Isabella Maldonado, a 5th-year Food Business & Marketing student at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG), completed a year-long project with Atkinson’s Candy Company through the ASPIRE Project last April. With the goal of finding a way to use the captured by-product of Atkinson’s candy factory, she successfully developed a variety of candy and food products for the company.

Strawberry hard candy. Image: ASPIRE

Atkinson’s Candy Company, a leading candy manufacturer is a member of AGEXPORT, and primarily exports to the United States. The company specializes in making artisanal sweets using premium ingredients. (AGEXPORT, 2024).

Isabella conducted initial research and then developed four prototypes of different food products: strawberry hard candy, strawberry gummies, coffee flavoring of various flavors, and Chamoy. Upon presenting these products, the company representatives were very impressed. They selected the Chamoy-type sauce as a prototype to market in their company.

Chamoy flavored sauce. Image: ASPIRE

In the project’s second stage, Isabella created branding and carried out a sensory study of the product. She conducted sensory tests with 100 people to confirm consumer satisfaction when tasting the Chamoy sauce. The results showed the product was valuable and appealing to the targeted group. As a result, she proceeded to develop a name, logo, and label design for the product. During this design process, Isabella researched the competition and drew inspiration from other brands to create a new image.

The project concluded successfully with the introduction of a new product, the Chamoy-type sauce, and the development of its visual identity as part of the company’s value proposition.

For Isabella, the most valuable aspect of this project was working with an outstanding company and applying the theoretical concepts learned in class to solve real-world problems. According to Isabella, “Learning while working on a real-life project is very important for a student.” When discussing the challenges of this project, Isabella noted that initially, she thought her role would be to support a professional researcher as an assistant. However, she quickly discovered that her role was leading the research and product development. This experience proved to be very helpful for her education and surpassed her expectations. In the end, “having the freedom to explore different ideas” was a unique opportunity, said Isabella.

Strawberry gummies. Image: ASPIRE

Sobre ASPIRE

The Achieving Sustainable Partnerships for Innovation, research and Entrepreneurship (ASPIRE) Project is a five-year, $15 million project funded by USAID and implemented by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG), and the Guatemalan Exporters Association (AGEXPORT), with the goal of creating a world-class replicable model for how universities, in collaboration with the private sector, government, and local communities, can respond to local and regional development needs. The project implements a collaborative approach, based on MIT’s experience in the innovation ecosystem.

Reference:
AGEXPORT (2024). Directorio de Exportadores. https://directorio.export.com.gt/empresa/atkinsons-candy-company/