"Continue to dream big, kahit ang bizarre ng mga ideas. Pero sana di lang siya dream, you will take that one step, iyong leap of faith na iyon para simulan siya (Continue to dream big, even if the ideas seem bizarre. But don’t let it stay a dream — take that leap of faith to start it).”
WHAT began as a classroom requirement is now a bubbling business at the Baguio Centermall, as a group of Benguet State University (BSU) entrepreneurship students joins a growing wave of Filipino youth turning academic innovation into market-ready startups.
Crystal Ariane Arellano, Princess Smaeranza Dulay and Paul Ezekiel Joaquin are the minds behind “After Blend,” a beverage brand that seeks to find the sweet spot between health-conscious nutrition and the fizzy appeal of soda.
The trio developed the concept while working on their undergraduate thesis. Originally envisioned as a pure fusion of fresh fruits and vegetables, the team realized they needed a “hook” to capture the younger demographic.
“Habang ginagawa namin iyong thesis namin, nagki-create kami ng innovative product. Actually nag-start si After Blend hindi as sodas, as fusion lang siya ng fresh fruits and vegetables. Hanggang sa parang, why not incorporate soda para mas patok sa bata, something new in the market. So ayun, hanggang sa ina-R&D namin, nakailang trials and errors kami hanggang sa makuha namin ‘yung tamang tipla (While we were doing our thesis, we were creating an innovative product. We thought, why not incorporate soda to make it a hit with kids and offer something new? We went through R&D and countless trials and errors until we found the right blend),” Arellano, the group leader, said.
The journey of After Blend mirrors a shifting landscape in Philippine higher education, where “studentpreneurship” is moving from a side hustle to a primary career path.
Driven by a desire for financial independence and supported by government grants, more students are utilizing campus incubators to launch “agri-preneurial” ventures.
The After Blend team first tested their market at BSU during Entrepreneurship Week.
The initial reception was a lesson in grit; sales were slow, forcing the team to pivot from selling pure beverages to a “mix and match” strategy.
When they eventually secured a space at the Baguio Centermall, they faced the “new brand” hurdle.
“Since the brand was new and the store was just put up, no one was buying. People weren’t even curious,” Arellano recalled.
To survive, she took a grassroots approach: “I walked around the entire mall, approaching people one by one until we recovered our costs.”
Leap of faith
While the group initially planned to distribute their products in cans and bottles, they pivoted to a physical stall to ensure full compliance with rigorous food safety standards — a common bottleneck for small startups looking to scale.
Their persistence caught the attention of the Department of Agriculture.
The group joined the Young Farmers Challenge (YFC) in Benguet, a competitive program designed to provide financial grants to youth-led agri-fishery enterprises.
They emerged with an P80,000 startup grant, which provided the capital and networking opportunities needed to bring their bizarre ideas to life.
Programs like the YFC are critical in a country where the average age of a farmer is 57. By incentivizing Gen Z to view agriculture through a tech-and-trend lens, the government hopes to ensure future food security.
Currently, Crystal, Princess and Paul are focused on expanding their reach and meeting the requirements to place their products on physical store shelves across the Cordillera region.
For Arellano, the success of the startup is rooted in a fundamental mindset shift that she encourages other young Filipinos to adopt.
“As long as you will believe on your product, mama-market mo siya. Kasi kung hindi ka maniniwala sa product mo first, hindi mo siya mama-market sa other people. So, continue to dream big, kahit ang bizarre ng mga ideas. Pero sana di lang siya dream, you will take that one step, iyong leap of faith na iyon para simulan siya (As long as you believe in your product, you can market it. If you don’t believe in it first, you can’t market it to others. Continue to dream big, even if the ideas seem bizarre. But don’t let it stay a dream — take that leap of faith to start it),” Arellano emphasized.
Through After Blend, these BSU students are proving that in the Highlands, the most fertile ground for innovation is often found right inside the classroom.
PIA
CULTIVATING THE NEXT CROP OF ‘AGRI-PRENEURS’
While the success of student startups like “After Blend” often appears as a singular triumph of grit, it is increasingly the result of a deliberate national strategy to professionalize agriculture and entice the Filipino youth back to the soil.
In the Philippines, the average age of a farmer is 57. Without a significant influx of younger, tech-savvy leaders, the country faces a looming food security crisis. To combat this, government agencies and academic institutions have pivoted from traditional vocational training to high-stakes entrepreneurial incubation.
Central to this shift is the Young Farmers Challenge (YFC). Managed by the Department of Agriculture, the YFC is not merely a contest; it is a competitive financial grant system designed to lower the barrier to entry for Gen Z. By providing “startup capital” rather than just loans, the program allows students to take the “leap of faith” mentioned by the Benguet State University (BSU) team without the immediate pressure of debt.
Since its inception, the YFC has awarded millions of pesos to hundreds of youth-led enterprises across the country — ranging from mushroom production and hydroponics to innovative food processing ventures like After Blend.
From classrooms to incubators
Academic institutions like BSU are also evolving. No longer are “theses” destined only for library shelves.
Under the guidance of the Commission on Higher Education, business and agriculture programs are becoming incubators where “Market-Ready Research” is the new benchmark for graduation.
This “learning-by-doing” pedagogy forces students to confront real-world hurdles — such as Food and Drug Administration compliance, supply chain logistics and branding — long before they receive their diplomas.
This trend also feeds into the broader “brain gain” mission spearheaded by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas and the Department of Trade and Industry. By fostering a robust startup culture at home, the government aims to provide viable alternatives to overseas migration.
As students like Crystal, Princess and Paul prove that a “bizarre” academic idea can survive a competitive mall environment, they provide a template for their peers: that the path to success does not always lead to a flight out of the country — sometimes, it begins with a blender and a local grant right in their own backyard.