News article
22 June 2012
Glasgow students' recipe for success
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PRESS RELEASE
Today, pupils from Holyrood Secondary School in Glasgow have successfully
pitched their own range of smoothies to Matthew Algie[1], a leading independent
UK
coffee roaster, and some of the 'Blizzard Blend' range recipes will feature in
the
manufacturer's summer 2013 Espresso Warehouse catalogue.
As part of a Business Management course, the pupils, aged 13-14 (S3), took part
in the 'Will it Blend?' smoothie challenge working closely with Matthew Algie
to
create a new range of smoothies aimed at 12-18 year olds. The new smoothie
creations took the pupils months of project work and involved extensive market
analysis, product development and testing.
Food manufacturing has offered a context for these students to develop and apply
skills around business development, marketing, financial management and product
development. Over the course of the challenge pupils have also learnt how
different skills and subjects in the curriculum can lead to different job roles
in the
future.
This partnership between education and industry was developed by the Scottish
Food and Drink Federation's (SFDF)[2] ' A Future in Food'[3] national schools
programme. A Future in Food works to foster mutually beneficial relationships
between
schools and the Scottish food and drink industry, helping teachers, pupils and
parents better understand the sector and highlighting the wide variety of
careers
on offer.
Ann Marie McGibbon, Business Management Teacher at Holyrood Secondary School,
said: “Working with Matthew Algie for the 'Will it Blend?' smoothie challenge has
given pupils first-hand experience of starting a businesses and taking a
product to
market. Pupils are thrilled that their smoothies will be available to buy.”
Ewan Reid, Technical Director at Matthew Algie, said: “Our work with pupils at Holyrood Secondary School has allowed us to get young
people excited about food and to encourage them to consider a career in the
industry.”
Moira Stalker, SFDF Schools Programme Coordinator, said: “There are so many exciting job opportunities in food: in science, product
development, engineering, marketing, nutrition and design. Projects like 'Will
it
Blend?' open young people's eyes to the opportunities that the modern Scottish
food
industry has to offer them.”
Notes to Editors:
- Matthew Algie is a leading independent UK coffee roaster. The company is a coffee partner
with some of the biggest names on the High Street, espresso bars and top hotels
throughout the UK and Ireland.
- The Scottish Food and Drink and Federation is the voice of the Scottish food and drink manufacturing industry – Scotland's
largest manufacturing sector. .
- SFDF's schools programme A Future in Food,
- Images from today's student presentation are available for download from FDF's Flickr page.
More information
FDF press Team:
Nicki Hunt on or 020 7420 7132 - nicki.hunt@fdf.org.uk
Rebeca Wilhelm or 020 7420 7140 - rebecca.wilhelm@fdf.org.uk
Avni Raval or 020 7420 7131 - Avni.Raval@fdf.org.uk
Anna Taylor or 020 7420 7118 - anna.taylor@fdf.org.uk
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