Food technology students from Nantwich wowed industry experts with a range of new healthy children’s meals for supermarkets.
Eleven final year Reaseheath College students developed chilled ready meals suitable for a new Tesco range.
They followed a complex brief following strict retail industry standards which included carrying out research into nutrition, portion sizes, costing and package design.
They then prepared their dish and presented it before a panel of food industry experts.
The panel was headed by Tesco product development manager Stephanie Bacon and included new product development specialists from the Greencore Group, which produces and supplies ready meals for the retailer.
Dishes which particularly caught the eye included a chicken dinner by Dina Silva, a sausage and baked bean casserole by Alex Mangnall, and a sweet chicken curry from Nazreen Dwada.
Stephanie Bacon said: “It has been very interesting to touch base with the young talent coming into the industry.
“Tesco has always been keen to give something back by helping to guide and advise the next generation of food technologists.
“We are also constantly developing our own food ranges and are particularly interested in innovative dishes for children which are high in nutrition but low in the less desirable ingredients such as fat and salt.
“We were very impressed by the thought and effort which the students had put into this project.
“The overall standard of the products was excellent and every student brought a meal into the room which was healthy and flavourful.”
The project was organised by lecturer in new product design Jayne Storer, working with Tesco and Greencore.
Jayne said: “This was a true test of the students’ initiative because it was the first time they had worked to a live brief.
“It was extremely industry focused and realistic, replicating exactly what they will need to do in their future careers.”
Alex Mangnall, 19, said: “This was a really interesting project which gave us a real life experience of the food industry and will be really useful for our CVs.”
(Pic: Judges Stephanie Bacon, Jenna Cree, Kim Capstick and Kris Woods, all from Greencore, join Reaseheath food technology students who have developed children’s ready meals)
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