The 2023-2024 class of Bench Top Innovations (Images courtesy of Noosh)
University of Richmond students are dipping into entrepreneurship with a food concept they whipped up as part of their coursework.
Born out of the school’s Bench Top Innovations course, Noosh (stylized NOOSH) launched online sales of its new baba ganoush product of the same name on Tuesday.
Baba ganoush is an eggplant-based dip and spread that’s similar to hummus. Noosh’s dip is pitched as a modern riff on the traditional Middle Eastern food, and features a citrusy, spicy flavor.
CEO and co-founder Owen Fleming said Noosh is competing not only with hummus but also things like salsa and guacamole for a slice of the health-conscious dip-and-sauce category. Noosh is marketing itself as vegan, low-calorie and suitable for a paleo diet, among other things.
Fleming said he and the other members of the four-student team that created Noosh played around with the idea of a health-minded hamburger sauce but ultimately felt like they couldn’t get a good flavor.
He said classmate Aamy Bakry pitched the idea of a baba ganoush product and the team decided to pivot.
“From the market research we did, we found the healthy dips and spreads market is going to grow a lot,” Fleming said.
They then embarked on a multi-week project to fine-tune the idea in a campus-based kitchen, roasting eggplants and adding flavors in a quest to find the right recipe.
“We went though a couple iterations and we tried different peppers and spices. We landed on cayenne to give it a smoky backend,” Fleming said.
The Noosh team has contracted with a Chicago-based food manufacturing company to produce the dip. Fleming said they got connected with the company through the network of an advisor who has assisted with the Bench Top course.
In addition to the start of online sales, the company planned an on-campus launch event with dip samples and music to happen Tuesday. Fleming said Noosh is still in the process of lining up local retailers to carry its products, and expected to have its dip on store shelves within the next few weeks.
One 12-ounce jar of Noosh is priced at $14 on the company’s website.
Noosh is an eggplant-based dip and spread that’s similar to hummus.
Fleming and his classmates are early in their second semester of the Bench Top course, which is a year-long class in which 16 students develop and launch a beverage or packaged food company. UR has offered the course annually since it was introduced in 2021.
In the first semester, the class is broken up into four-person teams to come up with concepts. In addition to Fleming and Bakry, Noosh’s original team included Riley Maitland and Ava Geismann.
A demo day is held at the end of the first semester, and a panel of judges picks one concept it deems most commercially viable. In the second semester, the entire class focuses on launching and scaling that winning concept, which this year was Noosh.
The class instructor is Joel Mier, a university professor with a marketing background who did stints at Netflix, Genworth and Adobe. Also teaching in the program is Shane Emmett, who founded snack company Health Warrior, which he sold to Pepsi in 2018. Guest speakers and advisors also provide insight into the food-and-beverage world.
The program is funded by a portion of a $1 million, three-year gift to UR by the Jason & Jaime Brown Family Foundation and RB Charitable Foundation made in 2021. Companies created in Bench Top also draw on revenues made by the previous year’s startup to help cover operating costs, Mier said.
The UR students collaborated with VCU Brandcenter students to develop Noosh’s branding.
The door is open for students involved in the course to stick with their startups post-graduation. Fleming, a senior studying business administration, said he’s interested in continuing Noosh after he gets his diploma.
“I’d love to run with this after college,” he said.
Noosh is the third concept to be created in the Bench Top program. The program’s inaugural concept, Absurd Snacks, which sells a bean-based snack mix, is still in business under the direction of UR alums Grace Mittl and Eli Bank. Energy drink company TwinTail Brews, which was developed during the 2022-2023 course, announced its shutdown in April in an Instagram post, though Mier said it could potentially stage a resurgence.
Fleming would have at least one comrade in a post-grad version of Noosh in the form of company mascot Eddy the Eggplant, a cartoon character Fleming said was devised to drive home the lighthearted vibe the startup is going for.
“We’re trying to bring this fun, enjoying-life side of the brand out in the world,” he said. “We think food should be good, healthy and fun.”
The 2023-2024 class of Bench Top Innovations (Images courtesy of Noosh)
University of Richmond students are dipping into entrepreneurship with a food concept they whipped up as part of their coursework.
Born out of the school’s Bench Top Innovations course, Noosh (stylized NOOSH) launched online sales of its new baba ganoush product of the same name on Tuesday.
Baba ganoush is an eggplant-based dip and spread that’s similar to hummus. Noosh’s dip is pitched as a modern riff on the traditional Middle Eastern food, and features a citrusy, spicy flavor.
CEO and co-founder Owen Fleming said Noosh is competing not only with hummus but also things like salsa and guacamole for a slice of the health-conscious dip-and-sauce category. Noosh is marketing itself as vegan, low-calorie and suitable for a paleo diet, among other things.
Fleming said he and the other members of the four-student team that created Noosh played around with the idea of a health-minded hamburger sauce but ultimately felt like they couldn’t get a good flavor.
