Jersey couple runs multimillion-dollar company to spread snacks around the world

A New Jersey couple is running a multimillion-dollar company that brings people snacks from around the world.

News 12 Staff

Oct 15, 2019, 2:42 AM

Updated 1,666 days ago

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A New Jersey couple is running a multimillion-dollar company that brings people snacks from around the world.
Eli Zauner and Monique Bernstein once worked for Procter and Gamble in Ohio. They met at a Mardi Gras party and connected on their interest in entrepreneurship.
"It took three months of us dating before Monique came home with a list of business ideas,” says Zauner.
It wasn't long before they came up with the idea for Universal Yums. Creating boxes of snacks from different countries and sending them to subscribers each month. Bernstein says at the start, they each invested $4,000 into the business.
The couple started by packing boxes in their apartment. The first monthly box that they sent out was snacks from Germany in 2014. Now the boxes are packed in a 21,000-square foot warehouse in Parsippany.
The two moved the business to New Jersey to be near a major seaport. Zauner says they will ship about 1 million boxes this year.
“It's about 88% in the United States and the remaining 12% is between Canada, Australia, the UK and Israel,” says Zauner.
This month’s box has snacks from Austria. November’s box will be snacks from Spain.
Zauner says during their first full year in business, they made $700,000 in revenue. This year they are projected to make $21 million.
The couple will soon move the business into a 48,000-square foot warehouse in Roseland. The couple also plans to get married in May.


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