Episode #356: Alessandro Biggi & Francesco Brachetti, Avocaderia

HALO Talks: Elevating Wellness

Alessandro Biggi & Francesco Brachetti are best friends since college and grew up in Italy. They started Avocaderia- the buzzy new restaurant (now with 4 locations.)

They have far from the "typical" background of hospitality entrepreneurs. Both studied and worked in the finance world but eventually, Alesandro came to the idea of,"Healthy comfort food that's good for you but enriched with healthy fats which could be cheese, almonds and so on. I realized that it was really hard to find healthy food. . . so I started playing with the idea of creating delicious avocado based salads and dishes. I shared that with Francesco who was living in Mexico, in the country of avocados!"

The two self-funded their first two locations and not having any background in hospitality turned out to be a positive. In finance parlance, they aimed to create an MVP ("minimum viable product") and did exactly that using, among other things, Instagram to create community and assess demand!

"In our case, we didn't know anything, so we just did it. Now that we know a lot more, it's actually a lot harder," quips Bragetti. It was their first experience taking an Excel model and turning into reality--something most in finance never have done, or will do, and have no idea how difficult it is. The pair worked 14 hours a day, nearly year round when they first started. COVID hit, but they did more than just survive-they thrived!

Alessandro and Francesco chat more about what success means for them, the differences in work-life balance in Italy versus NYC (Italy, once again came out on top last year,) where they're going in the future, and more! These guys are putting a different spin on the hospitality model and are a group to keep your eye on. Definitely stop in and check them out (or order online!)

Click here to download transcript.