Dohmen Acquires Milwaukee-based Focused Fork
Sees Healthy Food as Most Effective Lifestyle Disease Intervention
By Kathy Koshgarian
Milwaukee, WI. Dec. 10, 2019 – CEO Cynthia (Dohmen) LaConte announced today that Dohmen has acquired Milwaukee-based Focused Fork, a personalized whole-foods preparation and distribution business.
“We are on a mission to revitalize people and communities using food as the primary intervention,” said Foundation President Dale Mittelstaedt. “Having Focused Fork join us is one of several strategic steps we’re taking as we build a comprehensive offering to help flip our nation’s health paradigm from treatment of symptoms to prevention of illness.”
“Our decision to exit the pharmaceutical industry in 2018 was largely based on the fact that treating disease is not solving our country’s core health problems,” said LaConte. “Today, the U.S. spends over $3.5 trillion annually on healthcare–more than any other country--yet we just keep getting sicker. Heart disease has become the leading cause of death in the U.S. with 650,000 people dying from it annually. There’s a well researched connection between the rise in our nation’s consumption of fat, sugar and salt and the rising incidence of preventable disease. Our goal is to define a new way of delivering health. ”
Focused Fork Founder Chef Karen Gill says her team is in complete alignment with Dohmen’s goals. “We hear directly from our customers that our healthy food choices have improved their lives and their overall health. We’re excited to play a role in Dohmen’s larger effort to address our country’s major health issues with its focus starting right here in Milwaukee.”
“As individuals and as a country, we can’t keep ignoring the toll lifestyle diseases are taking on our personal health, and on our nation’s economy.” said LaConte. “High-cost prescriptions and procedures are not the answer to treating preventable disease, and merely negotiating lower costs for them is not the answer to our country’s health care cost crisis. A return to healthy food is the most efficient, effective and easy to use intervention for impacting the health of our communities, and the people within them. As a foundation owned enterprise with generations of healthcare experience, we believe we’re in a unique position to bring a new solution to market.” concludes LaConte.