Sweet Cut

PROJECT

CASE STUDY

Sweet Cut: Scaling a B2C Startup from Ground Up Leading Design and Product

Timeline

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June - August 2024

Roles
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Co-Founder
Product Designer
Brand Designer

Company
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Sweet Cut
B2C Startup

Tools

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Figma
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator
Pacadora

Context

As a fun side project during the summer of 2024, I helped create Sweet Cut, experimenting with cookie recipes and built + launched a website that received orders. We shipped out to various customers across New York and New Jersey.
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My role was developing the product recipe through multiple iterations, establishing a scalable production process, and designing brand identity and e-commerce experience.

IMPACTS

Contributing to the successful sale of 30+ products and optimizing revenue through streamlining logistics.
Designed 100+ UI components within a scalable design system, improving developer handoff efficiency by 25%.
Developed high-fidelity UI components and a scalable design system for cross-platform consistency, creating 4+ products, packaging, designs, and product pages.

The Problem Space

The Solution

We found that with our consumers being a niche audience, our solutions must cater to their specific needs.

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1. Zero Added-Sugar

Substituting for an artificial natural sweetener Sucrolose

2. Truly Low Calorie

Measuring ingredients to stay around 30 calories per cookie. ‍

3. Prioritizing Taste
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To ensure great tasting cookies and a good dieting experience

Research and Insights

Through research and interviews it was found that many users dedicated to fitness, losing weight, and eating cleaner dealt with similar issues. People are more conscious about calorie tracking and nutritional information.

The interviews and statistics highlight a significant shift in consumer behavior towards choosing products with no added sugars.

SOURCE National Library of Medicine

"I wish that there were more pastries with less or no added sugars so I can eat the food I like without worrying about having added face fat or acne because sugar always triggers both of those." Perspective by Arnav

"When calorie tracking I read nutrition labels religiously and it's always the same story with sweets and drinks all having insane amounts of added sugar" Perspective by Angel

According to the International Food Information Council's 2023 Food and Health Survey, "72% of consumers are actively trying to limit or avoid sugar in their diets".

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Conclusion

Outcomes and Reflections

This was definitely an ambitious project to take on this summer.

Reflections

I learned a lot of different things starting Sweet Cut

1. Branding requires a lot of thought and constancy
2. Clear messaging on ingredients and benefits increased trust and engagement.
3. Creating packaging and collaborating with shipping companies is hard
4. Walgreens is good for small scale cookie making, however huge manufacturing is a different story.

NEXT STEPS

Although this was just a short term project, the fact that we received orders from strangers and across 2 states meant there was really something here. People that tried the cookies enjoyed them, reinforcing the demand for a no-added-sugar alternative.

Moving forward, we would focus on:

1. Stronger marketing & branding, refining our messaging to emphasize health benefits and unique flavors.
2. Influencer partnerships, collaborating with health and wellness influencers to build credibility and reach a larger audience.
3. Streamlining production to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and scale distribution.
4. Expanded presence and collaboration, exploring partnerships with local cafes, gyms to make Sweet Cut more accessible.

By refining these areas, we could turn this initial success into a long-term, scalable business which is so exciting. There is so much room in the market for new ideas and projects like these.