Virtual BIDA Competition held successfully
PCCI successfully held its first-ever virtual Business Idea Development Award or BIDA Award on 21 and 23 September 2020 with the theme: “Business Resiliency through Innovation and Entrepreneurship”. The competition usually is face-to-face, where students were to present their business plans before a panel of meticulous judges. Thanks to technology, the event pushed through via zoom, an online platform. From their homes’ comfort, the student-contestants with their coaches virtually defended their presentations to the judges, including the Q & A portion.
Several teams from state colleges and universities nationwide submitted their business plans subject to pre-screening before the selected PCCI Education Subcommittee members in the Food, Non-food, Services, and Technology categories of BIDA 2020. After the pre-screening, the judges’ panel narrowed down the entries to twelve (12), having three (3) for each category. This year, two (2) teams, each from St. Louis University and Malayan Colleges of Laguna, bagged the top awards for the four (4) categories.
St. Louis University from Baguio City emerged as the Champion for the Food category with their winning entry “Cup of Pine”. The product is coffee made from pine cones as its main ingredient. They will introduce this to the market as a healthy coffee and energy booster infused with different flavors such as fruits and locally-made desserts and addresses gut health, metabolism speed, immunity, and more to capture the hearts of coffee lovers.
For the Services Category, Malayan Colleges Laguna bagged the top place for their entry “JuanTap Services”, a service business designed to provide personalized home-errand services to households and give accessible and convenient assistance using an online application platform. The business offers manpower complement such as housekeeping-related needs, installations, handyman works, care-giving, and customized assistance services, which are readily available for ease of access, browsing, information, and communication.
Malayan Colleges Laguna bagged its second win with their entry “OrganiPacks” for the Non-Food category. “OrganiPacks” is a non-plastic packaging made with 100% local and organic ingredients using oregano, clove, thyme, and water lily as the main component. It is a 2 in 1 packaging solution that can be used as a vegetable-storage and plastic alternative. The product itself restricts microorganisms from forming onto the fresh produce. Its herb extractions contain antifungal and antimicrobial aspects that reduce microbe and fungi habitation, thus, help maintain the quality of fruits and vegetables and extend its shelf life by 50% more than regular storage practices used in the market.
The second team from St. Louis University to bag the Technology category’s top place was the business plan called “INSTRUCT-AR”. It offers a new bridge of interaction between companies and their customers in the form of a mobile application – that transforms a simple QR Code into engaging instructions that utilize 3D models and augmented reality to simplify complex manuals and increase customer satisfaction with the product. Instruct-AR aims to contribute to local Filipino companies’ transition to digitize their services, starting from their instruction manuals. The goal is to allow these companies to use engaging instructions to interact with their products while learning how to use it.
Now in its 14th year, the BIDA Award is a project of PCCI’s Education Committee with the aim of recognizing the creativeness and innovativeness of the products, technology, or services using available local, indigenous and recycled materials. It aims to develop an entrepreneurial culture and a sense of nationalism among Filipino youth and promote entrepreneurship as a significant component in sustainable economic development. – GTM