The students put their BTEC business education to good use to create a Fairtrade milkshake called ‘Moo’ using Fairtrade fruit and sugar. A logo, packaging designs and a full marketing strategy completed their successful entry.
In addition to a cash prize of £350 for the college Gemma Carling, 18 from Coxhoe, Katherine Flower, 19 from Framwellgate Moor, Liam Wilkinson, 19 from Trimdon and Chris Jordan, 19 from Trimdon will be given Fairtrade goody bags and sponsors Traidcraft will be making up the actual product for the students to enjoy a Moo ‘shake-testing’ session.
Winning student Katharine Flower said: “We’re business students already so we found that we could apply a lot of our existing knowledge to the challenge but we also wanted to show people the importance of Fairtrade and how it can change and improve people’s lives.
“We really enjoyed coming up with the ideas and flavours, it was great fun so we’re over the moon we’ve won.”
Teacher Susan Warren added: “The students really worked hard. It was a subject they were naturally enthusiastic about and this showed through in their entry. Now we’re really looking forward to tasting our ‘Moo-shakes’ and finding out which flavour is our favourite!”
The national competition attracted a lot of entries, with pupils from 164 schools and colleges across the country taking part.
The competition invited pupils to invent a Fairtrade snack, packaging and promotional campaign to impress a panel of judges including Traidcraft’s marketing director and representatives from Glisten, a Fairtrade snack manufacturer.
It also aimed to promote education on Fairtrade and ethical enterprise in schools and colleges and also to establish Traidcraft as a supporter of Fairtrade projects and education in schools.
Traidcraft’s marketing director Larry Bush, said: “We were very impressed with the level of Fairtrade understanding that the students showed. Their entry was incredibly creative and well thought out and the attention to detail in their marketing plan and designs was outstanding. They even created their own Moo ringtone as part of their entry.
“It’s great to see such enthusiasm and innovation coming from North East students – especially given that the North East is the home of Fairtrade and Traidcraft.”
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For more information contact Rachael Heath or Karen Parker at Cool Blue Brand Communications on 01642 351011 or email Rachael.heath@coolblue.co.uk
Notes to editors:
- Traidcraft is the UK’s leading fair trade organisation and has been fighting poverty through trade for more than 30 years.
- Traidcraft works to fight poverty through trade by:
Trading with people in Africa, Asia and Latin America
Supporting people in the developing world to build sustainable businesses
Influencing policy making in government and business - Traidcraft sources its products from community-based businesses in the developing world, paying fair prices to the producers and distributing the products in the UK. The goods are sold via supermarkets, independent retailers, online, mail order, and a network of more than 6,000 Fair Traders.
- Glisten Plc is a snack foods group operating at the leading edge of health, nutrition, and premium impulse foods. For more information visit www.glisten.plc.uk
- There are 357 Fairtrade schools and a further 3760 schools registered to work towards the award (this scheme is run by the Fairtrade Foundation www.fairtrade.org.uk ). Many schools took part in the Snack Attack challenge as part of becoming a Fairtrade school or because they already are.
- This is the first fair trade schools competition of its kind. Traidcraft plans to run a follow-up competition next year.
