Blended With Pride, Confidence and Vegetables: Meet Chris Nessen '78

Chris Nessen ’78, of Beverly, Massachusetts, earned his bachelor’s degree in business with a minor in marketing. While attending school, Nessen was also working at a restaurant as a waiter and a line cook. During the 80s, he went back to school for a culinary degree. Once he graduated with his culinary degree, he went on to start his own businesses within the food industry. Some of his business ventures included Kettle Cuisine and Meninno Brothers Gourmet Foods. Nessen eventually sold these businesses, but he still had a passion for the food industry and wanted to make a difference. That difference was his take on a healthy, yet delicious, burger called Blended Burgers.

Blended Burgers are made up of meat and vegetables. Nessen claimed that some parents referred to it as “sneaky vegetables” since the burgers were so well received and enjoyed by children. These burgers were sold to many different colleges and universities. What inspired Nessen to produce this fun, healthy version of the average burger? Simply put, it was a trip to the grocery store.

Nessen was at a grocery store one afternoon when he saw a family whose grocery cart was full of unhealthy items. A young boy grabbed a bag of grapes and wanted to put it in the carriage that was already overloaded with only junk food.

“Everyone shunned him and shot him away and said, ‘no, no, no, you put that junk back.’ That really impacted me, seeing young kids that are facing this type of issue. They want to eat better, there's a big problem with childhood diabetes and child obesity, and I thought, we need to make a big difference here,” says Nessen.

From that moment on, it was his mission to ensure that children and families eat healthier in a much more appealing way.

His company, Grateful Market, was the first company to introduce this type of burger to the food service industry in 2004. During the beginning stages of COVID, there was a lot of lost business within the industry. Even though Nessen had to battle that obstacle, he persevered. His company is thriving as it was before COVID, despite the pandemic still in effect [at the time of this wrting]. Nessen says students who are interested in working in the food industry should know that it's a difficult industry, yet highly rewarding. From an entrepreneurial perspective, he advises that students do their research.

“Do a lot of homework based on what you want to do if you’re going to jump into the industry and start a company," suggests Nessen. "You need to know your subjects and your topic really well. Be prepared and don’t be afraid to reach out to people like myself or someone else you have as a mentor to talk to. It’s glamorous, it can really pull you in, but it also can fool you, and really hurt you if you’re not careful.”

Nessen says he owes a lot of his success to SNHU and his professors. However, during his time at SNHU, he struggled with confidence.

“In this world of business, when you sit at the top, it's hard to keep the confidence moving forward. You need to have confidence,” says Nessen. Confidence is key in order to become successful in the food industry since it can be a very demanding industry to work in. Nessen is still working hard in the food industry and is making positive changes to the world every day.

Since graduating from Southern New Hampshire University, one thing that Nessen found incredibly valuable was learning the importance of listening.

"I was really pushed by a couple of [my] college professors about listening," he reflects. "I think it has a lot to do with their background and where they came from. They came from business, and I tried to live my life like that. It's humbling. You always want to be babbling along and spouting everything you can do, but I think the best thing you can do is listen. If everyone listened a little bit more, [the world] could be a better place.”

When Nessen was asked what it meant to him to be an alumnus of SNHU, he said, “Proud. That’s the biggest word I could say that I’m very proud to be an alumnus. The college, when I was going there, was very small. They survived, weathered and grew. So that shows me that, as an education organization, they have flexibility to be able to move with the times. I see these advertisements of people receiving their diplomas and they're learning online and that’s just such a different, wonderful thing to have and I'm proud to be part of that, I really am,” says Nessen.

Nessen is continuing to work hard every day and be the change in the food service industry. His current and newest product line – burger sliders! Grateful Market products are sold in stores including Hannaford, Shaws and Whole Foods. Learn more about Grateful Market and Blended Burgers.