosing the right location is critical to the success of this venture,” she explained to the judges. “We’re considering Manchester, New Hampshire, and surrounding areas, like Merrimack, because they are some of the most densely populated regions in the state. [They] have a strong local customer base but also feature higher average incomes, which increases purchasing power. A strategic location like this ensures accessibility for customers and maximizes the vendors’ potential for growth.”

Lessons to Drive Success

For Redler, the central strength of the competition is how much it prepares JWU students to think realistically about their business concepts: “We were very frank with the students with our thoughts on what would really work — versus just being another player in the field. Understanding your business model and points of difference are what will give you a better chance to drive success.”

The judges congratulated all the contestants on their hard work and revealed Jordyn Miller’s Sweet Sentiments concept as the winner.

All the contestants noted that the challenge had strengthened skills that would benefit them for years to come.

“I highly recommend this class and competition to any student, especially those with entrepreneurial aspirations,” said Gabrielle. “For anyone considering a future in entrepreneurship, this experience will provide practical knowledge, hands-on learning, and personal growth. I feel more prepared than ever to take on future challenges with the lessons I’ve learned from this competition.”

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