Tom Ryan, a food scientist with a master's in lipid toxicology, designed some of fast food's biggest hits: the Meat Lover's Pizza at Pizza Hut, the McGriddle at McDonald's, and Smashburger. He also created the McFlurry and stuffed-crust pizza, reshaping what millions eat.
Tom Ryan is basically the Leonardo da Vinci of calories. This is a guy who has invented some of the most iconic foods in history. The McGriddle, stuffed crust cheese pizza, Smashburger, the chain, the McFlurry. Goes to college and the girlfriend's taking a food science class, so she convinces him to take it. He goes there and immediately falls in love. He then gets a master's in something called lipid toxicology. So he goes and he gets a job at Duncan Hines. He then works at Jif and he's like pioneering a lot of their peanut butter work. And then he gets a call from Pizza Hut. He creates the Meat Lover's Pizza. He gets a call from McDonald's. He goes there and they're like, all right, Where's the opportunity? And he's like, all right, let's look at breakfast. How do we take the Denny's Grand Slam breakfast and put it in your hand?
This guy sounds like a South Park character.
So he creates the McGriddle, pops off. McGriddle becomes a huge hit. Owner of Quiznos is like, this is the guy. Forget Quiznos, let's just create a whole new concept together. And they create Smashburger together. Who has dominated their industry the way this man has dominated fast food science?
