Like a lot of people, Dan Stephenson developed a taste for macaroni and cheese at a young age, but the “blue-box variety,” as he puts it, didn’t hold his interest for long. Early on he started experimenting with adventurous flavor combinations that eventually would become the hallmark of his business, Dan’s Gourmet Mac & Cheese.
“We make mac and cheese for grown-ups. It’s for more mature palates,” says Stephenson, founder and CEO of the Nashville-based company that produces a variety of individual-size frozen “mac pacs” with ingredients like habanero garlic sausage and baby portabella mushrooms.
Stephenson, who earned a degree in economics, began selling his mac and cheese at farmers markets on weekends while working in corporate finance at Nashville’s Ingram Industries. After finding shelf space in a local store called The Produce Place, he got his big break in 2012 at a food trade show, which led to new distribution opportunities nationwide. Dan’s Gourmet products are now available in nearly 1,300 stores across 34 states, including Stop & Shop supermarkets in the Northeast, Whole Foods Markets in Northern California and the Southeast, Kroger stores along the East Coast, and Munchie Marts on Vanderbilt’s campus.
“Our mac and cheese may be higher in fat and calories than the typical product sold in places like Whole Foods,” he says, “but we don’t make any sacrifices when it comes to flavor. We use all-natural ingredients—choice meats, real vegetables, real cream, all of that.
“And let’s face it, everybody has their indulgences. That’s why we say on the website, ‘If you’re gonna cheat, cheat with us.’”
—SETH ROBERTSON