![]() ![]() UACI helped the startup retool its business model and provided a customized facility to help the business reach its diversified markets. "Our market research requirements have increased in complexity and our competitive landscape analysis has grown significantly." "We've been forced to look at various other avenues of distribution, product and product packaging options, and even rethink our distribution quantities and price points," said UArizona alumnus John De Lorenzo, chief financial officer of Desert Pearl Mushrooms. While the business is still producing culinary mushrooms, it has put more focus on nutrient- and antioxidant-rich mushroom supplements – touted for immune boosting and other health benefits – to get them to market more rapidly. In the face of challenges brought on by the pandemic, the company re-routed where it sells product and altered its production process. Tucson-area resorts and restaurants are the company's primary customers, so when COVID-19 affected those businesses, the mushroom supplier felt it, too. With business development help from UACI, the founders of Desert Pearl Mushrooms have worked to enhance their market strategy, identify new customers and try new community involvement tactics in the wake of COVID-19.įormed in 2018, Desert Pearl Mushrooms offers markets and restaurants access to fresh and dried gourmet mushrooms and also provides those interested in cultivating their own mushrooms with the spawn and substrate to do so. Located primarily at the University of Arizona Tech Park, the University of Arizona Center for Innovation is a startup incubator network with a mission to support university-affiliated and greater Tucson community startups with customizable programming and a network of experts. The company, which produces culinary mushrooms, has been able to pivot with the help of resources provided by the startup incubator they call home – the University of Arizona Center for Innovation. Jorge Sepulveda is Desert Pearl Mushrooms’ chief executive officer and founder.ĭesert Pearl Mushrooms, a University of Arizona alumni-founded startup, is one of a number of businesses that has had to be flexible and creative in the face of the pandemic. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |