It's not a business partnership Jeff Tezak ever dreamed would happen.
What are the odds of a baseball player from San Diego and a man from West Africa working on his doctorate in history becoming close friends in Nebraska?
Then to venture together to form a business which highlights a native fruit of which few people are familiar?
"It's a crazy story," said Tezak, who played baseball at Nebraska from 2007-09. "The fact we're from completely different parts of the world and we met and decided to do this in Nebraska."
Tezak played professionally in the Chicago White Sox organization prior to returning to Nebraska in 2016 to serve as a volunteer student assistant coach and work on his master's degree in history.
That's how he met Harrouna Malgoubri, who helped navigate Tezak in history courses. They would discuss tips and proof read each other's papers. Between school and coaching baseball, Tezak began pounding coffee to stay awake.
"I was writing papers all the time that fall," Tezak said, "and I was super tired, and he said, 'Hey, this drink has bunch of energy in it.' I was like, 'What are you talking about?' "
Malgoubri poured some milk and honey and stirred it with baobab, an organic fruit naturally grown in West Africa, and gave it to Tezak to drink.
"I was pretty much hooked right away," Tezak said. "The benefits of this fruit are amazing, but nobody's popularized it. The fruit is naturally powdered. When you pop the fruit open, it's a powdered fruit."
So Tezak began mixing the powdered baobab with a variety of other ingredients, and had the idea – why not market this?
Thus, Malgoubri and Tezak formed "Tiiga: Nature's Hydration," with their business forming in Lincoln. Their hydration drink mix, for athletes and non-athletes alike, begins with baobab and includes a balanced blend of sodium, potassium and glucose that will naturally replenish your body. Weight management, blood sugar regulation and digestive health are other key benefits of the drink, which has 35 calories and 5 grams of total sugar.
Part of the business idea stemmed from Malgoubri and Tezak discussing ideas for non-profits in Africa, and knowing that the baobab fruit isn't planted but naturally grows and is naturally harvested.
"Those thoughts were what made us create our product." Tezak said. "We thought there was a huge market for people in Africa to actually sell baobab and make money."
Tezak said the university in general, and the food-processing center specifically, have been huge resources.
"Coming to Nebraska from a different place, you learn how to meet people, create ideas and be successful with one another," Tezak said.
He's all been reminded of his experiences with baseball at Nebraska, both as a player, when he earned first team Academic All-Big 12 honors, and as a coach, when he volunteered as an assistant to former head coach Darin Erstad.
"The competitiveness of playing and coaching sports … the upside of starting a business and the things you can potentially do, is kind of the same reason you play sports. The upside you can't fathom. That's the exciting part."
Recently, "Tiiga: Nature's Hydration" launched a Kickstarter page where people are able to purchase different flavors of the drink that will help produce the final product.
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.
