The New York Sun
March 16, 2005 Wednesday
Goodbye,Wall Street; Hello, Muffins
by DAN DORFMAN
Plenty of stockbrokers have ditched Wall Street for new careers,
most, of course, because they just couldn’t cut the mustard,
especially when the market went south.
Not so George Chookazian, 47, an American-born second-generation
Armenian who was earning a healthy six figure income when he scrapped
his nine-year career in 1988 as a stockbroker and shortly thereafter
opened his own health-oriented specialty food business – Foods by
George.
Mr. Chookazian, who got his food training by experimenting in his
kitchen with numerous recipes and ingredients and by attending the
Culinary Institute of America, specializes in gluten-free products.
That’s food free of protein portions of wheat, rye, and barley that
an estimated five million Americans are allergic to, notably those
suffering from celiac disease, autism, and rheumatoid arthritis. His
wife, Cecilia, his partner in the business, has also been diagnosed
with the celiac disease, an inherited condition that never goes away.
So far, it has been a winning move for our entrepreneur, with his
customers, judging from the company’s rapidly expanding geographical
base, showing more of a craving for his food offerings than for his
stock picks.
“I love numbers, but I was tired of prospecting and trying to
convince people to buy something they didn’t want,” he said. “Now
people call me.” His success has also proved to our entrepreneur that
there’s life beyond Wall Street.
Also contributing to Mr. Chookazian’s entry into the food business
was the fact that he and Cecilia were unhappy with most of the
gluten-free foods that were available. Likewise, neither relished the
idea of giving up pasta, bread, and sweet baked items. So was born
the idea of developing a line of gluten-free foods that could be
enjoyed by folks with and without celiac disease. To achieve this,
the couple spent untold hours in the library, researching the
interaction of various types of nongluten flours which, when combined
in specific proportions, would simulate the properties of gluten.
Muffins are one of the biggest sales generators at Foods by George.
Among them are English muffins (a package of four retails at $5.79)
and blueberry and corn muffins ($6.99 for a six-pack). Other
offerings include a tray of brownies ($6.39) and six-inch pizzas
($5.49). There is also a pasta line, an area the company hopes to
expand through the addition of such entrees as lasagna, manicotti,
and ravioli.
Produced in a facility in Mahwah, N.J., and selling the products
through distributors, Foods by George has already cracked some 20
states, including the tri-state area. In New York, Foods by George
dot the shelves of Whole Foods in the giant food market in the Time
Warner building, and its distributors are exploring sales to several
of the city’s largest food merchants, including Dagastino and
Gristedes.
Mr. Chookazian, president of the company, wouldn’t discuss the
current bottom line, but it’s understood Foods by George is
generating a profit on annual revenues of nearly $1 million. He did
say, though, that he expected the business to go national in three to
five years and, at that time, turn in an annual volume in the $15-$25
million range.
Meanwhile, the gluten-free food concept has already found its way
into Big Apple restaurants. For example, Peter’s, an Upper East Side
First Avenue diner in the 60s that has been feeding the hungry for
more than a decade, in December opened a second restaurant on First
Avenue between 83rd and 84th streets that offers an extensive
selection of gluten-free items, including chicken parmesan, salads,
and hamburgers on gluten-free bread.
Co-owner Peter Zakakis, who said he learned about gluten-free as a
favor to a friend and opened the second restaurant with a little bit
of health in mind (offering a selection of low-fat and low-carb
foods), observes that gluten-free foods definitely have good sales
appeal. “We’re already starting to build a very good following among
people who specifically want glutenfree foods,” he said.
Now that he’s scrapped the brokerage business, Mr. Chookazian no
longer offers stock tips. But he does offer what he thinks is a more
enticing tip. “Try Foods by George,” he tells me: “You’ll love it and
it’s healthy,” he said.
Whether you heed that advice is up to you. But with a growing
business in the ultra-competitive food arena that’s achieving almost
$1 million a year in sales and going national, the man’s obviously
got to be doing something right. At some point, our one-time
stockbroker hopes some big-name food company also recognizes that
fact.