Three students from Northampton Academy have designed, created and marketed a breakfast bar which will be produced and sold to students via the school’s food outlets.
The idea was born during a life skills lesson about teamwork in which the girls were given a design brief to make a marketable healthy food item for the school canteen.
Three Year 7 girls came up with the idea of ‘Brekkie Bar’, a nutritious high energy cereal bar. After presenting their idea to the class, ‘Brekkie Bar’ was voted as the winner. Teacher Lisa Ridgard arranged for the girls to present to the Principal, Mr. Parnell who liked it so much he set up a meeting with the school’s catering manager Caroline Beech to discuss producing the bar and trialling it across the Academy.
Three prototype variations of the bars were produced and the girls marketed them in the school Canteen, giving out free samples for all to try. The bars proved very popular and students were queuing up for them. One group said, “ These are lovely, we really like them and will definitely buy them when they go on sale”.
Teacher Mrs Ridgard commented, “I am so proud of the girls who went above and beyond my expectations on this project, working on it at home in their own time. These girls represent the Academy values of Respect, Determination and Ambition very well, as they certainly were ambitious and determined. It is a pleasure to teach them. I would like to thank everyone who has made this possible for the girls. I know they are really excited to see their ‘Brekkie Bars’ on sale next term. I am really proud to work at Northampton Academy with such fantastic students.”
When asked how they came up with the idea, the girls enthused, “Sometimes people don’t have a proper breakfast and can get hungry during the day. We liked the idea of healthy breakfast bars and so did our class. We are so excited and happy that our idea is going to be on sale at the Academy. We are now going to focus on designing the packaging ready for the main launch next term.”
Catering manager Caroline Beech commented, “This is a high energy cereal bar made with seeds, oats and rice. It is completely gluten, nut and dairy free. It will energise students and keep them full until lunch.”