Area company uses repurposed components to make needed masks

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. The common Great Depression-era saying is a good rule of thumb any day, but it’s particularly apropos now, as businesses shift resources and introduce new products to meet the changing coronavirus times.  

One area business doing just that is Sarasota-based activewear brand Yummy & Trendy. As demand for face masks has increased during the pandemic, the company seized on the need by creating masks from repurposed components on its production line.

Founder and CEO Veronica Rosas tells Coffee Talk Yummy & Trendy had material left over in storage from making exercise clothing and activewear products. “We thought, ‘We have all of this fabric sitting here — instead of wasting it, let’s make masks out if it,’” she says. “The fact that there wasn’t any inventory for people to buy and then just seeing the trend of what was happening, we just said: ‘This is the perfect time. We have the fabric. We have the manpower. We have the idea. Let’s go ahead and make them.”

To fit a new product into its schedule, Yummy & Trendy adjusted the company timeline and incorporated masks into the calendar. From supply and manufacturing perspectives, it was well positioned to start making masks. Along with fabric, the company had elastic and thread on hand plus skilled workers who could handle the manufacturing.

Yummy & Trendy started to make masks in mid-April. The masks are now available on the company’s website, YummyAndTrendy.com, for $10 to $14. Rosas has contacted retailers to try to get her masks into stores, and she plans to keep making masks for the foreseeable future. “It’s been amazing just to contribute to the shortage,” she says.

For some businesses like Yummy & Trendy, the concept of coming up with new ideas for existing materials might continue beyond the current crisis. “I’ve seen a lot of shifts in what people are doing now based on the pandemic,” Rosas says. “I’ve seen some creative things that are amazing.”