Ben Pasternak
At just 19, Ben Pasternak co-founded “Simulate”, the company behind the plant-based chicken nugget substitute “Nuggs”. Ben saw problems in the food industry that he knew he could solve. The problem he recognized was that many people enjoy chicken nuggets, but there are health, environmental, and ethical concerns to their consumption. With that, he saw an issue, but also an opportunity. In response, he built a chicken nugget alternative that had huge appeal. By using a “texturized pea-protein technology,” he created an amazing plant-based alternative to the beloved comfort food of chicken nuggets. “Simulate” aimed to simulate the crunch, flavor, and familiarity of traditional nuggets, but with major health and environmental benefits. This was an especially smart area of the food market to attack because generations have grown up loving chicken nuggets. One of the reasons people have moved away from eating them is because the general trend of society is moving towards seeking healthier alternatives to childhood favorites, due to in hindsight, people realizing that the chicken nuggets of their youth were very harmful to their bodies. “Nuggs” capitalizes on this trend by filling the need for a healthier chicken nugget option
I find Ben’s journey inspiring because he shows how entrepreneurial thinking can bring innovation even in extremely well-established industries like food. With all the successful variations of chicken nuggets, there is a temptation to think that everything that can be done with chicken nuggets has been done. Or maybe that there is no sense in trying to compete with big brands that already have a fixed market share. Ben Pasternak is not intimidated by any of this, and instead, found his niche through innovation and a willingness to take risks. With the relentless pursuit of his vision, he not only found a new way to make a substitute for chicken nuggets, but also found a way solve a need and find success for his innovative business.
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This is a great idea by Ben to find a trend in people moving towards a healthier lifestyle and use a substitue for a generally unhealthy food such as a chicken nuggets and make ‘nuggs’ which would accompany the healthy trend.
A wonderful display of finding a niche that few people think of but still needs to be filled. Bravo to him for thinking of such a niche use for the invention. Though, are we certain he didn’t get the idea from a sci fi book? (Im joking)
This idea is very impressive and innovative. As someone who tries to eat healthy this idea is great and would be an amazing healthy substitute for a traditionally unhealthy food like chicken nuggets.
This is a great blog post. As a person who puts effort into eating healthy, this is very useful. Not only that, but Ben Pasternak showcases what an entrepreneur should be capable of as he uses what society deems as a good, such as chicken nuggets, and improves the capabilities of them.