Gourmet tater tots, a uniquely designed baby bottle and a top that puts a new twist on athleisure were all on display during the latest episode of ‘Project Pitch It.’
Entrepreneurs Tami and Hannah Kopplin received the grand prize of $10,000 this week to support their business, Saint Francis-based Tots on the Street.
This mother-and-daughter duo are foodies who love to support the local restaurant scene. When food trucks experienced a boom in popularity several years ago, Hannah said she immediately became “obsessed.”
“My favorite food happened to be tater tots and I knew potatoes went with everything,” said Hannah. “All I needed was a clever food truck name.”
Tots stands for “Tots on the Street,” the name of the food truck that serves up gourmet tater tots. Unique flavors like cheese curd tots and basil, pesto, and mozzarella tots are on the menu. All of the tots are made by hand in a kitchen space in St. Francis.
“Tots had so much potential, so we sat down and figured out how we could make this work financially,” said Tami. “Fast forward to now, we went from having one food truck to three, and we launched a wholesale program.”
The Kopplins, with the help of some additional funding and mentorship, are hoping to continue growing their wholesale program.
Pacibaba
Entrepreneur Carlos Casarez and his company, Milwaukee-based Pacibaba, earned the $5,000 award this week.
Casarez describes Pacibaba as the next step in the evolution of the baby bottle. Pacibaba was created to help parents prevent the loss of pacifiers. The proprietary Pacibaba bottle allows parents to store pacifiers within a compartment at the bottom of the bottle.
“Pacibaba is the first ever bottle to combine a pacifier retention device with the drinking vessel,” said Casarez. “In addition to that, it’s also a sterile compartment where you can store the pacifier during feeding or transport.”
Pacibaba is currently pre-revenue and Casarez plans to market his product direct-to-consumer. He hopes to eventually be in big box retailers like Target and Wal-Mart.
COMFYIST
Milwaukee-based COMFYIST, founded by Amy Fallucca, earned a $1,000 prize this week.
Fallucca’s business aims to solve a common laundry issue experienced by women by creating athleisure tops that have bra cups sewn into the garment, rather than being removable.
As a mom and athlete, Fallucca often finds herself wearing “comfy clothing,” only to later discover the removable bra cups scattered within her laundry basket.
“All the cups had fallen or folded up out and I thought this seemed like a really clear design flaw,” said Fallucca.
After more than two years of research and development, and 12 different prototypes, COMFYIST launched its first product: the COMFYIST Cami.
The camis are made using eco-friendly materials and exclude underwire and other restrictive materials.
Fallucca is working to create more brand awareness and reduce her manufacturing costs.
BizTimes Media serves as a media sponsor for “Project Pitch It.” Episode four airs on April 5 at 10:35 p.m. on WISN-TV Channel 12 and statewide network affiliates.
