Recently, I came across a business by a thriving entrepreneur selling baked goods & desserts. The presentation of her products along with her marketing showcased quality, creativity, and beauty. You can tell by her branding that she was conscious about customer perception
Aside from that, what stood out was her business savvy which I noticed when I stumbled upon her “ugly brownie”.
The Ugly Brownie was the byproduct of the mass production that goes on daily in a commercial kitchen. The brownies that didn’t meet the standards of what the final product was designed to be. Although flavorful and made of the same tasty ingredients, it didn’t make the cut due to “defects” in the shapes and sizes giving them a different aesthetic appearance. Instead of letting them go to waste, she would package and sell them to customers at a discounted price. A win-win for herself and the customer.
Production always has a byproduct, and it’s up to the innovative entrepreneur to turn it into profits.
This parallels the story of Jesus who’s rising popularity caused people to crowd around Him as He walked through the streets. In this particular instance, there was a multitude of roughly 5,000 people gathered around. Knowing they’ve been with Him for a while and being a great host, Jesus decided to prepare them something to eat. Having only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, He used His miraculous power to multiply it into a larger supply and fed them as much as they wanted until they were filled. Not only did He give them enough to eat, but He also had leftovers. Instead of letting it go to waste, He commanded His disciples to “gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”
Natural soap maker Dr. Bronner’s partner company Serindipol, supplies fair trade coconut oil from Sri Lanka. After making their coconut products, they minimize their waste by crushing and burning the coconut shells which are then sold as raw material for charcoal and activated carbon.
Misfits Market made a business out of taking the less-appealing surplus of organic produce that wasn’t sold initially due to its “funny-looking” appearance.
As Jesus set the example of making sure nothing is lost, every business should have their own version of the ugly brownie, extracting value out of the unused and maximizing gains!