- March 28, 2024
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Former Outback Steakhouse executive David Osterweil is preparing his business, Tampa-based Fitlife Foods, for a level of serious growth backed by a prominent group of area investors.
The group, with an investment into the millions, includes Stuart Lasher, former chairman of Tampa-based Lifestyle Family Fitness; Bahram Akradi, founder and CEO of suburban Minneapolis-based Life Time Fitness; and well-connected Tampa entrepreneur and philanthropist Bob Gries with Gries Investment Fund. Keenan and Hannibal Baldwin of Tampa-based Baldwin Beach Capital, a private equity fund that operates Yogurtology frozen yogurt stores in Florida, are also part of the investor group.
Fitlife's five Tampa-area stores sell healthy made-from-scratch prepared meals, snacks and drinks. Osterweil, with the goal of making good food convenient, founded Fitlife in 2011. He and his wife sold their stocks and investments and obtained a Small Business Administration loan with their house for collateral to get funding in the early going. (See Business Observer, Aug. 30, 2012.)
The stores, including locations in Carrollwood, south Tampa and St. Petersburg, have since built a solid following and customer base. The success also attracted the deep-pocketed group of investors, who plan to help Osterweil with expansion throughout Tampa and into new markets. “Fitlife Foods is a business opportunity that presents tremendous growth potential in this market and throughout the country,” Lasher says in the statement.
Fitlife recently announced plans to open its first franchise location, in Brandon this summer. The firm also serves dozens of companies in the Tampa area with corporate wellness and prepared meals catering.