The annual competition, sponsored by global management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company, saw teams of university students from across the UK compete for £5,000 of seed funding to implement their ideas as a social enterprise.
The team of friends in Cambridge had been working to develop their business plan since February, drawing on elements of their taught programme and professional experience throughout Europe and Latin America.
The Ethical Tomato Co. presented an innovative solution to actively address a number of problems facing small-scale tomato farmers in Mexico. The company plans to provide farmers with access to sustainable technologies that will significantly increase yields whilst forming partnerships to reduce waste along the value chain and equitably share profits.
Pedro Zaragoza, who presented the proposal at the final judging ceremony, commented: “We were up against teams with some great ideas, and it is fantastic to have won. This has been an incredible journey for the team, and we are very grateful to have had the support of McKinsey during the past month in developing our ideas. We are all really excited about taking the next steps to implement our ideas as a social enterprise.”
The Ethical Tomato Team is now planning to use the seed funding to undertake a pilot study in Michoacán, Mexico, before involving investors and scaling up the business.
The Team
Pedro Zaragoza, Chemical Engineer, Mexico
Jorge Garcia Moreno, Biomedical Engineer, Mexico
Stephanie Hirmer, Civil Engineer, Germany
Daniel Gallagher, Civil Engineer, Scotland
Further Information:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TruWq647duY
http://www.innovate2012.mckinsey.com/
http://www-csd.eng.cam.ac.uk/
Reproduced courtesy of University of Cambridge, Department of Engineering
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