Did you know that, in the Americas, 16% of children under five and 19% of pregnant women suffer from anemia (data from the Pan-American Health Organization)? This condition can have several causes, such as poor nutrition, and is particularly more common in places like Peru, where one in two children has the condition. When diagnosed, anemia is generally addressed through dietary changes and supplements. But what if this treatment could taste better and become something enjoyable?
This is the idea behind “Hemosfere”, the winning project of Solve for Tomorrow in Peru, in 2025. Four students aged 15 and 16, who were in the final two years of compulsory schooling (fourth and fifth years of secondary school), developed a functional passion fruit-flavored drink, containing calcium, iron, and other nutrients.
The mediator teacher, Jhosselyne de la Cruz, teaches Business Management, a subject offered by the school as part of its International Baccalaureate program. “Look at how the project started: students in High Performance Colleges [COAR, in Spanish] are admitted by an exam. During the interviews, we noticed different cases of malnutrition and diseases such as anemia, some of them linked to economic difficulty”, explains the teacher.
The students had already experienced this problem in some way, whether through a cousin, a friend or sibling, and decided to create a solution that people they know could take advantage of, emphasizes the educator.
Thus, the students envisioned a drink to accompany families’ lunch or dinner, in order to replace the antianemic cookies to which they are accustomed. “We thought it would be a product with practicality too, something parents could send to their children at the nests,” she adds.
The challenges of creating a safe and tasty product for students
According to the teacher, this was an important learning experience for the students, who came to understand the importance of developing a prototype focused on the user experience. “We tested several times and perfected the prototype until it had a good response from the potential audience,” reports the teacher. To achieve this formulation, the project also had the support of biology and chemistry teachers, as well as access to the school’s laboratory. The students also paid special attention to the safety of ingredients and the encapsulation process, seeking to use natural components safe for consumption, starting from the technique of mini-spherification.
Now, one of the biggest challenges still is obtaining the necessary authorizations and licenses for manufacturing the product. “We went to the various institutions such as the General Directorate of Environmental Health (DIGESA) to request the information and meet all the requirements they requested. The students needed to wear gloves, lab coats, and other protective equipment”, says Cruz. The teacher points out that the team has already met the requirements set by the authorities, and that the authorizations have not yet been issued solely because the corresponding payments remain to be made to complete the process.
In accordance with standardized safety and health standards, the testing phase included tests with 15 students from a public school to observe the potential effects of the product. With the support of nutritionists, students also received a meal plan that accompanied the consumption of the product for 15 days. “We saw great results in the exams of this group,” she says. The teacher explains that the drink is intended to supplement the diet, rather than serve as a stand-alone treatment for anemia.
Learning to work in a team
In addition to the scientific and technical challenges, the project required students to develop collaborative work skills. The teacher says that reconciling different opinions was one of the main challenges of the group. “When you present a project on your own, you do it the way you want, the way you think is best. But presenting a project as a group of four or five people is a bit complicated, because everyone thinks differently,’ she explains.
The preparation for the pitch also required a lot of dedication. During the trip to Lima, capital of Peru, for the final of Solve for Tomorrow, students remained focused on the project. In the evenings, after the scheduled activities, they would return to the room to review the presentation, study and continue working on the product.
The effort was rewarded with first place. The teacher closely followed the process and claims to have witnessed the students’ dedication, from studies and essays to finding solutions for the differences that arose during teamwork.
The students were nervous about the public presentation. But, before the final, they had the opportunity to participate in a national contest that facilitated the process. “In Solve for Tomorrow they were calmer. I told them: don’t play too much, transmit safely and naturally what you already know”, advised the teacher.
When the result was announced, the surprise was so great that the students had not even gone to the award ceremony initially. “They couldn’t believe it,” she recalls. Following their victory, the team’s goal is to turn the drink into a product available in the Peruvian market and, in the future, also in other countries.
