UTSA College of Business alumni create a business to reduce food waste in schools.
(May 2, 2018) - A UTSA business course led to a friendship and business partnership for two alumni.
Matthew Galvan ’16 met Miles Lerch ’16 during their junior year in a UTSA College of Business course about entrepreneurship. In the course, the undergraduates were assigned to create their own business.
The two initially wanted to create a food delivery service for college campuses. While reading up on meal prep programs and the food industry, though, they realized food waste is a serious problem. That sparked a new business idea.
Their research revealed that food waste is a challenge many schools in Texas face. Galvan learned that some school cafeterias throw away up to $200,000 worth of food annually.
The UTSA class project sparked an ingenuity inside Galvan and Lerch and, after talking it over, several ideas molded together to become their current start-up, CafeEDU.
The business offers students the opportunity to pre-select their lunch items through a phone app. The order is sent to the school so cafeteria staff know just how much food is needed to feed the students at lunchtime. The data also allows the school to see how food is being used and what is being ordered.
Galvan said so far, the business has received great feedback. The duo has presented their app to school administrators and is in talks to roll out their business in school districts across Texas.
Galvan said UTSA finance courses instructed by Ronald Sweet have come into handy as he and Lerch navigate running a business for the first time.
“UTSA prepared me and taught me how to think outside of the box, and think of different ways of doing things,” said Galvan. “I learned how to think on your feet and adapt if things don’t go as planned.”
Galvan reiterated that the world needs more entrepreneurs, and he encourages other students to chase their business dreams.
“You’re going to have to keep trying and tweaking your business plan to make it work,” said Galvan. “If you have an idea, ask yourself: ‘Does it help someone? Does it solve a problem?’ If you answer ‘yes’ to both, you have a business.”
Galvan said he and Lerch created their business to give back. Their hope is that the money schools save from reducing food waste can be used in better ways by going toward important educational programs to help students succeed.
Through their business, Galvan and Lerch are also involved in community outreach activities. They regularly give back to various food banks in Texas.
Learn more about UTSA College of Business.
Learn more about CafeEDU.
Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Covidence is a systematic & scoping review tool used to streamline the process of screening and reviewing articles. Using this software, research teams can easily import studies, perform automatic deduplication, and extract data using templates. This workshop will show attendees how to start a review in Covidence, add collaborators, and get started on screening.
Virtual (Zoom)In this workshop, attendees will be introduced to Pandas, a Python tool for working with data easily. It makes it simple to organize and analyze information when data is organized and categorized, like spreadsheets or tables.
Group Spot B, John Peace LibraryEach fall and spring semester, students convene at the Main Campus at UTSA with booths, ideas and prototypes. A crowd of judges, local organizations, students, faculty and sponsors walk around and talk to the students about their projects and ask questions. Students get the real-life experience of "pitching" their project with hopes of getting funding or support to move to the next level.
UTSA Convocation Center, Main CampusJoin the doctoral candidates for the Doctoral Conferreal Ceremony and celebrate their accomplishments.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusCelebrate the graduates from the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
AlamodomeCelebrate the graduates from the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
AlamodomeThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
