Have you ever had an amazing idea, but didn鈥檛 know what to do with it? The folks at NKU take those ideas to our own Shark Tank鈥擳he INKUBATOR.
Started in 2012, the INKUBATOR has helped 70 students and alumni with mentorship and funding to turn their good ideas into reality. And these ideas have, in turn, generated more than 60 jobs throughout the region.
Rodney D鈥橲ouza, director for the Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, says people who bring ideas to the INKUBATOR receive more spotlight attention than the program itself.
For parents, the daily struggle to win the vegetable war with their kids is real. And let鈥檚 face it, losses far outnumber wins for moms and dads. Waged since the beginning of time, mealtime skirmishes have shown no sign of a cease-fire鈥攖hat is, until Josh Young (鈥11) added a revolutionary new weapon to parents鈥 dinner-table arsenal.
Young was studying business administration at 新加坡toto开奖结果 University when he decided to develop his idea of Vegy Vida, an all-natural dip that helps children enjoy the taste of vegetables. But he had one key caveat: He wouldn鈥檛 resort to using artificial ingredients or sugar in developing his product.
鈥淜ids don鈥檛 eat enough vegetables. And kids who don鈥檛 eat vegetables become adults who don鈥檛 eat vegetables,鈥 Young says. 鈥淭here was a lot of research that showed that when you covered vegetables in sugar, kids would eat them, which doesn't help anybody.鈥
Rather than searching for a flavor to mask the presence of vegetables, Young discovered an ingredient in cucumber extract that actually removes unpleasant flavors while improving the taste. The extract, referred to as the 鈥渂itter blocker,鈥 changes the way bitter compounds in food and beverages interact with taste receptors in a person鈥檚 (and especially little person's) mouth.
鈥淚 found a way to use the bitter blocker to take away the bitterness of veggies so kids would eat more of them,鈥 he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 important, because kids actually have three times more taste buds than adults do.鈥 A study conducted by the University of Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, backs up this claim with a finding that adolescents are more sensitive to sucrose or sweet flavors.
Photo by Scott Beseler
With the help of NKU鈥檚 INKUBATOR, a cross-campus inititave that enables students from different backgrounds to connect and start a business together, Young was able to have the foundation in place to start his journey.
鈥淚t was a good experience,鈥 Young said. 鈥淎nd it made you think about the business, and made you make sure you weren鈥檛 putting energy and funds toward something that isn鈥檛 viable.鈥
Soon after Young graduated from the INKUBATOR, he received an opportunity to collaborate with Brandcraft, a consumer-centric product development company focused on ideas that benefit the health of our communities and individuals鈥 well-being.
The collaboration was a perfect match for Young, who wasn鈥檛 interested in health-washing. He wanted to focus on making a health-food product that鈥檚 actually, well, healthy.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e developing food and beverage products, I think the tide is turning,鈥 says Young. 鈥淭hroughout the last 15 years, the focus hasn鈥檛 been on health. It鈥檚 been on how cheap you can make a food product鈥. We wanted to make food and beverage products that are truly healthy.鈥
In food industry circles鈥攍ike the ones Young moved in with his previous job鈥攃onsumers鈥 desires to eat healthier are on every formulator鈥檚 mind. Unfortunately, 鈥渉ealthy鈥 isn鈥檛 a clear-cut term, and there鈥檚 a lot of confusion about what鈥檚 nutritionally beneficial and what simply looks good on a package. Some companies use the 鈥渉ealthy鈥 term a little too loosely for Young鈥檚 liking, touting a product鈥檚 healthy-seeming qualities to influence buyers鈥 decisions at the grocery check-out.
Working with Brandcraft, Young was able to partner with the best veggie defenders鈥攎oms鈥攖o develop a product that was both tasty and healthy. Having parents taste test the product was important because they were going to be the consumers of Vegy Vida.
It鈥檚 safe to say Young鈥檚 brainchild is a success. Vegy Vida dips are available in five different 100 percent all-natural flavors鈥攎ade especially for kids. They contain absolutely no sugar, GMOs or gluten. Brandcraft is working to get Vegy Vida into as many as 8,000 grocery stores by the end of the year.
Armed with their new 鈥渨eapon,鈥 parents will be able to win the dinner battle.聽
This article will appear in the Fall-Winter 2017 issue of NKU Magazine.聽
