From an early age, agricultural enterprise senior Allison Jensen was uncovered to the skilled world of agriculture. Rising up with a household that works within the almond and walnut trade, Jensen acknowledged that almond shells have been routinely wasted.
“I’d heard that it [shells] was an enormous byproduct that will get wasted,” Jensen mentioned. “As a lady, I felt like cosmetics may mildew these two collectively.”
Throughout their first week of Agribusiness Advertising and marketing Planning (AGB 406), Jensen and 4 classmates — Kaylee Earnshaw, Sarah Schulman, Carsen Beckwith and Maxine Meckfessel — turned that concept into Blossom Cosmetics, the corporate they pitched on the Cal Poly inside Nationwide Agri-Advertising and marketing competitors.
The Blossom Cosmetics staff will now transfer on to current their advertising and marketing technique for his or her “Important Nudes” eyeshadow palette on the Nationwide Agri-Advertising and marketing Affiliation (NAMA) competitors in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri on April 6-8.
The all-female staff blossomed from their mixed objective of using agricultural byproducts to create a sustainable, inclusive and reasonably priced eyeshadow palette for shoppers.
In 2021 alone, California produced a report 3.2 billion kilos of almonds. Nevertheless, shells account for 19% of an almond’s complete weight, which means that California produced an extra of roughly 608 million kilos of almond shells in 2021.
There may be at present no sustainable or worthwhile outlet for almond farmers to reuse or dispose of those shells. The Blossom Cosmetics staff acknowledged this problem and made a plan for his or her firm to make the most of almond shells at a consistency of 0-50 microns as a alternative for talc in lots of beauty purposes.
Though this isn’t an actual firm or product, Jensen, Blossom’s director of agricultural relations mentioned that the market analysis achieved is all based mostly on actual numbers and points.
“I believe that’s a singular factor to know in regards to the competitors,” Jensen mentioned. “Though it’s a advertising and marketing competitors and never manufacturing, we do have to consider all of the monetary and manufacturing elements of it to promote it as a product to the retailer.”
The Blossom Cosmetics staff was chosen to signify Cal Poly after getting ready a 10-minute pitch for the interior competitors. Throughout the inside competitors, they offered parts of what’s going to finally be utilized for the 20-minute NAMA presentation.
AGB 406 professor Ricky Volpe mentioned that the interior competitors was made to offer perception into every group’s product, the advantages of the product on the meals provide chain, how will probably be marketed and what the financials would seem like for a retailer that may carry it.
The groups offered their slides and pitches throughout a recorded Zoom class that was then shared to Volpe’s division colleagues, alumni who’ve additionally competed within the NAMA competitors and the Faculty of Agriculture & Environmental Design advisory council. They then selected who would transfer on by means of well-liked vote.
“One of many essential functions of this competitors, along with offering a very thrilling alternative for college kids, is to assist generate and brainstorm nice concepts that successfully use agricultural commodities or byproducts inside the meals provide chain,” Volpe mentioned. “So serving to to appropriate what we name externalities, principally simply making the meals provide chain run higher, lowering waste and rising advantages for producers.”
Whereas the Cal Poly staff is on its solution to compete nationally amongst over 15 different universities, their path to Kansas is the results of hours of planning and market analysis.
Their analysis discovered that in 2020, the American magnificence and private care market was valued at $93.1 billion {dollars} and of that $93.1 billion, the pure and natural cosmetics market stood at $9.8 billion {dollars}.
The Blossom Cosmetics staff acknowledged the demand for pure and natural cosmetics, citing that the Statista Shopper Market Outlook estimates the market will rise to $15.7 billion {dollars} by 2025.
The staff has made it their objective to cut back waste to profit the setting and their “Important Nudes” eyeshadow palette takes under consideration the demand for pure cosmetics by using almond shells instead of talc in beauty merchandise.
“Talc is mined in open pit mines worldwide,” Meckfessel, Blossom’s chief advertising and marketing liaison, mentioned.
Along with talc being present in asbestos and inflicting well being issues, she mentioned, the open pit mines that talc is mined from are detrimental to the setting resulting from emissions and water air pollution.
“We actually wished to make use of one thing that was all pure,” Meckfessel mentioned. “One thing that we don’t should exit and deplete a pure useful resource for. Almonds are projected, from our market analysis, solely to proceed to be demanded, so this byproduct may even be.”