Ekho - By David Rivera and Adriana Escobar

Ekhó A Biodegradable Cutlery Company

Created by: David Rivera & Adriana Escobar Presented: June 2021 Marketing II Ms. Sullivan, Everett High School

Copyright, 2021

Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................... 5 Industry Overview ...................................... 7 Business Description ................................. 9 Branding ...................................................11 Unique Selling Preposition........................13 Market Analysis ........................................15 Target Market ...........................................17 Marketing Goals .......................................19 Marketing Mix ...........................................21 Brand Positioning .....................................23 Example Advertisements ..........................25 References ...............................................29

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Ekhó Business plan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Our Mission: Ekhó offers an environmentally friendly option for disposable cutlery, which is made out of avocado seed resin. Since our primary material is obtained from the wasted avocado seeds from guacamole maker companies, we are not only giving avocado seeds a second purpose, but also helping the environment by reducing the production and use of plastic cutlery.

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The Company and Management: Ekhó is an eco-friendly disposable company that focuses on preserving the environment and fighting for climate change. At Ekhó, we create environmentally safe disposable cutlery, so you don’t have to worry about the environment when you use our disposable cutlery for your meals. Ekhó is headquartered in the City of Boston. The company is owned by partners David Rivera and Adriana Escobar. Adriana and David are marketing students at Everett High School and are passionate about safety and environmental awareness, leading them to find a 100 percent environmentally friendly alternative to disposable cutlery.

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Our Products: Our customers are all those who are concerned about the environment, and are looking for an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic cutlery. Ehkó offers green cutlery made out of avocado seeds resin, including: o Spoons o Forks o Knives o Cups o Coffee cups o Straws o Food boxes

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The Market: Across the United States, awareness and concern for the environment has been rising in recent years. Massachusetts is one of the leading states in the fight against climate change. Our market research has shown that three out of five disposable cutlery users would like to have a green option to replace toxic plastic cutlery.

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Our Competitive Advantages: Although there are several companies producing environmentally friendly products, none use avocado seed resin as a raw material, but instead use wood or recycled paper, which leads to deforestation.

Ekhó's marketing strategy consists of highlighting the raw material ("Providing Our Avocado Seed") and the quality of the final product. People who use disposable cutlery will no longer have to worry that they will harm the environment, but will be able to enjoy their food while helping to care for the environment.

Our company is Safer Choice certified.

All of our factories are clean energy and LEED certified.

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Ekhó Business plan

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Start-up Financing Requirements: We are seeking an operating line of $60,000 to finance our first-year growth. As high school students, we haven't been able to invest any money, so our financing request is much higher than normal.

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Ekhó Business plan

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW 

The Cutlery Industry: According to Business Wire the global cutlery market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.59% to reach $1,128.037 million by 2025, from$912.886 million in 2019. Increasing demand from consumers in order to improve their dining experience and kitchen aesthetics.

The change in people's lifestyles has made consumers buy different types of cutlery or a complete cutlery set. This includes spoons, forks suitable for specific purposes such as dessert forks and table forks, and teaspoons, among others, in order to make their eating experience more enjoyable and efficient. This augments the growth of the market.

The growing interest in environmental issues is leading daily disposable cutlery users to consider a green option for replacing the plastic from the disposable cutlery. 

Our Position in the Industry: Massachusetts is an affluent area with a high environmental awareness, an ideal market for a green disposable cutlery business such as Ekhó. People in this area not only use cutlery on a daily basis, but are willing to change the toxic plastic cutlery for an eco-friendly alternative.

Our market research has shown that 3 out of 5 disposable cutlery users polled in Massachusetts would prefer to have a green disposable cutlery alternative rather than keep using plastic cutlery. 

The Competition: Our only direct competitor is Avoplast, however, not all of their products are made with avocado seed resin, and those products that are, only sixty percent of their composition is made of resin, while Ekhó's products are one hundred percent made of resin. There are many indirect competitors, therefore, we still have to make our pathway among other green businesses such as BumBo0sa, Cuppow and Preserve.

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What Makes Our Company Unique: Many companies create biodegradable products, however, this does not mean they are environmentally friendly as their alternatives are expanding other areas of concern (e.g., using too much wood causes deforestation)., whereas at Ekhó we are solving the problem of plastic production and use by providing a green option that doesn’t harm the environment in any way since we’re giving a second use to avocado seeds.

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Ekhó Business plan

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION Ekhó creates biodegradable cutlery by repurposing avocado seeds. Our sole products are the eco-friendly alternative for toxic plastic based cutlery, leaving no carbon footprints in the environment. 

