Louisville, Kentucky | Indianapolis, Indiana | Cincinnati, Ohio – Endeavor Midwest welcomes Ron Turnier, the CEO of What Chef’s Want, to the Board of Directors in the Midwest. Ron will support the next generation of high-impact founders across Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio as an Endeavor board member.
“Endeavor is thrilled that Ron is joining our board,” said Founding Endeavor Managing Director, Jackson Andrews. “Ron, along with his wife Mollie, are fantastic entrepreneurs in their own right – building and scaling their business, What Chef’s Want, and now paying it forward to the next generation of entrepreneurs by joining the board. Ron will be a fantastic resource to the entrepreneurs we support across the Midwest – and globally.”
About Ron Turnier
Ron is President of Creation Gardens / What Chefs Want! Having started 25 years ago by buying a one employee and one minivan operation, the company is now revolutionizing foodservice by uniting the industry’s leading experts of the most challenging product lines to bring the highest quality products to customers daily – with portioned cases, no minimums and 24/7 customer service. This value proposition has proven disruptive in the industry and is very hard to replicate.
Early on, Ron had a vision to get into all the product lines that present the most challenges and where we could use technology and culture drivers to be the best: Produce (specialty and local), Butchered meats, Seafood, Gourmet Products, Dairy, To-Go Packaging and a Backup line of restaurant staples are lines that have those challenges. “With these lines we also provide four services that are highly valued, yet rarely offered. We deliver seven days a week, we break cases on nearly everything, we have no order minimums, and our customer service office is open 24/7. Add our culture of responsiveness and every customer problem is given attention to the best of our ability every day!” says Turnier. This combination of product lines and services offers a unique value proposition that is enhanced by constantly living up to our moniker and asking, “What do Chefs Want?”
Today, the company serves over 16,000 restaurants across 16 states. We leverage class leading technology to operate a very efficient Hub and Spoke business model while offering over 6,000 products.
“I am honored to joining the board alongside so many talented entrepreneurs and engaged professionals. The Endeavor mission is the perfect fit for how I would like to give back and hopefully make a difference. I look forward to joining the team to help our community prosper through the development of the entrepreneur!” said Ron Turnier.
“Ron will make an outstanding addition and we are thrilled to have him on board. His knowledge and experience from scaling his own business will serve our entrepreneurs and organization well,” said Matt Thornton, Chairman of Endeavor Midwest.
About Endeavor
Endeavor is the world’s leading community of high-growth entrepreneurs. Founded in 1997, Endeavor unlocks the transformational power of entrepreneurship by selecting, supporting, and investing in the world’s top founders to help them achieve large-scale growth. Today, Endeavor’s network spans over 40 countries and supports more than 2,000 entrepreneurs, whose companies generate combined revenues of over $42 billion, employ more than 3.4 million people, and, in 2020, raised over $4 billion in capital including from Endeavor Catalyst, our rules based venture capital fund. Endeavor’s unique entrepreneur-first model, peer-to-peer community, and trust-based network provides a platform and resources for founders to dream big, scale up, and pay it forward to the next generation. In 2015, an Endeavor office was launched in Louisville, Kentucky as one of the first in the U.S. Our office supports Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio entrepreneurs. Learn more at www.endeavor.org
