Andrew Benin always wanted to find the best way to express himself. The"desire to break out and do it on my own" was always there, he says.
"As a child, I feel like I really suffered with controlling my weight and feeling comfortable in my own body," he says."And I originally wanted to make a difference in that world."He began attending conferences about food security and nutrition. That led to meeting James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Anthony, to leaving his job at Casper and to staging, or doing an internship, at Michelin star restaurant Gramercy Tavern in 2018.
After having that first taste in Spain, Benin went on a DIY olive oil tasting tour in the country and brought some oils back to the States. He then let his mentor, chef Anthony, give them a try, thinking it could be a luxury brand. His mentor had a different idea."This oil is amazing," Anthony said."Now your job is to make it available for as many people as you can."
Graza is named after Grazalema, a village in the province of Cadiz in Spain and the first stop on Benin's olive oil tour.The company had two early investments. The first was from Neil Parikh, co-founder of Casper, who put in $50,000 in May 2021. This helped them create the product for the first time and build their website and $230,000 from various angel investors later that year, which helped buy more product.
Graza started with two products: Sizzle, olive oil for cooking; and Drizzle, olive oil meant to be used as a topping for drizzling on salad and pizza, for example. Their price points were right in the middle of retail ranges for olive oils: Drizzle was $20 per bottle and Sizzle was $15.
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