Chef Erik Oberholtzer's Transition from Tender Greens to a Creative Agency featured image
Food

Chef Erik Oberholtzer's Transition from Tender Greens to a Creative Agency

In a strategic move, Cohere has brought on Chef Erik Oberholtzer, recognizing that his extensive culinary expertise and entrepreneurial success offer invaluable insights into brand development and creative strategy, while Erik joins the agency to leverage his passion for mentorship and innovation in guiding the next generation of food entrepreneurs.

Having Erik join our team is both a privilege and a no-brainer. Food is an essential part of bringing people together, and it’s been a space that Cohere has built expertise during our history. As an agency, we are evolving into not just branding client projects, but now advising them in their growth opportunities. Erik’s partnership helps us speak the same language as the food world, bringing a unique value of uniting stakeholders from the local to the global level.

However, this evolution may come as a shock to some, so we wanted to address it head-on with an exclusive Q&A with the man himself.

Erik Oberholtzer built Tender Greens to 34 locations before selling it to Danny Meyer.

As co-founder of Tender Greens, Erik was part of the pioneering team who brought faster, healthier food options to the culinary landscape before “fast casual” was even a term. The brand's growth and scaling journey has been an example of strategy well played. Tender Greens represents Erik’s voice; with chef-led, craveable menu items served with a genuine smile and authentic brand experience. He and his team grew to 29+ locations under his leadership, earning one of the best partners in the business when they did a deal with Danny Meyer in 2015. Most recently he stepped aside from the CEO role to focus on food system innovations at scale.

Erik's goal is to guide the next gen of food founders.

"Building Tender Greens from an idea to a national brand absorbed the past fifteen years of my life. With the company now in the capable hands of a new leadership team, I have time to guide the next generation of entrepreneurs through the headwinds of growth. My focus is to help conscious entrepreneurs achieve their holistic goals at scale. Cohere’s strength in aligning stakeholders around a common vision and relating that vision to key audiences is a perfect complement to my skills and experience. My life’s dedication to using food as an agent of positive change in the world lives organically with Cohere’s world view. Together, I believe we can make an incredible impact on the lives of founders, their teams and everyone they touch." - Erik Oberholtzer

Erik Oberholtzer in the LATimes on his roadmap for scaling to 30+ locations
“The timing is vital to help solve some of our restauranteurs problems at a higher level.”

By working with young brands led by conscious founders, I believe we can help transform people’s relationship with food towards healthier lifestyles and a better planet. If I can help brands align their values with their everyday practices, then we all win. But sometimes we need to solve for pragmatic and everyday challenges too, such as advising P&Ls, food costs and how to manage outdated business models. My impact when working with growing food brands and their founders is about ensuring the longevity of their brand with the long view in mind.

Erik is known for his "Ten Year Plan," which was the roadmap for scaling to 25+ locations. He is now delivering this to other independent, smaller founders.


Erik: TYP or Ten Year Plan is another way of “taking the long view”. For Tender Greens, we were clear from the beginning that we planned to build a 30 unit California brand over the course of a decade. A brand founded and lead by chefs. Chefs with an intense commitment to local ingredients aligned with our sensibilities. Chefs who honored the lessons of refined technique to create crave-able food for daily enjoyment. As I contemplated my next TYP I wrote it in the form of a New York Times article. In ten years what would I want a New York Times profile on me and my work to sound like? When a person or brand has clarity on this “true north,” then it all comes down to tactics and execution. That is the hard part.

Erik teaching a Food Forever class in Costa Rica for the Crop Trust
When I begin work with founders I ask two questions. The first is – “What would you like the New York Times headline on you and your brand to say?”

By writing this article on your future successful self/brand you set the intentions of your WHY? or true north and HOW? or the Google Maps to get there.

I then ask for a journal entry. This is the founder’s mind dump. What keeps you up at night? What gets you out of bed in the morning? What plays over and over again in that monkey brain of ambition, fear, anxiety, passion, and impulse during your commute? All of that shared in a cathartic journal entry to gauge where you are at today. Then we link the two with strategy, tactics and what I call founder’s therapy. The rest is execution.

Why Erik Chose to Join an Agency:
Coming back to “Why Cohere?” Antoinette and her team are filled with youthful energy, digital nativism and a clear connection to the culture now emerging with intense influence. I represent the tail end of the previous class of influence. My wisdom, experience, and analog romanticism married to Cohere’s talent in the story, connection, and stakeholder cohesion fills me with optimism for a better future. Together we can help brands and institutions achieve their full potential and build healthier communities along the way.