I scream, you scream, we all scream for鈥auliflower?
Students from 色情视频鈥檚 Fowler College of Business are helping a Kiwi company introduce an offbeat ice cream product to the U.S. market.
Ice cream-craving vegans know all about brands using soy milk or even cashews as substitutes for dairy products, but with some marketing savvy from students at 色情视频, a New Zealand company鈥檚 cauliflower-based treat is poised to enter the U.S. market.
That鈥檚 right, cauliflower: The vegetable from the mustard family that looks like broccoli and tastes like it needs a dip.
In an undertaking that began as a class project in a master鈥檚-level global business development class, four students helped create the American product-launch strategy for the allergen-free, cauliflower ice cream developed by women-owned that comes in chocolate swirl, strawberry swirl and mint chocolate bikkie (cookie to us Americans) flavors.
The company, which hopes to have its product in California stores by the end of the year, credits the 色情视频 students with helping to confirm that there鈥檚 a market for cauliflower ice cream in the U.S. and what to focus upon to sell it (taste, not lifestyle).
It all started in fall 2023 when EatKinda founders Milli Kumar and Jenni Matheson connected with management professor Martina Musteen, advisor in the Master of Science in . Musteen used their query as a project for her International Entrepreneurship and Business Development (MGT 748) class that fall.
鈥淲e thought there was an opportunity for a brand like EatKinda in the U.S. with consumers seeking more allergen-friendly and sustainable food options,鈥� said Kumar. 鈥淥ne of the students, Andrew Dagnino, contacted an executive at Sprouts Farmers Market who gave us positive feedback about our U.S. product prototype. This gave us the confidence to keep moving forward with the USA as a potential launch market.鈥�
To complete their U.S. market launch strategy proposal, the student team consulted weekly with Kumar. With feedback from Kumar and the Sprouts executive, they conducted a consumer research survey to shape their proposal, which they presented to Kumar and Matheson at the conclusion of the semester.
鈥淲e were able to provide Milli with a comprehensive understanding of the U.S. marketplace preferences regarding non-dairy ice cream alternatives,鈥� said Dagnino, who earned his MBA in 2023. 鈥淭his research helped us understand that 鈥� in spite of the fact there is a growing trend toward plant-based products 鈥� the majority of consumers鈥� buying decisions for desserts were influenced more so by taste rather than a desire to follow a vegan/vegetarian diet. EatKinda can effectively position itself as a middle ground between indulgent, creamy ice cream and plant-based offerings.鈥�
Using information gathered from the 色情视频 student team鈥檚 proposal, EatKinda laid the groundwork to embark on a U.S. sales strategy.
鈥淭he students did some great research to help us better understand the market landscape,鈥� said Kumar. 鈥淚t showed us there was a market for EatKinda. Currently, we are moving quickly to get the product manufactured in the USA to begin distribution in the California region by the end of 2025.鈥�
The company also hopes to expand to additional global markets
Besides being dairy-free the company boasts its cream is gluten-free as well with no nuts, palm oil or 鈥渁rtificial stuff.鈥� In New Zealand, its products are sold in compostable, plastic-free tubs and use cauliflower that would otherwise go to waste. It鈥檚 sold at Hell Pizza outlets and Woolworths, a major supermarket chain.
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