A group of college students have flexed their entrepreneurial muscles to come up with a solution to the huge amounts of food waste created at Christmas time and, at the same time, raise money for charity.

The group of five students, who are studying on the Public Services course at Redcar & Cleveland College, came up with the idea of a cook book giving recipes for turning people’s Christmas dinner leftovers into tasty treats instead of going in the bin.

 

The team, who came up with the company name ‘Wham’, was made up of 17 year old Bethany Goodman from Dormanstown; Adam Goodman, 16, from Grangetown; Jack Birch, 16, from Normanby; Aaron Bell, 17, from Teesville; and Louis Jinx, 17, from Teesville.

 

They were the winners of the college’s annual Enterprise Challenge which saw over 200 students work in teams to develop a business idea right from the initial product idea through to taking it to market. 

 

During the two day event they worked with experts from local business to help set out their financial, manufacturing and marketing plans, before pitching their idea to a ‘dragon’s den’ of local business people.

 

Speaking about the book, called the ‘Recipe’s of Christ’MASS’ Destruction’, Bethany, who was chosen as the team’s Leader, said:

 

“There has been a lot of talk in the media recently about the amount of food that goes to waste which is perfectly good and we thought that it would be a particular problem around Christmas, so we tried to come up with a simple solution that would stop people putting so much in the bin.

 

“We settled on the idea of a cook book with recipes for recycling the leftovers from Christmas dinner as we thought this is one of the meals where the most leftovers are created and we could see that there was a potential market out there for recipes that allowed people to make them go a little further.”

 

The group produced a prototype cookbook, featuring recipes including Christmas Pudding Sundae and Festive Bubble and Squeak and, after speaking to the business experts, decided that they would donate a proportion of the profits which the book generated to homeless charity Shelter.

 

Their pitch to the business experts was so impressive that they landed the title of overall Enterprise Challenge winners, with the judges commenting on the enthusiasm and professionalism of their approach.

 

Lynda Sandick, one of the business experts judging the teams, said:

 

“The team’s pitch to us stood out despite some very strong competition from the other students taking part. They had thought about every aspect of the business process and had considered the bigger picture of how their product would fit into the marketplace.

Speaking about winning the title, Louis, who was one of the groups active members, said:

 

“We worked really hard to develop the idea, and we put everything into our pitch, but it was still a surprise when our name was called out as winners.

 

“It’s made me realise that it’s not beyond me to think about starting a business of my own once I’ve finished my course.”

 

College Principal Gary Groom presented the team with their prize. He said:

 

“We’re immensely proud of the achievements of all of the students who have taken part in the Enterprise Challenge. I know that the judges deliberated long and hard before choosing the winning team.

 

“This programme really does give our students ‘the edge’ which we know makes them more attractive to employers. 

 

“The event is made possible by the many business experts who give their time freely to support our students, every year the number of experts coming forward to take part just keeps on growing as the word is out that Redcar & Cleveland College is delivering this exciting enterprise experience.

 

“This is the sixth year that we have staged our enterprise event and without a doubt this has been the most inspiring and successful to date.