A 10-year-old entrepreneur has big plans to bring bubble tea to the Pueblo Farmers Market this summer after being inspired by a Pueblo Food Project class.

Bubble tea is an iced drink that doubles as a snack. Known as boba tea, the drink originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s. Bubble tea is so named because it contains tapioca pearls usually sweetened with brown sugar, so as the refreshing drink is slurped through a wide straw, the tapioca pearls get sucked up and provide a chewy snack.

Christiana “Goose” Adakai started her own business called Boba Goose. The business name is a nod to the nickname her mother, Brandi Adakai, gave her when she was a wee tot, “and it just stuck and here we are 10 years later,” Brandi said with a laugh.

Goose, a Pueblo School of Arts and Science sixth grader, first heard about the Boba tea trend when she was in fourth grade and later got a chance to try it at the Pueblo Mall.

“I really just love boba the drink and when I tried it for the first time I was like, ‘oh wah,’ ” Goose said.

When her mom told her about the Pueblo Food Project’s entrepreneur class, she decided to give it a try to learn about starting her own boba tea business. From there, she tried the Pueblo Food Project pitch competition where she debuted a logo and menu and won third place.

Boba Goose coming to Pueblo Farmers Market

Goose was among 30 young vendors who showcased business concepts at the state’s first-ever child entrepreneur farmers market Saturday in the parking lot of the Pueblo Mall. The market was just the beginning, as she has plans to be the Pueblo Farmers Market's first drink vendor.

She offers both boba tea and lemonade drinks. The boba tea can be made in a variety of tea blends such as original milk tea, taro (a vibrant purple tea), matcha (a green tea) or black tea.

“We have regular brown sugar tapioca pearls, which are the chewy ones you can chew,” available in tea drinks, Goose explained. “Then we have the popping juice pearls that just pop in your mouth that we add to lemonade.”

“It’s like fun and cool,” she said.

The popping juice pearls come in passionfruit, kiwi, strawberry, blueberry, mango and pomegranate flavors. The kiwi is Goose's favorite when she wants a tart kick, while the strawberry is her go-to when she wants something sweeter.

“It’s really a fun and exciting drink,” Brandi said.

The pearls are special ordered from a company called Angel. Goose also orders specialty cups with lids that allow room for whipped cream and wide straws that accommodate the tapioca pearls.

As a young entrepreneur, her business falls under the Lemonade Stand Act, which allows youths to run a beverage business without charging sales tax or obtaining a permit.

Goose plans to be at the Pueblo Farmers Market from 7 a.m. to noon on June 30, July 14, July 28 and Aug. 11 at Mineral Palace Park, 1600 N. Santa Fe Ave.

She also will offer Boba Goose drinks from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 17, July 1, July 15, July 22, Aug. 12, Aug. 19, Sept. 2 and Sept. 30 at the Pueblo Mall parking lot, 3429 Dillon Drive.

“The farmers markets are accessible for everybody, even those on SNAP,” Brandi explained, referencing Colorado’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Brandi, who works at Rocky Mountain Service, Employment and Redevelopment, envisions her daughter will be among the first youth to use the empowerment center’s food lab commissary kitchen at 330 Lake Ave. when it opens in August. The food lab has been years in the making and the kitchen is currently being upgraded.

“The food lab will have commercial-grade cooking equipment available, and it will be a place where food entrepreneurs can learn and grow together. It will be available for food trucks, private chefs, caterers or food packagers,” she explained.

The lab should be a boon to those starting out in the culinary world because “most don’t have the money to get a commissary kitchen going. It will help them scale their businesses and accelerate it at the rate they want and go hand-in-hand with the farmers markets, which help start-up food vendors,” Brandi explained.

“I can’t wait to see where it goes,” she said.

To find out more about Boba Goose, go to the Boba Goose Facebook page.

More Pueblo news: Renovations in the works for long-vacant Pueblo elementary schools

Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at tharmon@chieftain.com or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo 10-year-old bringing bubble tea to farmers markets this summer