Recipe for success: Laurier's BBA students shine in Blendtek case competition

Aug. 12, 2024

Congratulations to the more than 400 third-year Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) students at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University who just completed the Integrated Case Exercise (ICE) Spring 2024. 
  
ICE, a hallmark of the Lazaridis BBA program, has been taking place for more than 40 years. Successful completion of ICE requires integrating learning from each of the functional areas of business to present a business solution to a current issue for a real company – all within a 10-day competition.  
  
We extend our sincere gratitude to this term’s case company, Blendtek. Co-founded by alumnus, Rob Bianchin (BBA ‘10) and Steve Zinger, BlendTek provides innovative food ingredients and private label mixes dedicated to enhancing culinary creations.  

With the assistance of case writer Lisa Giguere, Blendtek tasked students with creating a business plan to achieve $400 million in sales by 2029 while maintaining profitability, a 20 per cent growth margin, and positive cash flow from operations.  

Students applied the business knowledge they have gained through their Lazaridis BBA to develop and present their unique solutions. Teams provided in-depth alternatives, recommendations, and their implementation plans. Four finalist teams presented their solutions to a panel of Blendtek judges: 

• Rob Bianchin (BBA ‘10), Co-CEO  
• Steve Zinger, Co-CEO  
• Kris Rogers, VP, Sales and Marketing  
• Blake Campbell, Director, Finance  

Bianchin, whose team won ICE when he was a BBA student, told teams at the finals: “I’ve been in your seat before and know what it’s like. It’s a grueling few days to go through the process of the ICE case, but it’s something you will remember throughout your careers. Overall, we felt the presentations were outstanding, and everyone did a really great job exploring different ideas. Thank you for letting us be part of your ICE case.” 
  
Sadhisha Ambagahawita (BBA/ BMath (UW) Double Degree ’07), Director of Business Transition at Symcor, who sponsored lunch during ICE finals also joined students at the final presentations. He told them: “It takes a lot of effort to get here – to put together something impressive and cohesive in a week. In the real world it takes a lot longer. It’s also a reflection of the quality of students Laurier produces, and it’s something people in the industry are well aware of. We look for people of your calibre in the workplace – you’re well set for the future.” 

After lunch sponsored by Symcor, finalist teams presented to the Blendtek judges. Solutions ranged from baby formula to pharmaceuticals, the allergy epidemic to digestible protein solutions. The presentations were unique, polished, and addressed the judges’ questions comprehensively.

Congratulations to each of our finalist teams, in presentation order:  

• Team 75: Rifa Amin, Nada Elhossiny, Junran Jiang, Jabir Naseer, Robert Shen, Ian Young – Developing the formula for success. 
• Team 72: Patrick Bernacki, Paul Geyer, Connor Kirby, Dev Patel, Ryan Speight  - Bakeries to Breaking Bad. 
• Team 36: Katherine Colby, Daniel Hernandez, Rachel MacKay, Matthew Rose, Nadezhda Vorobieva – Crafting the perfect mix for success. 
• Team 32: William Beck, Jordan Francis, Sangeerthan Kesavan, Rose Parackal, Jacob Smith, Jessie Zhu – Blendtek’s rise to success.  

Special congratulations to the winning team – Team 75!

Bianchin praised the winning team, saying:, “We thought everyone did very well, but overall you stood out just a bit more. The presentation was polished, visually great, referenced a lot of what we’re doing now and is close enough to what we’re doing that we felt it was a great solution.”