Bloom N’ Bond is a business with a passion for the environment at its core — it creates eco-friendly gardening kits with a thoughtful design that includes a compostable pot.
Something unique about the company is that it was dreamed up and started by a group of high school students from different schools, including Tashvee Jhaveri, Mikeah Faterpurwala, Bella Froese, Gurvir Ubhi, and Aqueelah Daibu.
“Bloom N’ Bond has basically been a very community-driven company because we're all from Morden and Winkler, different schools, and we just wanted to bring the entire community together through farming,” says Jhaveri.
The idea has seen support from the community and recognition from JA Canada, the organization through which the students began the project.
As it stands, the small business has received a handful of awards.
JA Canada
The students who began the business are part of JA (Junior Achievement) Canada, an organization that encourages young people to participate in various initiatives.
“Basically, the JA program is a business program for all the high schoolers that are aspiring to be entrepreneurs in the future, and they usually come to our school in November and they set up a stall, so they recruit teenagers and then from November to April, the teenagers make a business,” says Jhaveri.
“You make your own product, you sell it, you make sales pitches, shareholders pitches. It’s been a really fun experience.”
‘I got to meet new people’
Faterpurwala says she initially got involved in JA because she’s trying to find what interests her.
While she may not have decided what the future brings, she says being part of the program has been “the best part of [her] year.”
“I get to meet new people and that way it changes me and who I am as a person,” she says.
Although Froese initially had some doubts, she ultimately enjoyed herself throughout the process, too.
“At first, I was like, ‘Oh, well I don't know, am I good enough to do it?'” she says. “Then we went to the first couple of meetings, I thought, ‘This is actually quite interesting,’ and for the past couple of months, I've just learned so much.”
As part of the project, the students went to local events (including Seedy Saturday) and Winnipeg to sell their garden kits.
A gala to remember
Recently, the team also returned to Winnipeg to attend the JA gala, which gathers all participants for dinner, awards, and scholarships.
Jhaveri says the group from Winkler and Morden was “unique” as the out-of-towners.
“I've done it twice, and every time I go there, it's this whole new experience,” she says.
At this year’s banquet, the Winkler-Morden group won in the following categories:
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Company of the Year
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Best Booth
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Best Innovative Product
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Highest Sales Unit
It was a memorable moment for the team.
“When we were up on stage, the first award was really so exciting, but then it kept going — you could just feel how happy everybody was,” says Faterpurwala.
“You see the audience, and they're just clapping, and then you see parents and everybody else, they're all clapping. And in that moment, .... you're like, ‘This is it.’”
“The gala was just amazing,” adds Froese. “I haven't really been to something like that before, so going there and seeing everyone all dressed up — it felt fancy.”
The end of a memorable era
Although with the end of the school year comes the retirement of Bloom N’ Bond (the group says the last day it will sell its product is at the end of June at another gala in Winnipeg), the experience has been worthwhile for the students.
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They recommend it to others.
“It gave everybody a chance to explore and meet other people, and JA Manitoba is a huge success for young kids. It's a big opportunity for people,” says Faterpurwala. “I would encourage people to do JA because it helps you become a good person, and it brings good people into your life, and you just get to learn so much.”
Froese thanks the people who supported the group and purchased its product.
“I would also like to thank all our advisors and all our team members, because they were just amazing and great people to be around,” she says.
Jhaveri echoes the sentiment.
“Shout out to the community, of course. Our advisors, our team members, the other companies that pushed us to actually work hard enough to win Company of the Year, to the program itself to give us this opportunity, to our family for supporting us through this ... literally everyone who’s heard the name Bloom N’ Bond,” she says.
With files from Jayme Giesbrecht