Serving Up Success

Few things are worse than soggy fries, especially when they have been stuck in traffic for 45 minutes. Frustrated by this all-too-common experience, food service veteran Andrew Martino was determined to make a change.

While researching what food trends were on the horizon, the West Coast’s thriving, vibrant food truck scene inspired Martino. “I had been in Southern California, where the food truck scene is really excellent, and there are a lot of great chef operators of food trucks there. That was kind of the inspiration to create this digital food truck festival where people can order a variety of different things, but everything was made from scratch, intended for delivery,” he explained.

His idea grew into Ghost Truck Kitchen, GTK for short. Although no physical food truck is involved, its spirit is found in a constantly rotating menu of perfectly cooked handheld bites to make takeout and delivery better. Five years later, GTK has locations in Hoboken and Jersey City.

Finding His Way to Stevens

In addition to establishing GTK, Martino was also hard at work helping restaurants throughout Hoboken and Jersey City navigate the COVID pandemic. While the popularity of third-party apps skyrocketed as a means of safely accessing food, Martino was concerned about fees eating into the profits of already struggling businesses. As a response, he built a digital forward, non-profit delivery platform called Community Delivery.

This got the attention of a friend who connected him with the New Jersey Hospitality Alliance (NJHA), which was collaborating with the Industry Capstone Program at the Stevens School of Business. It was the type of technology-focused platform Stevens’ students were hungry to embrace.

Martino understood the program’s importance and was eager to dip into his coaching background. “I used to be a high school basketball coach. I like teaching, so I thought it was a good opportunity,” he said. “I did a capstone project when I was a freshman in college, and I found it to be one of the more interesting things I did.”

Getting Hands-On

Paired with teams of students, Martino worked with them to understand where local restaurants were and what gaps existed based on consumers’ expectations and habits.

“One group focused on these really intense surveys to understand the market, how people were ordering, why they were ordering, what they were looking for and [the impact of] discounts,” he shared. “Another team was essentially tasked with amassing huge email lists.”

Once their initial tasks were completed, the teams used their work to collaborate directly with restaurants to launch email campaigns, run targeted promotions and build contracts between operators and clients. In the end, teams evaluated what worked and what didn’t.

Martino wanted to give students a well-rounded, hands-on experience. “They got used to what it looked like managing and setting expectations,” he says. “And then went through the process, analyzed results and gave recommendations.”

As students honed their technical skills, working with different restaurants also provided a valuable lesson in communicating. “Being able to communicate both written and orally is the most important thing in the business and professional world,” says Martino. “Even if your ideas aren’t the best, be clear and concise in what you’re doing,” was a lesson he passed on.

For potential corporate partners, the entire program was a win-win. “It was great for Stevens to give us an opportunity,” said Martino. “I think the students that we had participating in the program got a lot out of it, and it was a pretty enjoyable experience for me, too.”

A Taste of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship has surged since the pandemic, and the School of Business is providing students with the opportunity to gain more exposure in this area to grow their own entrepreneurship skills through various programs, like the Industry Capstone Program.

Christina Alwell, Manager of the Industry Capstone Program, has seen a recent uptick in the number of graduate students looking to start their own businesses. “Over the last year we’ve had several graduate students start their own companies while enrolled at Stevens such as a health and lifestyle brand and media production company.” Alwell recognizes the value and importance of honing entrepreneurial skills such as innovation and creativity, academic and professional integration and networking opportunities. “I love that our students have the opportunity to learn from corporate partners, such as Andrew Martino, as they can take the skills and information learned inside the classroom to solve real-world problems that have an economic impact.”

Martino’s advice to those looking to start their own business? “You want to have enough experience in what you’re entering that it’s not completely new. You don’t want your first time dipping your toes in the water of a new industry to be running your own business. I think getting experience on someone else’s dime first, so you can make mistakes is pretty important.”

NJHA Monthly Member Spotlight

NJHA is partnering with the Stevens School of Business to host a Monthly Member Spotlight series this fall in the Babbio Center Atrium on the Stevens campus. For additional information, please connect with Christina Alwell at [email protected]

• Thursday, September 19 from 9-10 a.m.

• Thursday, October 24 from 9-10 a.m.

• Thursday, November 14 from 9-10 a.m.

• Thursday, December from 9-10 a.m.