Entrepreneurship students from EVSU brought home top recognition after being named regional winner during the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Young Farmers Challenge – Intercollegiate Category held on October 22, 2025.
The Grain Cup Cafe’ team of Ms. Marnette Jane Constantino, Ms. Aliana Marie Akala, and Ms. Dimple Mae Go advised by Prof. John Manuel Catuday, impressed the DA’s panel of judges with their enterprise, an innovative reimagining of the local coffee experience into a healthier alternative by locally sourced grains.
Alongside the winning team, Tala Ventures, another EVSU student enterprise mentored by Jesalyn Martinez, Suzanne Claire Ramirez, and Mr. Lee Joseph Petilos also earned recognition for its strong participation in the competition.
Adding to EVSU’s accolades, another entrepreneurship student, Ms. Abegail Talinge, qualified in the Young Farmers Challenge – Start-Up Category.
The Department of Agriculture, through its Young Farmers Challenge program, organized the regional search to identify promising and outstanding Business Model Canvas proposals from student entrepreneurs across the nation.
These competitions provide an avenue for young innovators to develop sustainable and profitable ventures that strengthen the agricultural sector through creativity, technology, and sound business planning.
The success of the Grain Cup Café team and their fellow participants are testament to EVSU’s growing culture of innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership, progressing its goals of developing its learners into catalysts of progress in their chosen fields of study.
This article is aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; and SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.
Photos Courtesy of: YES – Young Entrepreneurs Society EVSU Main
via JS Beleña | UMDC
