Adding some sizzle: How one alumna is growing a beloved brand through ETA

When Lis Settimi ’98 MBA acquired seasoning brand Char Crust in 2020, she wasn’t just buying a business — she was stepping into a legacy. The Chicago-based spice-maker traces its roots to Al Farber’s, a beloved local steakhouse where, starting in 1957, chefs used a signature dry-rub seasoning to create a flavorful crust that “sealed in the juices.” After the restaurant closed, demand for the seasoning lived on, eventually evolving into a retail and foodservice brand with a cult following among chefs and home cooks alike.

For Settimi, a seasoned brand builder with experience at Peet’s Coffee, Brita and The Bar Method, Char Crust offered the perfect blend of heritage and untapped potential. Rather than launching a startup from scratch, she turned to entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA), a model where entrepreneurs buy and grow existing businesses—a path that allowed her to apply her strengths in scaling and storytelling to a product with proven appeal. 

Here, she shares what students interested in ETA need to know and how she’s growing the company into a national brand while staying true to its roots.

Trace for us your career after your MBA. What drew you to ETA?

After graduating from Kellogg, I went into CPG because I wanted that strong general management experience. Later, I stepped into an entrepreneurial venture: I was the largest national franchisee for The Bar Method, bringing it from San Francisco to Chicago. That business was similar to Char Crust in that it was a proven concept that hadn’t yet reached its full potential.

After exiting The Bar Method, when I was ready to move on, I didn’t necessarily want to start something from scratch. I’ve realized I’m best at identifying businesses that are ready for a big growth phase, not seed-stage startups or mature companies that just need maintaining. ETA was a great fit because it let me find something proven but still full of untapped potential.

How did you discover Char Crust, and what made it stand out?

It’s kind of funny. Char Crust came to me through a LinkedIn post. I put out a message saying, “I’m a businessperson looking for these specific kinds of opportunities. Let me know if you hear of anything.” A few leads came in, and one of them was this seasoning company. 

When I met the original owners and heard the story — how it started in a steakhouse, how chefs insisted on taking the seasoning with them to their next restaurant gigs — I started to get it.

Then I learned Disney had used it on their menus for 30 years, and big operators like Lettuce Entertain You and Levy Restaurants were longtime customers. And when I checked the Amazon reviews to see what home cooks were saying, people raved about it. 

I always say that when I Char Crust, it had a small but devoted group of followers, chefs and home cooks alike. It didn’t seem like a big leap to turn that into a large, devoted group.

How do you balance honoring Char Crust’s legacy with driving innovation and growth?

Our history of being loved and trusted by chefs has been a real asset. It helps us say that this is a product with a legacy, and now we’re making it more widely available to home cooks and more chefs. In today’s market, people are looking for products with a story, and that element has been so helpful in building trust and excitement as we grow.

What do you see as the biggest lever for Char Crust’s future growth?

People often ask about new products, and I always say we already have 12 flavors that most people don’t even know about! For us, innovation means entering new channels, building new partnerships and rethinking how we present the product.

Take e-commerce, for example. It hadn’t been a strong channel for us before, but once we started packaging our products in a way that made sense to consumers — like a roasting pack, a wings pack, a grilling pack — it really took off. 

We’ve also been thinking a lot about how we show up in retail. People who care about high-quality proteins are usually shopping at the meat counter, not the spice aisle. So, we created a small display that sits right on the meat counter itself. It’s about helping people understand what the product is, how it’s different, and making sure it’s in the right place at the right time.

What’s the most common question you get from students interested in ETA?

The number one question I get is: “How did you find the company?” That’s the hardest part of the search process. If someone is doing a traditional search fund, they might have a bigger group of investors, maybe even an intern, and they’re running a more structured outreach process. But for people doing a self-funded or smaller search, which I’m hearing a lot more about lately, it’s much less linear. There’s no playbook.

Lately, I’ve also been getting a lot of questions about how I financed the acquisition. I used an SBA loan, which at the time felt a little unusual, but now I think more people are seriously considering it. There are more SBA lenders now, and they’ve worked to streamline things. It’s out there, and it’s doable.

How do you advise students who are curious about ETA but unsure if it’s the right fit?

I always start by asking what about ETA intrigues them, and what they actually want to spend their time doing day to day. That’s such an important piece.

But the number one thing I recommend is reading the Harvard Business Review book “Think Big, Buy Small.” It’s short, but incredibly helpful. Most people have a strong reaction to it. Either they say, “Oh my gosh, I want to do this,” or, “Hmm, maybe not.” I tell students, if you read it and feel genuinely excited, then go for it. But if you’re feeling hesitant or unsure, it might be better to explore other paths first and revisit ETA later on.

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