Innovation

Zest is successfully using an innovation of organic food to provide meal preparation services, an environmentally-friendly restaurant environment and, of course, food designed to heal the body naturally. Zest promotes healthy, clean eating in a deliciously eco-friendly way. Their product range includes salads, sandwiches, smoothies, muffins, and more. The goal of Zest is to provide healthy options to customers with dietary restrictions, as well as to those who are looking to improve their diet through quality snacks and treats. Zest promotes good health and well-being by providing their customers with enjoyable nutritious food and drinks that are gluten and dairy free.

Also, most of Zest’s products are sourced from local farms. This company can produce less waste than most food providers because their produce is organic. For example, parts of a fruit that an average person thinks are waste such as the peels of the fruit; Zest uses those peels as one of the ingredients in their veggie burgers. The central part of the fruit is then used to create other products such as smoothies. Furthermore, the utensils and plates that are used at Zest are eco-friendly.

Also, Zest provides pre-made meals for customers to purchase and take home to enjoy. Zest is a refreshing establishment for the community, allowing customers to feel good about the food they are consuming. Zest’s primary purpose is to promote healthy diets and well-being. The goal of Zest is to show that organic or healthy foods can be delicious and give their customers and community a sense of comfort by knowing what type of ingredients are in the foods they eat and where those ingredients came from.

Inspiration

Zest’s innovation emerged from founder Luciana Contuzzi’s appreciation for nutritious, delicious food. By combining her health-conscious lifestyle with love for cooking, Luciana began creating desserts and snacks that were both gluten and dairy free. These products are designed to help the body refuel and offer healing benefits that can go as far as to help fight diseases. Through trial and error, Luciana found the perfect recipes and combinations to create the menu Zest has today. Although these items themselves are not new, the nutritional value and natural healing power make Zest innovative.

The motivation surrounding the creation of Zest stemmed from Luciana’s health issues in college. Because she struggled with a stomach disorder and found it difficult to find food that agreed with her, she wanted to make gluten and dairy free products available to the public. She did not want others to struggle with finding tasty alternatives the way she did. Luciana aims to help the community of Fairfield with healthy accessible options. Her customers range from those who practice healthy lifestyles every day to those who have never even had a salad.

Luciana always knew she wanted to create her own business. During Luciana’s early college years, she discovered the nutritional benefits and natural healing powers of food because she was struggling with a stomach disorder. With her strong Italian roots and passion for food, Luciana realized that she wanted to prepare health-conscious foods that were full of flavor. Luciana states,

“My family’s very like ‘Italian food, Italian food.’ Food was always a big thing in my life. I mean, everything revolved around food. During high school and college, I started getting really into nutrition, exercise, and health, so I started testing gluten-free recipes, dairy-free recipes… I had this stomach disorder and I went completely gluten and dairy-free, had green juice every day and it went away. My doctor said I was going to have to take antibiotics… and I didn’t, so it was really cool to see how food can really cure diseases.”

As a capable businesswoman and stomach disorder victim, Luciana quickly recognized that society had become more health-conscious, proven by global efforts to decrease obesity and to promote healthy lifestyles. Many consumers who seek to improve their diet admit that it is difficult to enjoy foods that are labeled “organic” and “healthy.” Luciana revealed,

“I wanted food for everyone to enjoy because I hated going out to eat and not being able to eat anything, like not feeling comfortable because I didn’t know what was in something. Here, I wanted to make a place where the food tasted good and there were choices that everyone could recognize.”

In Luciana’s community, there were not many stores or restaurants promoting healthy nutrition. Fun fact: Zest actually took the place of 25 Burger, a fast-food burger joint. Luciana commented on the impact Zest has on her customers, saying, “There are customers that come every day that never eaten healthy, but they find something they love and find out, ‘Oh wow, it’s gluten-free?’”

Overall impact

In the short term, Zest's innovation of clean meal preparations creates a sense of accomplishment in their customers. Eating healthy is a huge trend nowadays, and having a restaurant provide delicious ways to participate makes people feel confident and proud of themselves. It also allows people to feel full longer without the heaviness that most restaurants leave customers with.

The long-term effects of Zest's innovation are the various health benefits that these customers see after a couple of weeks of consuming Zest's products. The customers who come in regularly have noticed an increase in their energy, a quicker metabolism, and even a drop in their pant sizes! Zest allows people to incorporate organic, dairy-free, and gluten-free diets in their daily routine. By doing so, they are presenting their customers with the option to take on a healthier, happier, and possibly life-lengthening lifestyle.

Business benefit

Because Zest is providing a unique and completely healthy eating experience, the business has developed a loyal following that contributes a significant percentage of daily revenue. Employee Jane Meng estimates that there are approximately eighty to one hundred regular customers who come in most days of the week because of the food’s delicious taste and positive benefits - increased energy for the day, easier digestion, and even weightloss. These regular customers are living proof that making healthy food more accessible can create better lifestyles and change bad habits of eating unhealthy food.

Zest also manages to save money because they are not forced to buy extra supplies because each item is used to its fullest ability. Rather than purchasing additional containers for meal preps and snacks, a majority of their vessels are reusable. Zest takes this a step further by encouraging customers to take home, wash and reuse their food containers rather than throw them out. Regarding food, Zest is able to create more products with fewer supplies. As mentioned in previous responses, Zest uses the peels from fruits and vegetables in their veggie burgers. Rather than throwing out the skins and purchasing different ingredients to make burgers, the business incorporates resourcefulness and refuses to waste where waste is unnecessary.

Social and environmental benefit

The impact that Zest has is unquestionable, as the innovation brings forward multiple benefits for society and the environment. For the community, Zest provides an extremely healthy alternative to rather unhealthier options that many people would prefer. Zest is still able to attract customers that do not eat healthy often and keep those customers drawn to the product. By having plenty of organic, dairy-free, and gluten-free options, Zest can serve a wide variety of customers and allow the product itself to help people eat better. One of the goals of Zest is to clear a path for society to eat better as a whole, and Zest provides the necessary options for that to be attained.

While Zest promotes healthy living and better eating, their impact on the environment is also indubitable. As customers are coming in and out of the restaurant, Zest builds up waste from their products, but as an environmentally conscious restaurant, they find innovative ways to utilize the waste to the benefit of the restaurant. Since Zest uses possible waste like fruit or vegetable peels as ingredients in other meals, it helps with environmental issues such as pollution since garbage is not being disposed of unnecessarily. Being an eco-friendly restaurant while attaining a goal of bringing healthier living back into society is the impact that Zest has on the community.

Interview

Luciana Contuzzi, Owner