WRESTLER TURNED NEW-WAVE PRODUCE MANAGER...
CLEVELAND, OH (January 7, 2008) - Everyone loves fresh produce, especially a wrester trying to make weight. Case Western Reserve University's Robert [Bob] Gavlak doesn't need to worry about his waist line due to the fact he is the Spartans' heavy weight, but he has been thinking a lot about the benefits of quality food these days.
Gavlak, along with four other Case Western Reserve students, recently attended an Entrepreneurship Educational Consortium at Cleveland State University. It was a business concept contest that challenged participants from area schools to come up with a business concept that would keep money in the local economy and grow to be profitable.
“We tossed around a few things before coming up with the virtual farmer's market idea, connecting local farmers with local restaurants,” Gavlak, who won a University Athletic Association heavy weight championship in 2006, explained. “We ended up winning the competition. It was pretty exciting.”
With momentum on their side the group further considered the idea and came to a conclusion that it could really work. They talked to local restaurant owners and found out they want to use local product, but that they don't have way to efficiently do it.
“Basically it comes down to the restaurant doesn't have time to talk to the farmers and the farmers also don't have time to try to sell their products directly to them,” Gavlak said. “When we asked the restaurants and farmers if they would use our company, both sides overwhelmingly expressed a want for this type of service.”
Quality is what Fresh Fork Market , whose theme is “Changing the way you feel about produce”, hopes to hang its hat on. Food is currently shipped an average of 1,500 miles, changes hands five or six times, and is sprayed with pesticides and preservatives to keep fresh. Fresh Fork Market plans to use a web based program to create an efficient localized distribution system.
“It would be sort of like eBay in the sense of how you can search by the product you want,” The Brunswick, Ohio native explained. “You will be able to look through different kinds of vegetables, breads, cheeses and maybe even meats that will all have quality ratings.”
After the restaurants place their orders, trucks will travel to the farms to pick the product up and then deliver it to the restaurants the same day. Gavlak figures it will cost between 75,000 and 100,000 dollars to start up the business and in the beginning they will outsource the trucks due the huge capital cost of owning them.
The group will look into grants from places like the Ohio Department of Agriculture to help subsidize start-up costs and hope that a solid business plan might interest investors, but most of the money will come from the group members.
“We all have a stake in the community and this benefits everyone,” Gavlak said. “It's benefiting the local farmers, its benefit the local restaurants and its benefiting the consumer which all ties into the success local economy.”
They might even make a buck or two themselves and if they do, Fresh Fork Market plans to expand to other areas like Columbus, Pittsburgh and more.
“I feel we are on to something here and that if we follow through it's going to be big,” Gavlak said. “It has been a lot of work and I have put a lot of time into it, but in the end it's going to pay off. I am going to own my own business – that's pretty cool.”
The Case Western Reserve wrestling team heads to the Lycoming College Duals January 11-12. Gavlak, who sat the first semester recovering from an injury, is scheduled to wrestle.
ONE MORE YEAR?… Due to the fact Gavlak has had a couple injury riddled seasons at the college level, he does have one year of eligibility remaining in wrestling after this season despite the fact he will graduate in May with an undergraduate degree in management and finance. He has already been accepted into the Weatherhead School of Management's Master of Science in Management (MSM-Finance) program, giving him a decision to make.
“I could continue my education and finish my masters while wrestling one more year or I can pay more attention to the business. I have to choose,” Gavlak said.
ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD… You might not know it, but Gavlak started at quarterback for the Spartans in 2004. After broken collar bones sidelined both the starter and back-up his freshman year, Gavlak got the nod midway through game six. Gavlak completed 41-of-82 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns and help lead Case Western Reserve to two season-ending home victories over Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Chicago.
“I had to pick between football, wrestling and school, because they all take up so much time,” Gavlak explained. “I could only have two of the three and my biggest love has always been wrestling. I still enjoy watching the football team. They have done great!”
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