Richard Schmitz Food Entrepreneurship Event featuring Christine Lantinen ‘98

BY AMANDA DYSLIN

Balance was one of the most prominent themes during the 2023 Richard Schmitz Food Entrepreneurship Series flagship event, the fireside chat featuring the owners of Maud Borup seasonal and everyday sweets, snacks and food gifts.

Christine Lantinen and her husband, Randy, were on the stage of Ostrander Auditorium being interviewed by Brenda Flannery, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business, with their two children, Miia and Bishop, in the front row, as well as Richard Schmitz himself.

Questions from Dean Flannery and the audience illuminated the hard work it takes to strike the delicate balance of running a fast-growing, successful family-run business: the balance of family time and work time, the balance of not growing too fast too soon, the balance of quality control and sustainability vs. profitability within the company.

There was a lot of ground to cover in a company that skyrocketed from $100,000 in revenue to one that’s on track to surpass $50 million in sales this year.

It was good for students – and frankly, adults – to hear that even very successful entrepreneurs don’t have all the answers.

“Your work does spill into home,” Christine said.

Dr. Flannery asked them why they didn’t just reach a point where enough growth was enough? Weren’t they afraid to lose the “family feel” at a certain point?

Quoting his wife, Randy said, “You’ve got to push to grow all the time. If you stagnate it can be the kiss of death for a company.”

Similarly, they talked about growing the company to sell it, which many businesses do. But that was not the path for them.

“There are so many amazing family-owned businesses in the candy world, and we’ve found our sweet spot,” Christine said.

When the audience was invited to ask questions, a student asked what would be the one piece of advice they would give

Outside Ostrander Auditorium Maud Borup candies were being given out to attendees of the Richard Schmitz Food Entrepreneurship Series event, including 1-pound gummy bunnies, enormous gummy game controllers, and hot cocoa bombs that the company has trademarked.

Three teams of students were also giving away samples of chocolates, the flavors of which they developed themselves at a Maud Borup facility. They were competing against one another for the coveted People’s Choice Award, and while all the flavors were delicious, the winning flavor announced was from the DIY Sugar High team: strawberry and rose.