Foster Competes in the Carolina Case Challenge: From First Timers to Finalists

This April was the 3rd annual Carolina Case Challenge, the flagship intercollegiate case competition hosted by UNC Kenan-Flagler and sponsored by EY. Because of the virtual format, schools from across the country were invited to apply. UW Foster was one of nine schools below that were accepted.

Schools

Carolina Case Challenge 2021 Schools: University of Washington, Vanderbilt University, University of Michigan, University of California Berkeley, Emory University, University of Virginia, University of Texas at Austin, Wake Forest University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This was the first time Foster participated in the competition, and the team of Christopher Lam, Medha Sindiri, Tara Deshpande and Amrit Singh made it to the finals!

This year, the case asked teams to help the Biltmore Winery enter the spirits market, and their recommendation had to include immersive experiences on the company’s estate to garner new sales. Foster’s team framed its solution in a three pronged strategy. First, they advised the company to have spirit tours of their distillery along with spirit tastings. Additionally, they suggested that the company have mixology classes to attract younger demographics. Their second strategy was to incorporate Augmented Reality into Biltmore’s app to create an online experience for consumers who could not afford the trip. Finally, their last strategy was to partner with distributors to sell the new spirit line and host pop-up shops outside of Biltmore’s estate.

In the end, the team from UT-Austin took home first place, but the organizers expressed how tight the competition was and that the judges were very impressed with all of the finalists. Congratulations to Christopher, Medha, Tara and Amrit! In addition to the growth we hope you experienced from this competition, you paved the way for more students to take advantage of this opportunity in the future.

Leave a Reply