Fitlife Foods Opens In Tampa, 8-10 New Jobs

Before opening Fitlife Foods in south Tampa, David Osterweil worked in the restaurant business at the corporate level and was always looking for ways to improve business. One day he was flipping through fitness magazines looking at yummy healthy recipes, when he started to think about how many people don't have time to do the grocery shopping and prepare these healthy meals. So he set out to find a solution.

"Fitlife Foods is all about healthy prepared food that is always fresh, never frozen," says Osterweil, owner of Fitlife Foods. "People can come to our store and pick up a meal for a day, a few days or become a member of our meal plan. All of the food is prepared from scratch on-site, packaged and ready to go."

In addition to healthy meals, the store offers tools to living a healthy lifestyle.

"Our 21-day challenge is a jump-start program for weight-loss and a healthier way of living," Osterweil says. "It's not a diet; people meet with our wellness coach, get their baseline measurements and eat our meals for 21 days. We have had people lose between five and 20 pounds in the 21-day challenge."

Fitlife Foods opened in February and, according to Osterweil, has been successful to the point that he needs to hire more staff.

"We plan to hire eight to 10 additional team members by the end of 2011," Osterweil says. "We will be hiring another wellness coach, people for food prep, line cooks and qualified individuals to grow into leadership roles. We also plan to open up more locations in the Tampa area."

Staying in the Tampa area is important to Osterweil. "I'm a fourth-generation Tampa native," he says. "Tampa has always been home to me, so it was important that the store open here."

Writer: Kimberly Patterson
Source: David Osterweil, Fitlife Foods