Brownies fuel teen’s trip to Japan
Josh Rackard has become the brownie barron of Awatapu College after mixing an entrepreneurial idea with some elbow grease in the kitchen.
The 14-year-old was looking for ways to fundraise to help him get to Japan in April next year when he came up with the idea of Black Market Brownies.
Rackard commandeered his mum’s tried and tested brownie recipe for the project, and the venture has been so popular he estimates he’s sold about 1000 of them since the project launched late last year.
‘‘It’s a family recipe, and my mum’s been adapting it for a bit. The secret to a good brownie is probably to get it as sweet as possible.
‘‘I’ve got a good customer base now, people come looking for me.’’
He sells the rich chocolatey treats to teachers and students as he moves between classes and about the playground throughout the day.
They know if he has stock, as he carries a branded Black Market box full of the brownies everywhere with him.
At one point, Rackard said he briefly dabbled in ginger crunch on the side, but the market confirmed the brownies were where the money was at, so that’s what he’s concentrating on.
He typically makes and sells about two batches a week, at $1 each, with the materials covered by his parents.
He packages each brownie himself, so they can be eaten later.
‘‘I thought brownies would be good, because in Intermediate my friends enjoyed my home made baking. ‘‘Now I’ve raised about $1000.’’ School head of Japanese, Elin King, said she had been impressed by how Rackard had created his own unique enterprise.
‘‘This will be the 9th class that I’m taking to Japan, and usually the fundraising is just following instructions, or barbecues or window washing.
‘‘This is very innovative, this was something that was completely his idea – he ran with it, and he was totally self driven, and does everything himself. He deserves to be successful.’’
Rackard’s devotion to learning the Japanese language has also resulted in a bronze prize in the international Language Perfect test for Japanese learners of all levels, and he was part of the winning Manawatu team in the regional final of the national secondary school Japanese language quiz in June.