The company behind one of the country’s most recognizable Italian restaurants wants to change the way people grocery shop. Major Food Group, the hospitality powerhouse behind Carbone and Sadelle’s, is entering the grocery business for the first time, backing a new gourmet market in Miami that promises more than the usual milk, eggs, and produce.
Wilder Market & Kitchen, a nearly 8,000-square-foot space, is set to open in Midtown Miami this fall, combining a full-service grocery store with a cafe and chef-prepared meals from the team behind Michelin-starred Los Félix and Krüs Kitchen. The market will carry approximately 4,000 products, from pantry staples and fresh produce to grass-fed beef, pasture-raised poultry, and responsibly sourced seafood.
For Major Food Group, which operates more than 50 restaurants and hospitality concepts worldwide, the partnership marks its first investment in a business outside its own operations. The company, founded by Mario Carbone, Jeff Zalaznick, and Rich Torrisi, is joining Wilder as a founding investor and strategic adviser, helping shape the market’s operations and potential expansion.
“We’ve spent our careers building places people return to, and the neighborhood market is one of the oldest, most enduring versions of that idea,” Carbone said in a statement. “We don’t put our name behind things lightly, but we believe in this team and in what they’re building with Wilder.”
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Wilder founder and CEO Danielle Axman said that same emphasis on creating a memorable customer experience made Major Food Group an ideal partner.
“I wanted to build Wilder with people who understand that the experience matters just as much as the product,” Axman told Inc. “Major Food Group has built some of the most recognized restaurant brands in the world, and they understand how to create places people want to return to.”
Axman, a Miami entrepreneur who previously worked on the founding team of canned wine brand BABE Rosé and served as chief of staff at SoulCycle, came up with the idea for Wilder after becoming a mother. She found herself spending hours researching ingredients, reading labels, and visiting farms to understand where her family’s food came from. Even after making multiple stops for groceries and prepared meals, she struggled to find food that met her standards and tasted good.