In a partnership that was over two years in the making, this Spring, Juma brought our signature Steep Tea & Creamery boba shop to the fans at PayPal Park in San Jose. The stand opened for the first time on March 2nd at the match between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Los Angeles Galaxy. Besides bringing boba to the fans, the new stand is also providing more shifts for youth and increased opportunities for them to grow in the skills they are learning through Juma.
“We’re really proud and excited to see our boba operation grow here in our home state,” says Steep founder and current Juma Director of Enterprise Development, Alvin Yu. Yu and his partner, Angela, began Steep as a family business after both successfully completed the Juma program and earned their bachelors degrees in business. When Alvin and Angela were ready to move on to their next adventure, they offered Juma the chance to buy Steep and continue their legacy of entrepreneurship by giving Juma’s current young people the same opportunities that Juma gave to them as teens.
“It’s really exciting to see Steep grow and become a learning laboratory for Juma youth.This stand gives them a chance to grow their customer service and teamwork skills while providing a product they’re excited about,” Alvin continues.
The new stand at PayPal Park will provide approximately 240 new shifts each year, generating an extra $5,000 in earned wages for youth before tips. In addition, the new boba business gives youth who have already excelled in other areas of Juma’s stadium operations a chance to work on a product that is more challenging to provide in a high-volume environment. Teamwork is a critical component of Steep’s operations since each drink requires multiple steps to craft and the variety of flavors offered requires a wide range of ingredients which adds complexity to the process.
“The same youth who work at our Steep stands at Levi’s Stadium will also be working at Paypal, so this will add consistency for them and more shifts at a place they enjoy working,” says Bay Area Site Director Mike Rivera.
With the new stand, Alvin is excited to increase the opportunities for youth to focus on and master the customer service that Juma is known for. “Every transaction matters, especially when we’re first starting,” he explains. “Many fans may not know what boba is–we rely on the youth to be ambassadors for the product and get more people excited about boba.”
We hope we’ll see many of our San Jose community at the new stand where they can become a part of our Boba for Good mission by supporting Juma youth and their team with a delicious game day treat.
