Penn State’s Confectionate Couple
With Waffatopia,® graduates Brian '00 and Andrea '99 Polizzi have made it their business to develop and market what might be the world’s first truly international waffle. Hold the syrup.
By Joe Darrah
Brian and Andrea Polizzi, a couple of self-proclaimed “foodies,” are about as well versed in waffles as anyone could expect to be. These were no ordinary waffles, however.
It was April 2009, and Brian was on pace to log somewhere between the typical 120,000-130,000 miles he had become accustomed to traveling as a corporate sales professional. Though he had frequented the city of Brussels in Belgium a few times before, Andrea, his wife of nearly 15 years whom he met as a freshman at Penn State Berks in the mid 1990s, had never been. Therefore, she had never eaten a real Belgian waffle — the warm, doughy kind that requires no syrup because the pearl sugar used during the cooking process allows for an inherently sweet caramelization. Served fresh off the hot irons of a street vendor’s roadside cart or café and nestled into a wax paper sleeve, the pastry is a common food for those traversing the streets of the Comic City.
Brian and Andrea Polizzi, a couple of self-proclaimed “foodies,” are about as well versed in waffles as anyone could expect to be. These were no ordinary waffles, however.
It was April 2009, and Brian was on pace to log somewhere between the typical 120,000-130,000 miles he had become accustomed to traveling as a corporate sales professional. Though he had frequented the city of Brussels in Belgium a few times before, Andrea, his wife of nearly 15 years whom he met as a freshman at Penn State Berks in the mid 1990s, had never been. Therefore, she had never eaten a real Belgian waffle — the warm, doughy kind that requires no syrup because the pearl sugar used during the cooking process allows for an inherently sweet caramelization. Served fresh off the hot irons of a street vendor’s roadside cart or café and nestled into a wax paper sleeve, the pastry is a common food for those traversing the streets of the Comic City.
“And it seemed that every 50 yards you’d see people eating them,” said Brian. “At the train stations, in the little huts at the end of the road — you just eat them as you’re walking down the road. And we just thought it was the coolest thing since gravity.” As profound as that comparison may seem, the effect of those waffles purchased that day might actually rival that of the fundamental force that until that point could have been partly to blame for keeping these two in a corporate world in which they never really felt they belonged, especially if it meant working separately. “We always knew we wanted to do something entrepreneurial together,” Brian said. “And we pretty much immediately saw this as something that we could make a business out of because it was so different. Over the next couple of years, the waffle kept becoming recultivated to the top of the list we had for our business ideas.” Today, not much in their professional and personal lives is the same, up to and including their taste buds. Inspired to not only attempt to recreate the product upon returning to the States and add it to their personalized, ever-expanding menu at home, the Conshohocken, PA, residents have decided to parlay their love of cuisine and their unyielding desire to work with one another, for one another, into a business that is thriving, growing and proving that every other idea they ever had wasn’t the right one. They launched Waffatopia® in West Chester, PA, in March 2013, began to vend throughout the region soon afterwards and recently relocated into a full-scale warehouse and waffery in their own neighborhood, which many locals refer to simply as “Conshy.” On Aug. 24, they welcomed the community to a housewarming of sorts for, you guessed it, National Waffle Day. But it was their appearance on the Food Network’s Great American Food Finds in August of last year that would change everything for the Polizzis and their confection creation. Their most recent estimate holds that 70 percent of their business occurs through online orders versus live events (including at the waffery), with the expectation that by year’s end they’ll be looking at 80 percent of their business through their website (www.waffatopia.com), which during the initial airing of their spot on the Food Network crashed due to the sudden surge in visits following the exposure and necessitated adjustments to be made to their hosting platform. But, as they are both quick to say, how they’ve gotten to this point is really all about “the story.” Waffle Wisdom Whether it’s online or in person, any new customer looking to purchase a waffle from the Polizzis is going to be exposed to “the story,” aka “the pitch.” It’s not so much a sales pitch as it is a quick education in waffle making since, for starters, the most common questions the Polizzis tend to get relate to syrup, which they insist are never anywhere to be found in or on their waffles when they make them. “A lot of people ask, ‘Is the syrup in the waffle?’ because they’re tasting a sweetness, but it’s actually that Belgian pearl sugar that they’re tasting,” Brian said. “Or, you’re likely to ask ‘What do I do with these?’ if we don’t explain everything to you. So we use ‘the pitch’ to help explain why these waffles are special and, frankly, why they’re between $3-$4 each. And that’s because it takes time to make them because we use fresh, awesome ingredients.” That time commitment to the food-preparation process — two days — is a result of the trial and error that Brian and Andrea endured over a period of about four years that cost them countless hours in their own kitchen as well as two commercial-strength waffle irons. Each waffle is made from scratch out of a brioche (pastry of French origin) style, yeast-risen dough. Traditional ingredients such as flour, yeast, salt, egg, butter and sugar comprise a base dough that is then mixed with a custom blend of spices, fruit and, more recently, beer (see sidebar) to create the finished product. From there, a signature Belgian pearl sugar is added to create the caramelization on the surface when baked. Where other recipes may call for Swedish pearl sugar (a bit more available and less expensive), which leaves an appearance on the waffle’s surface similar to pretzel salt, hinders caramelization and results in an overly sweetened waffle, according to the Polizzis, the Belgian sugar utilized at Waffatopia® results in a taste difference. “All of our ingredients are fresh and natural,” Brian said. “Everything’s pronounceable when you read the label. There are no dyes, artificial preservatives or ‘goopity-gop’. It’s not lower-end grocery food. This is an artisan, naturally made product. You’re going to pay a premium for it, but you’re going to taste a difference too.” And there’s quite the assortment of different tastes to choose from. Available in a variety of flavors, from the duo’s standard staple (and inaugural) cinnamon and vanilla, to their most popular chocolate-stuffed and maple bacon (two separate waffles), to seasonal and limited-edition offerings such as lemon blueberry and the Lucky Donny (a St. Patrick’s Day waffle that features a hazelnut/caramel flavor), the assortment of waffles is reaching a status that Brian and Andrea like to consider somewhat endless. With a total of 10 waffles as recently as this past January, the expectation is to finish the calendar year on a pace that would see them invent one new waffle per month. As such, they’ve become more skilled with experimenting on new ideas that actually translate into a product that can be made consistently in large quantities with a sweetness that does not require syrup. “And it’s not that we’re against syrup,” Andrea assures. “We both enjoy good Vermont syrup, but we also like to challenge people who are syrup lovers to try the waffles without it at first. We’ve come to learn that one of our flavors that’s most popular to have syrup added to it is the maple bacon, because it’s more of a breakfast-type food. And we have nothing against pancakes either.” Still, to that end the Polizzis insist they’re waffles also aren’t pigeonholed as strictly a breakfast food either, even if the standard consumption of waffles in the U.S. occurs in the morning. Much like their experience in Belgium, the Polizzis see no reason why the waffle shouldn’t be craved as an any day, all day food. “The waffle is very versatile,” Brian said. “Granted, the initial impression for most Americans, including us is: waffle equals breakfast. But we see it more as a snack that can be paired with any meal. Our initial feedback from new customers is usually ‘We eat them for breakfast, or as an after-school snack, or as a desert with ice cream.’ But you can pair them with a dinner. In the South, chicken and waffles is very popular. Some of the savories like cinnamon and vanilla or the maple bacon can go well with something such as pulled-pork barbeque or fried chicken drizzled with honey. “The waffle also transcends age groups,” he continued. “And it fits into the convenience factor that Americans are looking for. We want food that’s fast and quick. But, more and more, today we want food that’s natural too. Being able to formulate this waffle with natural ingredients, and making it convenient, and making it family-friendly – we looked at that as the trifecta of a good food product.” Culinary Curiosities Though neither Brian nor Andrea studied the culinary arts while in school (she’s a 1999 graduate with a degree in marketing, he graduated in 2000 following a co-op after majoring in microbiology and minoring in biochemistry), between the two of them they had acquired a rounded-enough education to realistically believe they could succeed in the industry. “We realized that we had separate skill sets that would work well together in a business,” Andrea said. And we really wanted to figure out what that business could be together. With Brian’s scientific background we knew it would significantly help in being able to apply a lot of those principles to cooking and baking. Through my years in corporate, I had exposure to management, finance, and different types of customer interaction and customer service.” In July 2011, she left her corporate career to get the company’s name secured and initiate a business plan and recipe development strategy. By that point they had experimented enough with their recipes at home and gathered a number of opinions from family, friends and colleagues to feel confident enough to take their creation forward. They’ve never been too afraid to learn as they progress, however. “When we first started in a commercial facility, we were making our product while being surrounded by other small business who were making their own food products,” Andrea said. “Some of them had culinary backgrounds, and there was some knowledge-sharing going on. And we eventually went to having friends of friends try the waffles as a way to get our first outer circle of opinions. We weren’t selling anything out of our house for health-code reasons, but we were already doing a lot of recipe and development for sure. And we eventually reached a point where we felt we could both leave corporate.” Getting there meant a lot of market research beyond their taste-testers. “And these waffles were barely something you could find on Google,” Brian said. “There might be a café or a food truck