Supplies have arrived and we’re having a BLAST (of caffeine)

Week 3 – Supplies have arrived and we’re having a BLAST (of caffeine)

Our project is well underway.  Last week, David placed an order for our first batch of BLAST CAFFEINE and it arrived over the weekend.  David and his roommates sampled the product in powder form and concluded that it works as described from the product description.  They added it to meals as well as to liquids and had great success.  We’re planning to acquire the remainder of our materials needed to bake this week and get cooking by the weekend!  We’ll be using pre-made muffin mix (per Dwight’s recommendation) and the associated materials required for baking. 

None of us have much experience with baking, so the first round of muffin prototyping could prove fatal.

After acquiring all our materials and doing some testing, we’ll be able to conduct a cost analysis and determine the per-unit cost of each muffin.  This will allow us to develop an appropriate selling cost for our first batch.

Questions for in-class polling:

-When you eat muffins in the morning, which size do you prefer? (Small, Medium, BIG)

-For coffee drinkers, how many cups do you drink on average in the morning?

- What time of the day are you most likely to be drinking caffeine (Am, noon/afternoon time, PM)

- Are there specific days you drink more caffeine (m, t,w,th,f,s,su)

its coming together

Week 2 –

A lot has happened in the last few days.  David and John are no longer sick so we have been able to accomplish quite a bit. We had a meeting last thursday to discuss our plans to move forward as well as establish a name for ourselves.  We chose FRESH HORIZONS.  In the meeting we email Jason to make an appointment and we got one for Friday.

Last Friday, we met with Jason to determine what needed to be done to get our idea approved.  He seemed to like it and sent us to Dwight to get approval from Dining Services to sell on campus.  We met with Dwight to discuss our plans and he liked them but said he had to review it more thoroughly.  He was out of town for most of this week but he emailed us Monday and approved the idea.

We just had our first successful order of BLAST CAFFEINE and will soon begin preparing muffins to test.  We will also be looking at possibilities of how to effectively market and sell our muffins so that we will be prepared to take the next step once we convert our idea into a physical product.

here is our confirmation of shipment!

American Caffeine  to me

show details 7:05 PM (17 hours ago)

Dear David Barron,

All of the items from order #1140 have now been shipped:

1x BLAST CAFFEINE


They are being shipped to the following address:

David Barron
2104 Purple and Gold Way

Harrisonburg, Virginia  22801
United States

Thank you for ordering from American Caffeine

Reading this weeks edition of the breeze I found an article about a local shop that specializes in healthy choices.  Could this be a possible place we could sell?? or partner??? or both??

First entry: Sickness sucks, Muffins rule

Hello 372 class,

John and Tony reporting from Carrier Library.  Our entrepreneurial venture is under way, albeit with a few bumps.  Our good buddy David is sick with the flu, and J was incapacitated all weekend from a cold.  However, we are moving forward with a firm resolve and optimism.  On to our idea!

David came up with an interesting idea recently that we have been kicking around: caffeinated food.  It might sound sketchy, but it smells like money $$$.  This concept incorporates combining baked goods with a product called Blast Caffeine.  From their website:

"Blast Caffeine is pharmaceutical-grade caffeine powder with no fillers, sugar, water, useless herbs or vitamins, artificial colors or flavoring, or dangerous chemicals. This is the same quality used by hospitals and doctors for treating premature babies suffering from an inability to breathe."

Another testimonial:

"Blast Caffeine is extracted using hot water, an inefficient, expensive process, but one that does not poison you or the planet.  Blast Caffeine averages better than 99.98% pure and users have reported a “smoother” energy curve with no headaches, no crash, and no effects that may be caused by impurities.  There is no reason for you to eat more junk than you need to."
Apparently the caffeine molecule is highly stable and can withstand high temperatures, meaning we can incorporate Blast Caffeine into baked goods.  We plan to create energy muffins that provide the nourishment of breakfast with a much-needed jolt of caffeine.  There are a variety of potential issues with this project; we're still in the think-tank process of compiling this list.  Regardless, we are excited to get the ball rolling on our muffins.

Link to their site: http://www.blastcaffeine.com/pages/what-is-blast-caffeine


A brief intro to who we are:

-John Armstrong, 21 years old, management major.  Not a numbers guy...I tend to see the big picture of an idea.  Will strive to ensure that creativity and group collaboration remain prevalent within our ent'l process. 

-Tony Spadaccia, 22 years old, management & political science double-major.  I have worked in a variety of different environments over the last few years, including internships with Northrop Grumman and the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.  I will seek to use the knowledge I have gained to help our group in helping to make the transition from idea to sucessful venture.

-David Barron.  We don't really know anything about David...he's mysterious.