Teff — an ancient grain that forms the foundation of Ethiopian cuisine — has fueled human achievement for at least 4,000 years.  

Now, University of Michigan MBA student Saron Mechale wants to turn it into a go-to fuel for sports performance. Her sports snack creation, goTeff, took home the $15,000 top prize at the University of Georgia Collegiate Great Brands Competition. 

The stroopwafel, sweetened with dates, offers a high-protein, prebiotic and allergen-free high-energy snack for runners and other active athletes. 

“Our product uses our hero ingredient teff to create the four pillars of the ideal energy snack — ideal nutrition, good for your gut, great taste and offering all-day energy,” she told the judges at the pitch competition.  

Securing a stroopwafel manufacturer and previous success marketing a teff granola impressed the judges when awarding Mechale the top prize.  

“The form factor you’ve come up with is fantastic, especially the audience you’re going after — the runners. I love the fact that you have a chance to own that market,” Keith Credendino (BBA ’97), competition judge and chief information officer at Macy’s, told Mechale. “However, we don’t want you to limit yourself to runners. Maybe for this first iteration, it fuels runners. But in iterations two and three, you turn to the swimmers or soccer players.”  

It’s the 10th year the UGA Entrepreneurship Program has hosted the Collegiate Great Brands Competition, sponsored by Consensus Advisors, NASDAQ, and restaurant supplier What Chefs Want. Students representing 10 universities traveled from states including California, Wisconsin and New York to compete in this year’s competition on March 19 at UGA’s Studio 225. 

“This is truly a special competition, and these are some of the best entrepreneurial minds from across the country,” said Don Chambers, associate director of the UGA Entrepreneurship Program. 

In addition to goTeff, judges recognized Crack’d Up — a pre-seasoned liquid egg product that makes scrambled eggs more convenient — which took home the $7,000 second-place prize. Cracked-Up was pitched by childhood best friends Aiden Silverstein, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Nik Gandhi, a student at the University of California, Los Angeles. The team has already secured $90,000 grants from the National Egg Council.  

Pet HealthCare Innovations, a line of pet mobility and toileting aids produced by Jacksonville State University student John Thomerson, took home the third- place prize of $5,000.  

In addition to support from Consensus Advisors, NASDAQ and What Chefs Want, this year’s competition was made possible by volunteer judges including Credendino, Jason Russell (ABJ ’96), CEO and co-founder of software company Stable Kernel; Kristen Dunning (BSA ’21, MBA ’24), founder of Gently Soap; and David Luke (BBA ’00), founder of Pink Zebra Moving and Two Maids & a Mop.   

The Collegiate Great Brands Competition is hosted by the UGA Entrepreneurship Program, whose mission is to help develop the mindset of future entrepreneurs and prepare students for business leadership roles. It provides a comprehensive academic program that encompasses experiential learning and equips students with the tools and resources to pursue their startup ventures.