A new venture plan for a protein-packed, single-serve coffee pod took top honours at the 2019 Business 2257 Feasibility Study Competition at Ivey on March 21.
Imperium Coffee Co., the Canadian coffee company planning a product called Power Pods, is comprised of Western University students James Anderson, Maximilian Horne, Calvin Gallina, Jacob Maclachlan, Tanner Murray, Ella Neiles, and Drew Pertson. They received the Robert G. Siskind Entrepreneurial Award and each member took home a medal and monetary prize.
Robert Siskind’s daughter, Heather Siskind-Levite; and grandson, Jonah Levite; presented the award, which was established in 1990 to honour Siskind’s entrepreneurial spirit and outstanding contributions to Western University.
Power Pods offer health benefits at an affordable price. Imperium Coffee’s goal is to provide a simple and effective way for consumers to increase their overall health, while manufacturing an environmentally sustainable product. Personal income, the health-product market, and the single-serve coffee pod market are all projected to experience growth in the coming years, providing an ideal environment for Imperium Coffee’s introduction to the market.
Altogether, three finalist teams were selected from 243 feasibility studies and they competed before a panel of judges after preliminary and semi-final rounds.
The members of the two other finalist teams were:
- Z Bar – Rahul Bathija, Cem Torun, Marissa Liu, Caitlyn Liu, Andrew Liu, Adil Khan, and Amy Xu; and,
- Helios – Ashley Romundt, Lauren Wong, Rishika Sekhar, Carolyn Shi, Faizan Basharullah, and Katherine Zhou.
The judging panel included:
- Marsha Bradley, Co-founder and Managing Partner, End Grain Industries;
- Greg Smith, General Sales Manager, BMW London; and,
- David Simpson, Ivey Lecturer and Director of the Business Families Centre.
Business 2257 is a second-year Western business course designed to teach students decision-making skills. One of the course assignments challenges students to create a new venture and outline the details in a written report and oral presentation. The Business 2257 Feasibility Study Competition is a portion of the course’s curriculum and provides an opportunity for students to forge business development skills while applying academic knowledge to real-life experience.
