Known to shoppers in the tristate area as one of the faces of Fairway Market, Dan Glickberg is rebranding himself as a food consultant, investor and TV personality.
Glickberg, who grew up in Irvington, still ”” though less often now ”” gets recognized for being a fixture at the stores and for starring in the chain”™s commercials from the age of 24.
He”™s back on the air representing himself as an investor on a new Food Network show, “Food Fortunes,” which is like “Shark Tank” for the food industry. He and a panel of judges have the opportunity to put their money into food companies.
- Dan Glickberg, second from right, on the set of “Food Fortunes.”
Doing the show, Glickberg said, is part of his effort to “shed the stigma” of Fairway, which he left in 2013. “It”™s something I”™m trying to grow out of,” he said. “Hopefully this show will help people recognize me as someone who”™s involved in the food industry.”
Now 31, Gickberg lives in Manhattan and runs a food consulting, venture capital and media appearance business. With the name Dan Glickberg Food, it”™s unmistakably his own.
Glickberg was the fourth generation of his family to work at Fairway, which started in the 1930s as a produce stand run by his great-grandfather on Manhattan”™s Upper West Side. It grew to be a supermarket chain with 15 grocery stores and 3 wine and spirits shops locations in Pelham Manor, Stamford, New York City, Long Island and New Jersey.
Glickberg”™s father, Howard, brought in two partners, who were later bought out by Sterling Equity Partners, a private equity firm in Westport, Conn., when it acquired a majority stake in the company in 2008. Fairway went public in 2013, a week or two after Glickberg left the company. Fairway announced his father”™s retirement in December, although he still sits on the company board.
Glickberg said he worked in every department at Fairway, from the bottom up, since he was a kid. He joined full time after graduating from Trinity College in 2005, where he studied creative writing.
“It”™s not your typical business background,” he said of his major, adding that it helped with critical thinking and media relations. Glickberg became vice president of Fairway and held the position for about eight years.
Learning about the supermarket industry and how to run a company gives him a “competitive edge” in his current business, he said. Not many other people in his field have worked in supermarkets as long as he has, especially not one as “dynamic” as Fairway, he said.
“It gave me a really good framework for understanding the food industry, understanding the financials, the marketing, operations. Just being in contact with the consumer every day has given me a solid background in the food industry in general. It gives me a leg up on a lot of companies that are competitors.”
He also learned to be comfortable in front of the camera and the media, alongside his father and on his own. About a year ago, Glickberg did an appearance on the “Today” show to discuss an article about supermarket secrets. While Glickberg was playing basketball in Manhattan, another player, who is an agent, recognized him and later told him about the opportunity to be on “Food Fortunes.”
In September, Glickberg shot an episode near Los Angeles that was picked up by the Food Network. He filmed eight episodes over two weeks at the end of January. He said it was fulfilling to be recognized for his new career.
“I think it”™s kind of a natural progression for me. I can kind of step out into the spotlight on my own,” he said. “It”™s something that”™s gratifying, being able to go from one successful venture to going to my own successful venture.”
Making quick decisions on the show didn”™t faze Glickberg. Neither does being on the young side in the investing world.
- Dan and Howard Glickberg. File photo
“Since I”™ve been 22 years old I”™ve always been comfortable being by far the youngest person in the room, so that”™s not something really that I think about,” Glickberg said. “I think when I was really young, 23, 24, I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, because everybody would just call me the kid. At this point, with my history and my success in business, I really don”™t think age really plays into it.”
In the year after leaving Fairway, Glickberg said he met with people in the industry that are investing to learn more about what they do. He knows “there”™s a ton of risk” making investments, that things don”™t always go according to plan. He uses some of the tips from his meetings and his lifelong background in food to make investments, and tries to go in with confidence.
“I”™m pretty well-versed in understanding what customers want and what consumers want to buy,” he said. “It”™s really about using what I learned in food stores and applying that.”
When judging whether to invest in a company, Glickberg said he considers a product”™s taste, its sales potential and whether the company”™s financials are solid. He said entrepreneurs that are pitching should show their personality, engage investors and understand their company”™s valuation. He invests in early stage companies with up to $10 million in revenue.
The best pitch he saw on “Food Fortunes,” he said, was from a San Diego-based breakfast company called Earnest Eats, which was one of two investments he made on the first episode.
Glickberg said health food in general has been a trend for the better part of a decade, and now protein in breakfast is a growing trend, along with renewable protein sources like crickets.
“Over the next five years the consumer will become more comfortable with it,” he said about cricket protein.
With filming completed and the show on air, Glickberg said he”™s working with the companies he”™s invested in ”” one in the tech industry and the rest in food. He was secretive about the specifics.
Glickberg hasn”™t completely left behind his Fairway past. “I”™m leveraging some of my pre-existing relationships to get companies into stores, into the supply chain,” he said.
Occasionally he”™ll receive an email from a company that wants to be on Fairway”™s shelves, and he redirects them to the new owners. He”™s focused on Dan Glickberg Food.
“I”™m running my own company, which is really where I want to be right now,” Glickberg said.
