Simon Gabriel SEBS’21 owns Sunny Meal Club, in Paris, France.
The new Rutgers Alumni-Owned Business Marketplace connects alumni online. From a Parisian caterer to a Newark cafe, the recently launched marketplace champions businesses from across the globe.
“The launch of the marketplace of Rutgers alumni-owned businesses is an exciting development for all Rutgers alumni,” says Scott Owens, Rutgers associate vice president for alumni engagement. “We are thrilled to be able to foster more connections among alumni and create a thriving community of alumni businesses.”
Rutgers alumni event in Paris in February 2026.
Paris resident and Rutgers Ag and Food Economics graduate Simon Gabriel SEBS’21 added his catering business, Sunny Meal Club, to the marketplace when it first opened earlier this year. Businesses anywhere in the world owned by alumni from all Rutgers campuses are welcome to join.
“It builds on my existing Rutgers network and provides a space where alumni can support one another, professionally and personally,” says Gabriel, who catered a Rutgers alumni event in Paris in February.
“For small businesses, especially like mine, it provides credibility, visibility, and a trusted community connection that can lead to collaborations, partnerships, and loyal customers.”
Many alumni business owners say their experience at Rutgers inspired them to become entrepreneurs and, in many cases, helped prepare them for success.
“My time at Rutgers University shaped my professional path by showing me that there are many more options within the food system other than farming and cooking, which is what I was doing before I got there,” says Gabriel, who grew up in Princeton.
“Studying food systems taught me to think holistically about business, sustainability, and community. It ultimately influenced my decision to build a business centered around food, hospitality, and bringing people together.”
Gabriel says he recalls grafting hazelnut root stock and scions in Associate Professor Thomas Molnar’s horticulture class at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. He relocated to France for love. “I moved to Paris because I ended up marrying a French woman whom I met at the farm I was working at in New Jersey and we have been together ever since,” he says. She was doing a volunteer program at the farm in the summer of 2017.
The marketplace features many long-term businesses like Thomas Sweet in New Brunswick, owned by Michael and Jennifer Schnurr, both 1987 New Brunswick graduates, the Asbury Park Brewery owned by Bob McLynn LC ’94, as well as some new businesses.
Simon Gabriel SEBS’21, third from left, and the team that catered the Rutgers alumni event in Paris, France, in February 2026.
This article is extracted from a longer story that first appeared on the Rutgers University Foundation website.
