UR students’ salad dressing brand set to launch early next month

Envee UR

The Envee team presenting at the UR “bake-off.” (Courtesy University of Richmond)

A group of University of Richmond students are trying their hand at a new food startup created in the classroom. 

Envee (pronounced ‘envy’), the latest venture born out of the school’s Bench Top Innovations program, is prepared to launch its first product, a pesto-caesar salad dressing, in early February. 

The year-long Bench Top program takes 16 UR students from across fields of study to develop and launch a beverage or packaged food company. Students are split up into teams of four to come up with a concept.

This year’s theme for the program was salad dressing. 

Envee CEO Lindsay Batten co-founded the startup alongside fellow UR seniors Trey Creamer, Sophia Devlin and Grace Maclean. The team spent a few months last semester in an on-campus kitchen cooking up the idea. 

envee logo

The Envee logo

Trying different combinations of salad dressings and ingredients, the Envee team experimented with a pesto-caesar fusion and realized that it wasn’t already on the market. 

“You’d be tempted to have some unicorn ingredient, but my team was like, ‘we want to make something that tastes really good’,” Batten said. “So, we prioritized flavor.”  

The Envee team competed against their fellow classmates at a November “bake-off” where they came out on top as the chosen startup for the spring semester.

Now, all 16 students in this year’s Bench Top class have joined the Envee team.

The startup has contracted with a Chicago-based food manufacturing company to produce the salad dressing. The 12-ounce squeeze top bottles are being produced ahead of the early February release. Prices are still being finalized, Batten said. 

The Envee sales team is now pitching the product to local markets like Ellwood Thompson’s and Yellow Umbrella Provisions. The goal is to eventually move into major grocery chains like Whole Foods, Envee CMO Ginny Beringer said. 

The marketing team is collaborating with VCU Brandcenter on a new brand logo and label before the launch and targeting social media personalities for future promotion. 

The Bench Top program is led by UR marketing professor Dr. Joel Mier, who’s held positions at Netflix, Genworth and Adobe. Mier told BizSense he’s excited to see Envee go from an idea to store shelves this semester. 

“They’re in the planning phase, then will go into the execution phase. They’ll encounter challenges they can’t foresee right now, and that’s how they learn,” Mier said. 

The Bench Top program is funded by a portion of a $1 million gift to UR from the Jason & Jaime Brown Family Foundation and the RB Charitable Foundation made in 2021. New Bench Top startups also draw on revenues from previous years’ startups to help cover operating costs. 

Envee bakeoff

The Envee team serving their products.

Envee is the fourth startup to be created in the Bench Top program. The program’s first project, snack mix brand Absurd Snacks, is still operating with UR grads Grace Mittl and Eli Bank at the helm. 

Energy drink company TwinTail Brews, which was the program’s second startup, announced its shutdown in April 2023, while baba ganoush startup Noosh from last year’s program has also been shut down following the students’ graduation. 

Batten said learning about how to operate a startup in a safe place to learn like the Bench Top program has been invaluable. 

“The support has been palpable. It’s been a unique experience, to be 21 and creating a business and leading a team that’s going to be sold in stores in Richmond,” Batten said.

As for whether she’ll continue on with Envee post-grad? Batten isn’t sure. But she is certain she’ll continue to be a supporter of the Bench Top program. 

“It’s a unique atmosphere to be a part of,” she said. “Why sit in a classroom and learn about startups when you could just do it?” 

Envee UR

The Envee team presenting at the UR “bake-off.” (Courtesy University of Richmond)

A group of University of Richmond students are trying their hand at a new food startup created in the classroom. 

Envee (pronounced ‘envy’), the latest venture born out of the school’s Bench Top Innovations program, is prepared to launch its first product, a pesto-caesar salad dressing, in early February. 

The year-long Bench Top program takes 16 UR students from across fields of study to develop and launch a beverage or packaged food company. Students are split up into teams of four to come up with a concept.

This year’s theme for the program was salad dressing. 

Envee CEO Lindsay Batten co-founded the startup alongside fellow UR seniors Trey Creamer, Sophia Devlin and Grace Maclean. The team spent a few months last semester in an on-campus kitchen cooking up the idea. 

envee logo

The Envee logo

Trying different combinations of salad dressings and ingredients, the Envee team experimented with a pesto-caesar fusion and realized that it wasn’t already on the market. 

