It's been an eventful time for the Polytech’s potato-preneur Emily Gilbert. In the span of a month, she’s reached student stardom with her stupendous spud scoop – from an experimental culinary assignment to Patti’s and Cream sales and a national TV stint. Forget Leo and Virgo, this is the month of the potato.
Soon after Critic’s review of potato milk and ice cream was published in issue 18, 1News was said to have read our article. A mere two weeks later, Emily was interviewed on national television. Spudmania followed. Three further articles were written by Stuff, the Otago Polytechnic, and The Star, and two radio interviews were had – all choc-a-bloc with punny spuddy titles. And now Critic's back! We're big fans of sloppy seconds.
Pigs can't fly, but potatoes can bear fruit. Under the brand name Mud (as in milk + spud), Emily's Chocolate "Chip" Crunch flavoured ice cream hit the Patti's and Cream menu on August 26th. Unfortunately, we cannot accurately report on whether it is still there, as all sixty litres sold out after a staggering five days. $848.75 of proceeds were generously donated to the World Food Programme.
And the future looks bright for Mud-land. Soon, the young businesswoman is off to Timaru, in talks with Heartland Chips (whose logo adorns her Mud products) to hopefully use their waste potatoes in her products. With this success has come new challenges, however. The first batch was "super-stressful to make" as she approached making sixty litres, having only ever made two before. "It took two days. Now it only takes one." Even in Mud, growth can be had.
We knew the writhing masses would want to know who this mad genius really was. And she had answers. Emily Gilbert was born in Christchurch on a lifestyle block (small farm), before moving to Queenstown when she was eight. She was quick to emphasise that this did not make her a "nonce" like most Queenstownians. Critic had to tell her what that word meant.
Being only in her second year at the Otago Polytechnic, the potato powerhouse admitted to suffering a little bit of imposter syndrome, saying, "It doesn't feel real. It sometimes feels like I'm pretending.” But her family backs her, saying she looked "very good on TV," with her Uncle proudly proclaiming, "I knew her before she was famous!"
Before rushing off to class, the CEO of potatoes left us with two messages. She defended her brand name, as "all the [alternatives] I came up with were stupid," and "Mud is where the potatoes come from." Finally, a summary, "This started as a student project collaboration to make an accessible commercial venture. It'll eventually shift toward a full-blown business."