He said classmate Aamy Bakry pitched the idea of a baba ganoush product and the team decided to pivot.
“From the market research we did, we found the healthy dips and spreads market is going to grow a lot,” Fleming said.
They then embarked on a multi-week project to fine-tune the idea in a campus-based kitchen, roasting eggplants and adding flavors in a quest to find the right recipe.
“We went though a couple iterations and we tried different peppers and spices. We landed on cayenne to give it a smoky backend,” Fleming said.
The Noosh team has contracted with a Chicago-based food manufacturing company to produce the dip. Fleming said they got connected with the company through the network of an advisor who has assisted with the Bench Top course.
In addition to the start of online sales, the company planned an on-campus launch event with dip samples and music to happen Tuesday. Fleming said Noosh is still in the process of lining up local retailers to carry its products, and expected to have its dip on store shelves within the next few weeks.
One 12-ounce jar of Noosh is priced at $14 on the company’s website.
Noosh is an eggplant-based dip and spread that’s similar to hummus.
Fleming and his classmates are early in their second semester of the Bench Top course, which is a year-long class in which 16 students develop and launch a beverage or packaged food company. UR has offered the course annually since it was introduced in 2021.
In the first semester, the class is broken up into four-person teams to come up with concepts. In addition to Fleming and Bakry, Noosh’s original team included Riley Maitland and Ava Geismann.
A demo day is held at the end of the first semester, and a panel of judges picks one concept it deems most commercially viable. In the second semester, the entire class focuses on launching and scaling that winning concept, which this year was Noosh.
The class instructor is Joel Mier, a university professor with a marketing background who did stints at Netflix, Genworth and Adobe. Also teaching in the program is Shane Emmett, who founded snack company Health Warrior, which he sold to Pepsi in 2018. Guest speakers and advisors also provide insight into the food-and-beverage world.
The program is funded by a portion of a $1 million, three-year gift to UR by the Jason & Jaime Brown Family Foundation and RB Charitable Foundation made in 2021. Companies created in Bench Top also draw on revenues made by the previous year’s startup to help cover operating costs, Mier said.
The UR students collaborated with VCU Brandcenter students to develop Noosh’s branding.
The door is open for students involved in the course to stick with their startups post-graduation. Fleming, a senior studying business administration, said he’s interested in continuing Noosh after he gets his diploma.
“I’d love to run with this after college,” he said.
Noosh is the third concept to be created in the Bench Top program. The program’s inaugural concept, Absurd Snacks, which sells a bean-based snack mix, is still in business under the direction of UR alums Grace Mittl and Eli Bank. Energy drink company TwinTail Brews, which was developed during the 2022-2023 course, announced its shutdown in April in an Instagram post, though Mier said it could potentially stage a resurgence.
Fleming would have at least one comrade in a post-grad version of Noosh in the form of company mascot Eddy the Eggplant, a cartoon character Fleming said was devised to drive home the lighthearted vibe the startup is going for.
“We’re trying to bring this fun, enjoying-life side of the brand out in the world,” he said. “We think food should be good, healthy and fun.”
Although the caption on the picture says “similar to Hummus” it probably is more similar to Baba Ganoush, as is said in the article and considering the eggplant base and the name. Regardless, good luck to these bright budding entrepreneurs!
Fantastic!! So glad to see these young entrepreneurs making a go of it. My one piece of advice to them would be to obtain kosher certification as soon as possible for their products. It will add tremendously to the marketability of their dips and open up the potential for sales to communities that otherwise might not consider purchasing.
Love the artwork, brand logo and packaging – very creative and inviting. Really well done.
Wishing these fine students all the best for success!
$14 (excluding shipping) for a 12oz jar?
You can get a 10oz private label version at Kroger for $4.99
Publix has an 8oz container for $5.50.
Wegmans has a private label version at $3.49 for 8oz.
What did The Miracles sing?
Most likely a little business concept called scale. Comparing a small class at UR to three mega-retailers falls into that whole apple / oranges thing.
The existing versions are also fresh.
There is also a little business concept called DOA. Claiming upwards of 90% of startups.
$70k in annual tuition allows one to experience it firsthand I suppose.
You sound like a man that tried to start a business and failed miserably. Bitter and uniformed.
consider it a donation and to provide positive monetary data to be research by future entrepreneurs.
Donations do not exist in serious economics.
-Dr. Nick Riviera
Uh oh someone doesn’t understand business and scale costs!!
Any vapid bloke watching Shark Tank knows this, but this isn’t the issue. There are numerous better and cheaper alternatives, including major established brands I omitted, for a niche category.
Slapping a slick label on (yet again) snack foods and sending it to market seems very amateurish for an expensive, if not prestigious, business program.
In your head, a college student led initiative launching a brand new business should be in the same price point as “cheaper” alternatives from businesses that have large manufacturing centers & distribution networks. Sit this one out chief. Let me guess, you make your ketchup at home too? It’s much cheaper right?