“You’d be tempted to have some unicorn ingredient, but my team was like, ‘we want to make something that tastes really good’,” Batten said. “So, we prioritized flavor.”  

The Envee team competed against their fellow classmates at a November “bake-off” where they came out on top as the chosen startup for the spring semester.

Now, all 16 students in this year’s Bench Top class have joined the Envee team.

The startup has contracted with a Chicago-based food manufacturing company to produce the salad dressing. The 12-ounce squeeze top bottles are being produced ahead of the early February release. Prices are still being finalized, Batten said. 

The Envee sales team is now pitching the product to local markets like Ellwood Thompson’s and Yellow Umbrella Provisions. The goal is to eventually move into major grocery chains like Whole Foods, Envee CMO Ginny Beringer said. 

The marketing team is collaborating with VCU Brandcenter on a new brand logo and label before the launch and targeting social media personalities for future promotion. 

The Bench Top program is led by UR marketing professor Dr. Joel Mier, who’s held positions at Netflix, Genworth and Adobe. Mier told BizSense he’s excited to see Envee go from an idea to store shelves this semester. 

“They’re in the planning phase, then will go into the execution phase. They’ll encounter challenges they can’t foresee right now, and that’s how they learn,” Mier said. 

The Bench Top program is funded by a portion of a $1 million gift to UR from the Jason & Jaime Brown Family Foundation and the RB Charitable Foundation made in 2021. New Bench Top startups also draw on revenues from previous years’ startups to help cover operating costs. 

Envee bakeoff

The Envee team serving their products.

Envee is the fourth startup to be created in the Bench Top program. The program’s first project, snack mix brand Absurd Snacks, is still operating with UR grads Grace Mittl and Eli Bank at the helm. 

Energy drink company TwinTail Brews, which was the program’s second startup, announced its shutdown in April 2023, while baba ganoush startup Noosh from last year’s program has also been shut down following the students’ graduation. 

Batten said learning about how to operate a startup in a safe place to learn like the Bench Top program has been invaluable. 

“The support has been palpable. It’s been a unique experience, to be 21 and creating a business and leading a team that’s going to be sold in stores in Richmond,” Batten said.

As for whether she’ll continue on with Envee post-grad? Batten isn’t sure. But she is certain she’ll continue to be a supporter of the Bench Top program. 

“It’s a unique atmosphere to be a part of,” she said. “Why sit in a classroom and learn about startups when you could just do it?” 

This story is for our paid subscribers only. Please become one of the thousands of BizSense Pro readers today!

Your subscription has expired. Renew now by choosing a subscription below!

For more informaiton, head over to your profile.

Profile


SUBSCRIBE NOW

 — 

 — 

 — 

TERMS OF SERVICE:

ALL MEMBERSHIPS RENEW AUTOMATICALLY. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR A 1 YEAR MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL AT THE RATE IN EFFECT AT THAT TIME UNLESS YOU CANCEL YOUR MEMBERSHIP BY LOGGING IN OR BY CONTACTING SUPPORT@BUSINESSDEN.COM.

ALL CHARGES FOR MONTHLY OR ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS ARE NONREFUNDABLE.

EACH MEMBERSHIP WILL ONLY FUNCTION ON UP TO 3 MACHINES. ACCOUNTS ABUSING THAT LIMIT WILL BE DISCONTINUED.

FOR ASSISTANCE WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIP PLEASE EMAIL SUPPORT@BUSINESSDEN.COM




Return to Homepage

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

3 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
George MacGuffin
George MacGuffin
24 days ago

$130k in private HS tuition. $80k a year in U of R tuition.
Your kid making a salad dressing as a “start-up”.
Rather embarrassing..
I predicted the last 2 failures and here comes a third.
Who has ties to this Chicago company making all these foodstuffs?

Shane Jimison
Shane Jimison
24 days ago

Hating on 20 year olds learning first-hand about entrepreneurship is certainly a look.

Shawn Harper
Shawn Harper
23 days ago
Reply to  Shane Jimison

He has a point though. Maybe his point is more “our bright young people deserve a better education for their money” than “I hate bright young people.” The biggest argument that I can see for this “why just learn about start-ups in classroom when you can just do it?” is that, sometimes, you learn more from failure than you do from reading “Good to Great” or “Barbarians to Bureaucrats”, and failure that comes from losing money can really make the lessons stick. A great “Start Up” book is “Killing It” by the former CEO of Cliff bar and a serial… Read more »