How Did Chicago’s Eastman Egg Become an Overnight Success?

The concept for Chicago’s Eastman Egg Company started with a simple idea from founder & CEO Hunter Swartz: “Create a farm-to-table breakfast sandwich that people can enjoy, regardless of if they have 5 or 45 minutes.”

But Hunter wasn’t always focused on sourcing locally sustainable farm fresh egg sandwiches to the masses. Prior to launching Eastman Egg in 2012, Swartz was a finance guru, previously working at the bank: Goldman Sachs.

“Before Eastman Egg, I had never even worked in a restaurant. But the idea struck me when I lived in San Francisco. It was difficult to find a decent and convenient breakfast sandwich. I always just ended up having cold cereal.”

It wasn’t until he dropped out of Chicago’s Booth School of Business though, that he turned his vision into a reality, diving headfirst into crafting the ideal breakfast sandwich — in lieu of pursuing his MBA.

“Finance was never my passion. I wanted to create and build something.”

In his first 15 months of launching Eastman Egg, Swartz was operating out of a food truck and was the first griddle cook.

Now, only a few years after launching, they are partners with Postmates and have three physical store fronts.

“Ultimately, we want to meet the customer wherever they are. Not everyone can always come to our stores. And Postmates allows us to meet the customer anywhere, expanding our footprint.”

Swartz also said that his recipe for success is far more simple then one might imagine. “Our success is a combination of great food, great people, and great technology… amazing things can happen when you have locally sourced, fresh ingredients too. It doesn’t take much!”

To celebrate the partnership, we’re delivering free egg sandwiches today! If you’re in Chicago, find the Eastman Egg store in-app & place your order.