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Updated RecentlyWholesome Tummies Opened By Naples Mom To Offer Healthy School Lunch Alternatives To Kids
Thursday, July 10, 2014
But since the Orlando-based Wholesome Tummies, which established WT Cafe in 2010, had not expanded into Southwest Florida, Biondi, 44, couldn't order the meals for her sons. Once Biondi, a former mortgage company owner, learned more about the company and its food standards, she was hooked, deciding to purchase the Southwest Florida franchise in November.
"I wanted to be more creative and this is something that I could feel that," she said. "I could use creativity and help with children and help with health issues. I just felt that I was better suited to and more aligned with this business and this business model." On June 9, Biondi opened the doors of WT Cafe of Collier in the Galleria Shoppes at Vanderbilt in North Naples, making it the fifth franchise in Florida. With a total of 25 franchises currently under contract, WT Cafe has locations in 14 states and Washington, D.C.
When looking for where to open the retail store and kitchen, Biondi decided on Naples because she grew up in the city and it's a central location within her territory, which stretches from Marco Island to Sanibel Island.
"This is my home," she said. "I think this plaza is a great central location going south or going north." Head chef David Hatcher arrives to the kitchen at 7 a.m. With all the preparation done the day before, Hatcher and an assistant chef spend the morning cooking before the delivery trucks are loaded by 10:30 a.m.
"Everything is made from scratch," Biondi said. In addition to Biondi and the chefs, the franchise's staff includes customer service personnel and drivers.
The recipes are created by Sherri Flynt, a dietitian and co-author of the book "SuperSized Kids: How to Rescue Your Child from the Obesity Threat." "(The meals) are kid tested over and over again," Biondi said, adding that all the meals include protein, fruit and vegetable. "They are kid favorites and they make sure they have those key ingredients that are really for a kid pallet." The menu items, which range from sandwiches and mac'n cheese to baked French toast and smoothies, are made with all natural and organic ingredients. The meats are antibiotic and hormone-free and only whole grains are used. There are gluten free, dairy free, vegetarian and kosher options available.
The lunches don't contain high fructose corn syrup, artificial trans-fats, artificial flavors and colors or nitrates, Biondi said.
"All of those things have pretty much been proven that its harmful to have all of those different things (in food)," she said, adding that the company's red velvet cake, which is made out of beets, is a popular choice.
"(Kids) think they are eating a cupcake and they are eating beets," she said.
After a parent orders the meal online, Biondi receives a breakdown of how many of each meals have been ordered for a particular day. The system sorts the list by categories such as school, classroom number and meal and the information is printed on a label so the meal can be delivered directly to the child, Biondi said.
"We haven't found any room for errors yet," she said. "I keep thinking one of these mornings one of these kids won't get their lunch but when a parent orders, it comes right through and it's there. It's just a really, really strong system, which is great and which solves a lot of issues as far as distributing." Biondi said while she encourages parents to order at least 36 hours in advance, they can order or cancel up until 8 a.m. the day of delivery, but it will be a limited menu.
The meals range from $4.75 to $6.50. Parents can order a meal at a time or order as far out as the menu goes, Biondi said.
For now, Biondi is focusing on summer camps and schools, but said she opened the retail space to make the service available to everyone.
"This gives a public school parents the option to come in and pick up food," she said, adding that she plans to offer cooking classes. "My goal is just to have the exposure to our whole community." Since the June opening, Biondi has worked with local summer camps including South Breeze Day Camp and Florida Fire Juniors World Cup Camp. This fall, she hopes to have private and charter schools and day-care centers contracted with the franchise.
WT Cafe recently made a presentation to Community School of Naples about the lunch delivery service, said Paul Selvidio, the school's chief financial officer, adding the school will decide whether they will use WT Cafe as the school's lunch vendor in a couple of weeks.
"They look like a wonderful company that can serve the needs of the local community," Selvidio said.
Paul Williams, camp director at Florida Fire Juniors World Cup Camp, said delivery was on-time and all the orders were correct.
In the future, Williams said he may incorporate the lunches into the cost of the camp, allowing all campers to receive the healthy lunches.
The community has been responsive to the new concept, Biondi said.
"They are also supporting me and saying I will help you in whatever way I can and just lending a lot of support which has been great," she said.
More than 1 million meals are delivered nationwide each year, according to Biondi, and at the North Naples location, they have the ability to make 2,000 meals a day. Once that number is reached, Biondi said she will need to expand. But that doesn't necessarily mean opening a new retail location.
"Some schools may say we just want you to take over out kitchen and that could be an expansion also," she said. "We could go in there and put staff in there and get them trained on our recipes." Based on the positive feedback from the community, Biondi said expansion may be in the near future.
"I think we are going to get there very quickly," Biondi said. "When you look at some of the schools in the area and the size of them, it can happen."
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