here and there that does them, but we learned that it was not being done to an extreme at all. So we thought we might be on the beginning curve of helping people to get to know about this here.” Intriguing as that was, there was also a sense among them that their emotions should be tempered a bit. “Being the first to the market with something has just as many cons as it does pros,” Brian continued. “In this particular case, for a food item that hasn’t really been introduced in the States before, we knew it would require some customer education. But one of the great things about American cuisine is that our food comes from countries all over the world. And Italian restaurants typically come from a chef’s experience in Italy, or a particular brewery will exist because of the owner’s experience in a foreign country where they learned a particular craft. We feel like we have a great [base] recipe that’s robust and can handle the shipping process, but the challenge for us is doing that naturally [as we sell more product]. We could throw any artificial preservative in the world into a waffle and make it last for 30 days on a shelf or survive another day of shipping. But at the end of the day we think food, if it’s fresh, should eventually go bad.” Nutritional Notoriety While the breadth of Waffatopia’s sales and distribution does not yet require that it be governed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), meaning nutritional information does not have to appear on the packaging, the company does fit in with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, which requires all ingredients to be listed by weight in each of product produced. Additionally, as a wholesaler to Whole Foods® Market, for example, the Polizzis are subject to audits of waffle ingredients per that company’s policy of assuring its customers that all products are indeed all-natural, Andrea explained. Likewise, the Polizzis do receive related inquires from the general public, particularly when they’re working at a farmer’s market. “We have an idea as to where our waffles range in terms of calories, sugar, salt and other nutritional values,” Andrea said. “But we can’t declare that information because the FDA requires you to have your product formally tested if you’re reporting that info and printing it on your packaging. So, what we tell people, from a nutritional standpoint, is that our waffles are similar to going to your local bakery or deli and picking up a fresh bagel or muffin. They don’t have calorie counts as well. It’s a handmade process, so that realm in and of itself means there are going to be some waffles that have more or less sugar than others due to the baking process. So it does vary, but as we grow, we definitely plan to get to a point where we are individually laboratory testing all of our waffle flavors to get a better understanding of exactly where we stand. Right now, we estimate between 350-390 calories, depending on the flavor.” Until then, it’s all about ‘the story’ that’s been written thus far. |
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A Victorious Waffle and Beer Pairing In the moment, it seemed to have gone down as the standard “pitch” can tend to occur — with the customer giving a few nods of acknowledgement of the waffle tutorial’s place in his life while his soon-to-be eaten snack is being prepared. Here was Andrea Polizzi at a farmer’s market in Eagleview, PA, giving her spiel on the specialty Belgian-style waffle that serves as the cornerstone to her company Waffatopia,® which she launched along with her husband in 2013. On the receiving end of the lecture, and ultimately the waffle, was a gentleman who didn’t have much to say but certainly made an impact in how quickly he left the Polizzis stand as well as the actual venue.
“He just took, the waffle, paid for it and walked off,” she said. “Brian and I were chatting about it later, and I mentioned how the customer seemed disinterested, but a friend who had been there with us that day mentioned that the customer had left the market without going to any other vendor. It wasn’t but a couple days later that we got the call.” The call, which would dramatically impact their young business, was from an official at Victory Brewing in nearby Downingtown. He had apparently arrived at the market that day with one goal: to try one of these unique waffles he had heard about being sold by the then West Chester-based business. “He asked if we had ever thought about infusing our waffles with beer and, as it turned out, yes, we had already thought about it,” she said. Today, Andrea and Brian have an official partnership with the local brewer that includes the pairing of two beers with a pair of their waffles. “We identified the Golden Monkey and the Storm King Stout as being two really popular year-round beers that we were interested in pairing some waffles with, and they were willing to leave it up to us to develop the recipe as long as we let them try the finished product and approve of it,” Brian said. The Sweet and Stormy waffle is infused with the stout and is then blended with chocolate, lavender and Belgian pearl sugar. Monkey Spice is a waffle that really captures the essence of the Golden Monkey beer, a sweet, strong Belgian ale that features citrus and cloves. Together with the waffle, Brian says it’s their “everything but the kitchen sink” waffle, a combination of ginger, cloves, coriander, lemon grass, pink peppercorn, cinnamon and coconut. The beer-infused waffles are just a couple of the examples that this couple of former Penn State graduates who met on the Berks campus before graduating from State College have available in their waffery, which recently relocated to Conshohocken, PA. |