The maker of frozen chocolate covered bananas was the big winner of the uPlan Youth Tank contest, picking up his check for $4,000 on Thursday, Sept. 7.
Pitt Meadows Secondary School student Chris Evans won the top prize of the youth entrepreneurial competition announced in June.
The 16-year-old came up with the idea after a trip to Disneyland in California with his family in 2019, where they first had the chocolate-dipped treat.
They thought, how can we bring this back home.
In the summer of 2021, after a few years of planning and research, they hit their first farmers market, and said Evans, now they are at three markets.
Mostly they sell at the farmers markets in Pitt Meadows and in Port Coquitlam, but most recently they have been selling at the Haney Farmers Market as well.
So far he has sold about 1,500 frozen chocolate dipped bananas.
Evans knew his chocolate covered banana business, called The Banana Bike, would be a good contender for the Youth Tank competition.
“I thought it was really cool, kind of a cool community thing for youth trying to get into business and stuff,” he said about the contest.
He is going to use his winnings to purchase a solar powered generator so that he will be able to dip on site. He is also hoping to talk to a food scientist to see how they can get their banana treats into stores.
His website is TheBananaBike.ca.
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Diane Dezura represented her daughter, Ashley Dezura, who now attends Western University in Ontario.
The 18-year-old, a graduate of Thomas Haney Secondary, is the maker of Grandma Harriet’s Salad Dressing, and won $1,500 towards her business.
Her grandma, shared her mother, had made the salad dressing for 50 years and Ashley is now using that same recipe.
She will be using her winnings to try to get the dressing mass produced.
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Alanna Zhao, who now attends Trinity Western University, won $500 to create an online store to sell her oil paintings.
The Thomas Haney grad paints everything from scenics to portraits.
Winners picked up their cheques at the Greg Moore Youth Centre.
The uPlan Youth Tank contest put young entrepreneurs – aged 14- to 24-years-old – in Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, or Katzie First Nation against one another as they pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges for a chance to win thousands of dollars.
Carter Hugill, Tyler Westover, and Taryn Stephenson judged the competition.