Our Mission: To help reduce climate change by reducing the production and the use of plastic in cutlery.

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Our Vision: To be the leading company in the production of cluterly that is 100% sustainable, from its production to its disposal in order to help our environment.

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Our Goals and Objectives: Our short-term goal is to be on every family's table in Massachusetts. Then, to be in every supermarket in the US. Finally, to be able to expand internationally so that our support for the environment reaches the whole world.

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Business Philosophy: The damage that we’ve made to our planet because of unwise decisions is immense, therefore, we want to contribute for a change by providing our avocado seed.

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Industry: Our industry is organic products, which is beginning to have its heyday and does not have much competition. This is why we want to be the leading company in helping the environment by using our products.

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Strengths and Skills: In addition to producing quality products without leaving a carbon footprint, a portion of our profits is also donated to organizations that are in charge of helping our planet.

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Target Market: Our target audience is people who are concerned about climate change, want to find a green alternative to plastic cutlery and are looking for a way to help. To make ourselves known, we will have an online advertising campaign directed not only to philanthropists, but to a general public to raise awareness of global issues and our existence as a company.

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Closing Summary: The problem of plastic use in our environment has forced us to create products that reverse its ravages. That is why Ekhó creates biodegradable and compostable cutlery using avocado seeds. Our products are a small but respectful gesture to the environment by reducing the use of unsustainable material.

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Ekhó Business plan

BRANDING 

Logo:

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Slogan:

Providing Our Avocado Seed. 

Color Scheme: #913028

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#704012

#4A7337

#D3DA35

#C7E488

Mer

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Ekhó Business plan

UNIQUE SELLING PREPOSITION Ekhó is the only biodegradable cutlery producer that uses avocado seeds as its primary material. Unlike our competitors whose primary material is wood which is obtained by deforestation, we are using raw materials that won’t inadvertently harm the environment.

We are differentiated from our competitors because we give a second life to avocado seeds. 

Our factories operate with wind energy.

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We make cutlery based on avocado seeds resin.

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Our packages are 100% made of recycled materials.

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Ekhó Business plan

MARKET ANALYSIS 

SWOT Analysis

STRENGHTS

WEAKNESSES

 Products made of avocado seeds resin.  Factories only use clean energy.  Affordable prieces.

 We are a new company.  Low awareness of environmental problems.  Non-sustainable competitors’ prices are lower.

FDOA OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

 Create an environmentally caring image.  Leader company that uses avocado seeds resin instead of other biomass.  Partnership with restaurants.

 Avoplast.  BumBoosa.  Preserve.

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Competitive Analysis Avoplast Produces biodegradable products which are produced from a nonfood based bioplastic resin. 

Location: nline store.

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Products: cutlery made of avocado seed resin.

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Competitor: direct.

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USP: N/A.

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Sales: N/A

BumBoosa Provides an alternative material (bambooderived) for disposable personal care products, specifically baby wipes and bathroom tissue, which are commonly made from tree pulp or polymer fibers from petroleum. 

Location: online retail stores.

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Products: bamboobased baby care products.

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Competitor: indirect.

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USP: N/A.

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Sales: N/A.

Preserve Recycles different materials by converting them into everyday goods. 

Location: online store and online retail stores.

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Products: everyday items such as toothbrushes and dishes

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Competitor: indirect

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USP: N/A

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Sales: N/a

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Ekhó Business plan

TARGET MARKET 

Age: Our age bounces from 16 years to 36 because they have been raised knowing about environmental problems that are affecting everyone.

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Gender: Both sexes. Everyone is welcome to make a change.

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Marital Status: The Marital Status of our customers does not matter because it’s not related to our industry.

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Family: It can be anyone, from being single to a married couple with kids as long as they frequently use disposable cutlery.

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Location: For now we are focusing on Massachusetts residents since we are a growing company, but in the future we are expecting to go nationwide with online stores.

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Education: Education doesn’t affect our customers' decision making process, but having a high school diploma as the lowest education level could be essential.

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Income: Above $50k a year.

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Occupation: Occupation doesn’t affect our customers' decision making process.

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Religion: Religion does not relate to our industry.

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Language: All languages because climate change affects people from all around the world without exceptions.

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Lifestyle: Green lifestyle, meaning that they recycle, try to not use plastic as much as possible, among other things.

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Motivation: Wanting to be part of the change with small actions such as using ecofriendly products.

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Hobbies: Advocate for climate change.

