KBTV

No Fuss Meals

Today we begin our Entrepreneur of the Month series. These two-part tales of inspired visionaries typically feature an individual. My initial intent was to profile a woman, Caryl Ginsburg Fantel, who has her finger on the pulse and solution for every mom and dad, woman-on-the-go or scattered bachelor seeking an easy, quick way to prepare fresh, hot home-cooked meals.

Perfect, I thought. I’ll air it during the insanity-filled holiday season when everyone is too busy to chop and shop and no one is eating right. Well, long story short, I found not just the woman but an extended family of entrepreneurs. Three generations to be exact all led by patriarch Art Ginsburg – better known as Mr. Food – the jolly kitchen sweetheart and nationally syndicated television host, popular food personality and cook book author. For decades now he has dispensed lessons on how to whip up New York pushcart onion sauce and perfect puff-topped fish fillets.

Ginsburg agreed to meet me the day after Thanksgiving at one of his stores here in Davie, Florida. What I found spectacular about him was his authenticity. Sure he hams it up a bit … continually sneaking into the conversation his signature phrase … “OOOOOHHHH IT’S SO GOOD!” But I believe the reason his business model works so well is that it is a reflection on who HE really is and in what he truly believes. It’s the simple concept of teaching people to prepare convenient meals that anybody can do.

And that ethos he describes so well about life translates into Ginsburg’s business model – it has worked every time. Over the past two-decades, Ginsburg Enterprises annual revenues which initially were derived from 90-second television cooking spots and cook book royalties has grown from about $830,000 to more than $15 million in 2006. His latest endeavor that began three years ago is a franchise concept called Mr. Food, No-Fuss Meals.

No-Fuss Meals is simply an extension of Ginsburg’s on air trademark: convenient meals that anyone can prepare. Customers assemble their own no-fuss meals at stores using pre-prepared ingredients guided by easy to follow printed directions. Intrigued?

Well, tune in on Tuesday for the second installment of our two-part Entrepreneur of the Month Series and join me for a little Reality KBTV, I'll be on location at the Mr. Food No Fuss Meals Franchise in Davie as I prepare 5 days of dinners.

See pictures!

posted by Jason Parsley @ 10:00 PM