When the pandemic pushed his main revenue sources—catered events in the Fox Cities area and meals prepared for a brewery tap room—to the back burner, NMU alumnus David Bennett (BS '17) opted to adapt rather than wait it out. He successfully accelerated the launch of a take-and-heat meal service to keep the business going.
Bennett is co-owner and chef with FourOne Food Group in Appleton, which now includes the new Prepd meal service. He began working in restaurants and a summer camp kitchen while studying nutritional science at UW-Milwaukee, then transferred to Northern Michigan University because of the college's "highly regarded catering program," according to a newspaper article.
After graduating from NMU with a biology degree and more than a year of prep cook experience, Bennett weighed the options of pursuing a medical or culinary career. He enrolled in the culinary arts program at Kendall College in Chicago and worked for a high-end catering business before returning to the Fox Cities. Read more about his successful pivot in the face of adversity in this Appleton Post-Crescent feature story.