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Size: It is very extensive since our products are affordable, meaning that anyone within the 62% of climate change believers who is looking for eco-friendly options can afford it.

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Ekhó Business plan

MARKETING GOALS 

Goal #1: Increase Social Media Following o We want to increase our social media presence because we know that our target market spends a lot of time on social media. o We’re going to focus on creating meaningful content on TikTok and Instagram.

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Goal #2: Building Brand Awareness o Since we are a startup company, we need to be known among our competitors in order to achieve our environmental objectives. o We’re going to advertise our company with digital advertisements.

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Goal #3: Launch a New Campaign o We want our brand image to be perceived as an environmentally caring business. o We’re planning to partner with different restaurants, so they can replace the plastic cutlery for our avocado resin cutlery for take-out orders while also earning an environmentally caring image.

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Ekhó Business plan

MARKETING MIX 

Product: Ekhó offers biodegradable cutlery and reusable grocery bags, not only are these items non-toxic to the environment, but they solve the problem of the production and use of plastic. Our top-notch products focus on providing a positive customer experience, helps us gain our customers trust, referrals, and improves our reputation. We’re driven by environmental wellness.

At present, the main products of Ekhó are the following: o Spoons o Forks o Knives o Cups o Coffee cups o Straws o Food boxes

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Price: We’re a starting company trying to improve the environmental status. This is the reason why we sell our products at an affordable price, we do this so they can be at most of the Massachussests families’ table. We also have a customer loyalty program in place to reward long-term customers with lower prices and offer vouchers to new customers. We also look for relationships with groups like restaurantowner associations,and offer special rates based on volume.

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Place: Ekhó has its offices and factories in downtown Boston, but it is unusual for customers to come to them. Although we do not have physical stores, our products can be found in the various retail stores.

We encourage collaboration with our restaurant buyers, participating in their events, volunteering, and donations related to environmental stewardship.

Our company's website is our most important communication tool, and it is the place where our customers learn about our different ways of supporting our environment.

We invest a lot of money and time in keeping it up to date and useful to our audience. We plan to expand our website to include e-commerce and make all of our products available for purchase online, either statewide or internationally. None of our competitors export their products over the internet at the moment, so we will take advantage of this to be pioneers in this aspect.

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Promotion: We are a starting company therefore we devote all of our marketing efforts on increasing visitors to it. The following is our promotional mix: o Social media marketing. o Email marketing. o Public relations. o Encourage people to be more aware of their decisions.

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Ekhó Business plan

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Value Proposition Statement: Disposable Without the Plastic.

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Ekhó Business plan

BRAND POSITIONING For environmentally conscious consumers, Ekhó is a biodegradable cutlery brand that offers all of your needed utensils without harming the environment, like our plastic and wood competitors. At Ekhó, we’ve created something that can change the world: cutlery made out of avocado seeds, which is proven to be sturdy enough to eat with and green enough to not harm the world.

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Ekhó Business plan

EXAMPLE ADVERTISEMENTS

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Ekhó Business plan

REFERENCES 

Bumboosa Bamboo. (n.d.). BumBoosa Bamboo. Retrieved July 6, 2021, from http://www.bumboosa.com/shop/bum-boosa-bamboo-bathroom-tissue-220-sheetsper-roll3-ply-bulk-case-36-rolls-copy/

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CLIMATE NEUTRAL. (n.d.). Preserve. Retrieved July 6, 2021, from https://www.preserve.eco/

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Funck, C., & Hefferson, M. (2019, November 25). U.S. Public Views on Climate and Energy. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2019/11/25/us-public-views-on-climate-and-energy/

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Miro, J. (2017, February 4). Top 15 Sustainable Companies in Massachusetts.

L’Autre Couleur. https://lautrecouleur.com/top-sustainable-companies-inmassachusetts/

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Start A Kitchen Utensils Business. (n.d.). Starter Story. Retrieved June 6, 2021, from https://www.starterstory.com/ideas/kitchen-utensils-business/startup-costs

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WHAT ARE BIOPLASTICS? (n.d.). Bioplastic Alternatives. Retrieved June 6, 2021, from https://bioplasticalternatives.com/avoplast/

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Wood, L. (2020, September 7). Global Cutlery Industry (2020 to 2025) - North America will hold a Considerable Market Share - ResearchAndMarkets.com.

Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200907005252/en/Global-CutleryIndustry-2020-to-2025---North-America-will-hold-a-Considerable-Market-Share--ResearchAndMarkets.com

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