With the rise and rule of Facebook, a (thee) social media platform created by Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg, entrepreneurship in college has exploded. Zuckerberg has shown college students everywhere that they don’t have to graduate and join the workforce for 10 years to make a billion dollars. They can do it themselves, and in-between studying for mid-terms. Enter Cristina Roman. Cristina recently started a business at George Washington University, known as GW Bites. Dining hall food can become sickening after a while, if not instantly. Under Cristina’s leadership, GW Bites offers students the option of having a real, home cooked meal delivered right to their dorm room, once a week. This is a revolutionary business model, if ever there was one, and Cristina Roman is undoubtedly on the fast track to success.
Cristina refers to herself on the website as a “Social Enterprise Enthusiast.” I agree Cristina, you’ve certainly earned that distinction. She also lists some other interests including yoga, home decorating, and cooking, needless to say. Not much else is listed about her (I had to get her last name from Google) or the history behind her enterprise. Under the sub-page “Team,” Cristina’s is the only name present. On top of GW Bites, which offers multiple services (more on that later), Cristina also has her own blog titled “Scintillating Simplicity” where she lists recipes. Move over Zuck. This girl isn’t slowing down any time soon.
How does it work? GW Bite’s main attraction is their “Weekly Home Cooked Meal,” the straight to your door, meal delivery service. Students who sign up, receive an E-mail every Monday with the menu, which changes weekly. Once the E-mail is received, students must apply with “Opt In” or “Opt Out” by Tuesday at 5PM. Then, on Wednesday night, your freshly cooked meal is delivered to your dorm or apartment between 5 and 7PM. Certainly beats frozen pizza with mystery toppings from the dining hall, no? Whether there is a flat rate or individual pricing isn’t immediately available on the website, but I assume there’s a difference in cost between Chicken Parmesan and Surf and Turf.
GW Bites also offers precooked “Meals in a Jar.” The meals are divided into two groups on the site: Dry Ingrdients Only, and Dry And Fresh. Each meal comes with a card that gives the customer the full recipe. Cristina also lists two prices, one for the meal, and one that represents the actual cost if one were to purchase all the ingredients. The meals are all priced under $10. Another service called Hippo Cakes is “coming soon.”
Cristina Roman, you have certainly outdid yourself. GW Bites has already been featured on SpringWise, Trend Hunter, and Business Insider. Best of all though, she is now being featured on The Campus Socialite. So to all you GW students who are sick of spending an hour on the toilet after each meal, hit up GW Bites and get yourself some real grub. As for all you other college kids around the country, be jealous that Cristina Roman (and your mom) doesn’t go to your school.
