It’s New Orleans: Out to Lunch

Hosted ByPeter Ricchiuti

Tulane University A.B. Freeman School of Business finance professor Peter Ricchiuti holds court over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. Peter's lunch guests are New Orleans business people, from startups to CEO's, from artists to tech entrepreneurs, musicians to movers-and-shakers. New Orleans is on everybody's list as a great place to party but it's also on many lists of the best place to start a business. Peter's deeply knowledgable and equally levity-laden approach to business conversation neatly makese sense of the Crescent City's contradictions.

Coffee ‘n Cola – Out to Lunch – It’s New Orleans

There’s an old saying about how to be successful in business – “Build a better mousetrap.” Meaning find a product everybody wants and do it better. Peter’s guests on Out to Lunch today have come up with new variations of products that enjoy massive worldwide popularity. Soft drinks and coffee.

geoffrey meeker, peter ricchiuti

Geoffrey Meeker has a little yellow truck you might have seen around town delivering his French Truck Coffee.

roy nelson

And Roy Nelson has a truck that he drives around town delivering his Fest Cola.

Fest Cola and French Truck Coffee are great examples of the better mousetrap theory – but things aren’t as simple as they were when we were apparently overrun by mice. Today a new product comes up against a myriad of obstacles – from shelf space to branding – and in this case a market dominated by Coca Cola and Starbucks.

rene brunet

In the You Heard It Here First segment of the show, Renet Brunet punts his plans for Cafe 821 Livre, a delivery service from his Cafe 821 in the CBD. Hear a longer conversation about Cafe 180 Livre here.

out to lunch

All the photos on this page were taken at Commander’s Palace by Chet Overall.

It's Bougie baby
Realtor Tracey Moore