Photo caption:听UC Product and Innovation Master鈥檚 student Emma Arvidson, won the Kiwinet Momentum Student Entrepreneur Award. 听
Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha | 九州影院 (UC) Product and Innovation Master鈥檚 student Emma Arvidson last night received the Kiwinet Momentum Student Entrepreneur Award听for her product. 听
Emma was meant to hop on a plane to Australia in 2020 to continue her already successful makeup business after leaving high school to pursue it, however her flight was cancelled on the day due to covid restrictions.听听
This led her to pivot back to an earlier plan, during her time in high school a UC recruiter visited her school and mentioned the chemical formulation design degree, for Emma this was perfect. 鈥淚 have a very mathematical and scientific mind but also have a strong creative streak 鈥 this degree combined everything I loved.鈥澨
Emma switched to drinking oat milk for sustainability, however the small amount she wanted created another problem, 鈥淚 was throwing away a half full tetra pack per week because I only wanted a small amount for coffee, which just isn鈥檛 sustainable鈥. So, she set out to solve this problem through her capstone project, which aimed to bridge the gap between the benefits of dairy and sustainability of oats.听听
This idea led to her receiving a scholarship for the University Centre for Entrepreneurship (UCE) Summer Startup programme, and Emma and co-founder Renee Tauwhare could now see how Teiny might become a possibility.听听
鈥淚nitially I worked with a lecturer who worked for Fonterra. We were buying oat milk and working with that rather than creating a product from scratch鈥 however this didn鈥檛 really solve the issue Emma was having so she began working with food technologists at the Callaghan Institute to develop her own product.听听
Renee and Emma鈥檚 values are the driving force of the business and their long-standing friendship, 鈥淪ustainability is incredibly important to us but looking at this holistically and where can have the most impact but still turn a profit. The product has to taste good and be as or more nutritious than dairy 鈥 including being a source of protein; and finally it has to be convenient so that people feel they can actually contribute to real change.鈥澨
Emma says her and co-founder Renee fill gaps in their own weaknesses, making them a formidable team, 鈥淚 used to come home daily and bounce ideas off her and eventually Renee joined the business as chief designer, marketing and organiser.鈥澨
Aside from her win last night, Emma听was recently a finalist for the Foodstuff Emerge supplier award. It seems there is no stopping this not so Teiny powered milk duo.听听
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