Amid the busy schedules of lectures and organizational activities, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is often a challenge for university students. Amid fast-paced daily routines, practical beverage options are easy to find around campus. However, not all of them can combine good taste, attractive presentation, and health benefits. From this simple concern, Blumee was born.
Blumee is a healthy fruit bar initiated by five students from the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FEB UGM): Shalom Emmanuel (Management 2022), Paulina Berliana (Management 2022), Yulianti Nurhasanah (Management 2023), Meissya Pranoto (Management 2023), and Raiyana Fathi (Management 2023). More than just selling beverages, they aim to introduce a healthy lifestyle that is close to students’ everyday lives, fresh, practical, and affordable.
The idea for Blumee originated from simple observations of students’ habits on campus. They noticed that more young people were becoming concerned about healthy living, yet still found it difficult to access healthy drinks that suited students’ tastes while remaining budget-friendly.
“We conducted brainstorming sessions and simple market research by observing students’ habits, current trends, and even experimenting with various recipes independently. From there, we wanted to ensure that Blumee offered not only healthy drinks, but also flavors that many people would enjoy and that would suit students’ preferences,” said Meissya, one of Blumee’s founders.
Building on the concept of fruit-based beverages, Blumee offers a variety of menu options, ranging from smoothies, juices, and cold-pressed drinks to milkshakes. Interestingly, despite promoting a healthy lifestyle, Blumee maintains light, refreshing flavors that students can easily enjoy. Currently, Blumee operates at Pertamina Tower, 1st Floor, FEB UGM.
The journey of building Blumee was not an instant process. Preparations began in October 2025. The team later participated in the EB Kedai pitching event held in December 2025, where they presented their business idea to the faculty. For Meissya, the faculty’s support in providing business space and funding assistance was a valuable experience for students to learn firsthand how to build a business. Behind Blumee’s growth lies a long process undertaken by the team.
One of the main challenges they face is balancing academic responsibilities, internships, and business operations. Some team members are even participating in internship programs outside Yogyakarta, making coordination and communication essential to ensure the business continues to run smoothly.
“Usually, we focus on internships from morning until evening, then continue handling Blumee’s needs at night. For daily operations, we divide the work into several shifts, and we also have a store manager who ensures operations, stock management, and team coordination run well,” she explained.
Through the process of building Blumee, Meissya admitted that she learned a great deal about consistency. According to her, building a business is not only about becoming viral for a moment but also about maintaining relevance in the long term. She realized that every business must continue to grow and innovate to survive amid changing trends and market demands. Therefore, Blumee continuously strives to introduce new product variations that align with customer preferences.
“In the near future, Blumee will launch a new menu item in the form of fruit sorbet,” she revealed.
Looking ahead, they hope Blumee will not only be recognized as a place to buy juice or smoothies, but also as a brand associated with a healthy lifestyle that is easily accessible to students. Amid the process of developing Blumee, Meissya also shared a message for students who aspire to start their own businesses.
According to her, consistency, the courage to start, and the ability to understand the market are essential aspects of sustaining a business amid the dynamics of student life.
“One of the most important lessons when starting a business is realizing that we do not have to create something that suits everyone. Not everyone is our target market, and that is completely okay. What matters most is finding the uniqueness of the business we build, understanding who our market is, and focusing on providing the best value for them,” she concluded.
Reported by: Najwa Anggi Namira
Editor: Kurnia Ekaptiningrum
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