Students from Etelä-Tapiola Upper Secondary School as entrepreneurs: Ice tea business reaches the Finnish championship finals

Halla Tea JA, a business founded as part of the JA Company Programme at Etelä-Tapiola Upper Secondary School, made it to the Finnish finals. The JA Company Programme of Junior Achievement (JA) Finland gives students the opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship and establish their own company for the school year. The companies compete at regional events for a place in the Finnish championship finals. The Uskalla Yrittää entrepreneurship competition finals will be held in Helsinki at Mall of Tripla on 24–25 April 2024. The general public will be able to get to know the companies at a fair event organised in Tripla’s Event Square on the 4th floor on Wednesday, 24 April 2024 from 2.30 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.

Renar Viidik, Martin Repka, Henri Rehtijärvi, Emma Komu, Sofianna Kläusler, Nia Kellas and Jenniina Eronen started in the JA Company Programme during the second school period last autumn. Emma and Jenniina had some entrepreneurship experience from the Pikkuyrittäjät entrepreneurship education programme for primary schools. Nia, in turn, had run a window washing business with her friend during the summer vacation.

“I wanted to try entrepreneurship without any risk while also learning customer service skills, among other things”, says Henri.  “I got excited about the topic already in 9th grade when I heard about Etelä-Tapiola Upper Secondary School’s focus on social sciences. The JA Company Programme allows you to create something of your own”, Sofianna says. Other members of the group also mention working life and teamwork skills as some of the things they have learned in the programme.

History and social studies lecturer Timo Holmström, who served as teacher and mentor, suggested that two companies be founded in the programme. However, the group disagreed. “A bigger team means higher quality results”, Henri says. The upper secondary school has had companies operated by a bigger group before, with success reached even at the European level.

“I started as a teacher at Etelä-Tapiola Upper Secondary School a few years ago and this is the first JA Company Programme that I have led. It has been wonderful to watch the enthusiasm with which the young people have gotten involved the project. The right attitude is everything in entrepreneurship”, Timo Holmström says.

Halla Tea JA makes bottled ice tea; in the semifinals stage, the flavours were blueberry and lingonberry. Being Finnish and Nordic is important to the company, as are natural and artisanal qualities. The products are made by hand.

Renar says that ice tea was by no means their first idea; the group went through and assessed eleven ideas in total. “We were seriously considering tool rental”, Jenniina says. The ideas were various services, with ice tea as the only product idea. “Ice tea is trendy among young people”, Nia points out.

Sofianna explains that Halla also wanted to introduce other flavours of ice tea than the lemon and peach traditionally sold in Finland. “We don’t copy others”, Henry says. “We found a gap in the market and filled it”, Martin says.

Even though there are a lot of people involved in Halla Tea, big conflicts have been avoided. The company has a good democracy and everything is voted on. “Everyone was being nice at first, but now we argue more”, Nia adds.

Each person has found their own role in the company according to their skills. Everyone has taken part in making the products. Henri is the chair of the board and responsible for the graphic look. Jenniina has been developing the product, while Nia is the managing director as well as handling marketing and being in charge of social media. Martin is the assistant communications officer and took care of the sales pitch. Emma has participated in production and logistics (because she has a driver’s licence) and been involved in design. Sofianna has taken care of financial matters and accounting. Renar has been responsible for ordering the bottles: “It wasn’t very easy at all, I had to search for a long time.” 

The students exude mutual respect and good team spirit. Running a business has clearly been enjoyable.  Several of them mention that they have a lot of fun together. “Thanks to the company, I’ve finally learned how to use a calendar”, says Martin, making the group laugh. Martin says that his sales skills have developed. Nia says that she has become more open. Henri thinks his teamwork skills have improved. In Emma’s opinion, the best thing has been new people and new things.

According to the whole group, the best thing has been making the products together. There are many funny stories to remember for a long time. They have been making the ice tea in the kitchen of Saunalahti school (Nia’s former school), which Halla was very nicely permitted to use. The group has spent a lot of time there, including at night. The development work also took its time. The first batch was really not good, but then they found the right recipe. Finding the right level of sweetness for the lingonberry ice tea was especially challenging.

All the students had previously acquired hygiene passports, so the product has been monitored very closely. The product is pasteurised and good care is taken in storing it.

Designing the name and logo also took time. The logo includes forest and ‘halla’ refers to the ground being frozen -> Finnish ice tea. Halla Tea JA sought the opinions of potential customers about the logo options at the Iso Omena shopping centre before the big decision was made. The logo was designed by Henri.

The semifinals at the Myyrmanni shopping centre in Vantaa were naturally an exciting event. The business made no sales at first. The people coming by said that they would be back; that did not seem believable. But then a good number of customers emerged and the sales picked up. The group had some doubts about the demand for the tart lingonberry flavour, so only a ‘limited edition’ was made for the semifinals. However, it sold surprisingly well, and it is good to boot!

In the semifinals, the stand design brought nature indoors, respecting the product. Halla Tea JA plans to make a more impressive stand for the finals. The current plan is to produce a batch of x,xxx bottles of ice tea for the finals. Estimating demand is difficult, however. The Halla team will have a chance to test demand and their new stand at a pop-up at the Ainoa shopping centre on 20th April.

Many of the students involved in Halla are interested in continuing with the business even after the JA Company Programme. Continuing would require finding a partner and a retailer, for example. The programme has already given the students a taste of what running a company is really like. “Starting a company is not some mysterious thing”, Jenniina says.

“I’m looking forward to the finals. It would also be great if the young people continued making ice tea after the competition. The product is so good that there will definitely be a market for it, as long as other aspects, such as production, can be knocked into shape”, says Timo Holmström.

In addition to upper secondary education (i.e. upper secondary schools and vocational institutes), the JA Company Programme is also available for lower secondary schools and higher education.