Teenagers from Linton Village College in Cambridgeshire competed against their fellow students to win first prize for their ‘tear and share’ seasonal sausage in a competition organised by Waitrose and its pork products supplier Dalehead Foods.
The prize-winning sausage was made with roasted carrots and parsnips and pork from outdoor-bred, British pigs.
The judging panel included Waitrose’s meat counter buyer Andy Boulton and Waitrose’s head of sustainability and ethical sourcing Quentin Clark.
Clark said: “What we were looking for was clear evidence that they had considered the market, thought about their packaging and, above all, had created a sausage with real ‘buy me’ appeal – the ‘Sharing Sausage’ has all these qualities.”
‘Buy me’ appeal
Ian Simmons, head of faculty for business and enterprise at Linton Village College, told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “This is an outstanding opportunity for these students: taking a design brief and then having their sausage produced at Dalehead and going on sale in Waitrose.
“They are incredibly proud of their achievements and enthusiastically waiting for the first batch of sausages to reach their nearest store.”
The winning team followed the journey of their sausage being made from coming off the production line at manufacturer Dalehead Foods to tasting. Today (May 21) they are going to Waitrose in Cambridge to see the product in store.
One of the students on the winning team commented: “It’s been really interesting to find out more about the food manufacturing process. This is an awesome opportunity and it will be really exciting to see our sausages in Waitrose.”
Simmons stressed the importance of showing students where their meat comes from and enabling them to make informed choices about their food.
350 pork products to Waitrose
Dalehead Foods supplies more than 350 pork products to Waitrose.
The manufacturer has developed a programme called ASPYRE (Aiming to Support and Promote Young People in the Rural Environment) to educate young people about food manufacturing and show the range of possible careers for young people.
Dalehead Foods’ divisional HR manager Joanne Collins said: “ASPYRE gives us the opportunity to inform and motivate young people to consider career opportunities within the agricultural/food industry and our business, while embracing our values in being a responsible employer and being a great company to work for. It opens up a new world of opportunity to young people.”
Simmons said: “It is an excellent example of how business class activities can really enliven a school curriculum. In the current environment, with the meat production business often in the limelight, it’s great that our students have the opportunity to work with an established meat producer.”