Primary 7 pupils inspired to work in the food industry
Meat and sausage manufacturer Charcuterie, which is part of the ANM Group Ltd, teamed up with their local primary school to challenge around 50 primary 7 pupils to set up their own companies. The project was delivered as part of SFDF's innovative schools programme 'A Future in Food'.
- The pupils set up mini-companies in order to design
and develop a new sausage, pizza topping or
meat coating for Charcuterie.
- The task aimed to expand pupils' knowledge in
areas such as new product development,
marketing, packaging and finance.
- By using the food industry as a context for learning, the project helped
teachers deliver key parts of the curriculum.
- By the end of the project, a fifth of the pupils said
they would like to work in the food industry.
Working in teams, P7 pupils at Milngavie Primary School were set the challenge
of setting up minicompanies to design and develop a new sausage, pizza topping
or
meat coating.
To help the 'companies', the pupils received several visits including:
- Charcuterie staff who took the 'companies' through the
product development process – from idea generation all the
way to product launch.
- A local bank manager who explained the role of good
financial management.
- Marketing and design specialists who highlighted some
key challenges of setting up and running a business and,
importantly, the need for a unique selling point.
In addition, the pupils also visited:
- Their local Tesco store to undertake market research and
meet one of the in-store butchers who provided some
useful expert knowledge.
- A local farm to gain first hand experience of where meat
comes from.
Having undertaken 'interviews' to appoint key positions
- including managing director, design director, marketing
director, development director and finance director – the
pupils produced a detailed business plan including company
name and brand, a market research report, product plan and
an advertising plan.
The project then culminated in a fun BBC 'The Apprentice'
style event, attended by parents, where each 'company'
made presentations to Charcuterie General Manager, Malcolm
Morrison, about their company and brand, their approach
to the task, the outcomes of their research and the resulting
product.
The winning team were M.F.G with a classic BBQ pork belly
creation.
By the end of the project, 20 per cent of the pupils said they
would like to work in the food industry.
'A Future in Food' facilitates the creation of valuable
educational partnerships that support a Curriculum for
Excellence. As an enterprise initiative, the partnership
between Charcuterie and Milngavie Primary school
combined the curricular themes of health and wellbeing,
literacy and English. It also brought in themes of expressive
arts, social studies, numeracy and mathematics.
The Happy Sausage Company present their new product
ideas.
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Charcuterie General Manager Malcolm Morrison with the winning team M.F.G and
their pork belly creation
"This is a great way to introduce children to the food
industry, expand their knowledge and also to have
some fun at the same time. I am delighted by all
the hard work the pupils have done and their ideas
in the final presentations were of an extremely high
standard."
Malcolm Morrison, General Manager
Charcuterie
A view from the pupils
"I learned to be more creative as you need to look for
gaps in the market".
"It was fun and I've learned more about running a
business which is good because I want to run my own
business when I am older."
A view from the teachers
"This was a stimulating and creative experience
for the children. They really rose to the challenge,
developing a lot of skills and gaining and applying
knowledge in the process. It has given them a lot of
food for thought".
Teachers Kay McIntosh and Liz Orr from Milngavie
Primary School
A logo developed by the pupils for their company.