Bob Ferraro, VP of Sales Eat Well Enjoy Life

    
by Tricia Wackerly

Castle Pines resident Bob Ferraro and his partners at Tryst Gourmet are delivering innovation to the hummus trend that has been exploding on grocery store shelves during the past decade.

In 2006, Ferraro and his current partners were let go by their former employer as new management decided “to go in a different direction.” Faced with tough decisions, the partners decided everything happens for a reason and took a chance to venture out on their own.

“We all had jobs offers within days, but we were all questioning whether we could find ourselves in the same situation again a few years down the road,” said Ferraro. Utilizing their own funds, the partners started Tryst Gourmet, LLC.

In the Spring of 2008, Tryst Gourmet launched a line of gourmet chicken and seafood salads that made it to the shelves at Sam’s Club and Costco, among others, but met with only moderate success.

Then, while traveling in early 2010, Ferraro sampled an edamame hummus. A light bulb went off for Ferraro and his partners. “It dawned on us this was the angle to re-enter the hummus market and differentiate ourselves. We decided to create a line of hummus using different beans in place of traditional chickpeas,” said Ferraro. The name chosen for the new line was “Eat Well Enjoy Life” (EWEL).

Ferraro and his partners launched their hummus line at the 2011 Fancy Food show in San Francisco this past January. By mid afternoon on the second day, they were almost completely out of samples. “We started to feel like we might have a hit on our hands,” confessed Ferraro. There were 80,000 products at the show from 1,300 exhibitors and EWEL was listed as one of the top 10 new items of the show.

“We thought the edamame was going to be the hook with the health benefits but it was really the innovation of different beans and flavors that buyers and consumers were drawn to.

EWEL continues to be a hit, with availability in more than 2,500 stores across the U.S and Canada – including Sprouts and Sunflower Markets. EWEL can also be found in select Costco’s, Safeway’s, Super Targets and Albertsons nationally.

“Our goal is to be in 5,000 stores by the end of 2012. Order demands are high and production has expanded to keep up,” said Ferraro.

The secret to their success? “We went back to what we knew, which was how to innovate, brand and sell. We all brought our strengths to the business.”

Ferraro and his business partners are proud of EWEL and the impact they are making in helping to offer healthy gourmet foods.

EWEL has several flavors, Edamame with yellow peppers, black sesame & ginger, Edamame with roasted red pepper & toasted sesame, Tuscan White bean hummus with roasted garlic tapenade, Tuscan white bean with roasted pine nuts & herbs, and a Spicy lentil with sunflower seeds & apricot.

Eat Well, Enjoy Life is online at www.eatwell-enjoylife.com. Follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/eatwellenjoylife.