Current students on the BSc Food Marketing and Entrepreneurship were delighted to participate in a recent partnership with the SuperValu Food Academy Food Producers programme. The Food Academy is a longstanding Musgrave initiative that helps develop and support emerging food & drink brands by giving producers their first step into the retail sector. The SuperValu Food Academy promotes producers and their products in Supervalu stores across the country in a manner that is creative, local, committed to quality, and sustainable. Throughout February and March, 1st and 2nd year FME students, mentored by 3 and 4th years, gained invaluable experience from working closely with Food Academy producers, providing expertise and creative input in the areas of social media, marketing, consumer & product market research and packaging redesign. Significant business benefits were realised by SuperValu Food Academy producers, with increased brand awareness and social media engagement, new packaging developments and better consumer insights allowing for more informed decision making. Students learned what it means to be a food entrepreneur and experienced the passion, creativity, challenges and joys that entrepreneurship entails. In addition the initiative provided students with the opportunity develop to their communication, interpersonal, creativity, and networking skills, while applying in-class learning to real-life businesses. Our Food Business and Development Department and the BSc Food Marketing and Entrepreneurship degree is looking forward to a continued relationship with the Musgrave group and the Academy.'
“I really enjoyed the initiative. I thought it gave me a great insight into the world and job I would be doing after completing my FME degree. I really enjoyed putting the knowledge and skills I’ve learned over the past year into practice and meeting and experiencing businesses. I can say I learned a lot about the process of running a business and the tasks businesses have in marketing their products. Overall I would highly recommend to any incoming or current student to take part in this extra activity as it was beneficial, interesting and related to all aspects of our course”.
Aoife White FME1
“I really enjoyed the last eight weeks working with Roll It. The experience gave me a great insight into the everyday running of a small business and the challenges Mairead faces as a business owner everyday. I also really enjoyed the opportunity to communicate and chat with my peers. With few interactive lectures this year, it was great to get the chance to meet people even on zoom every week. Even if life is back to normal next year I think a lot of students would enjoy working as a team once a week to get to know people in the course. Finally, I really enjoyed looking at the different aspects of the business and seeing for myself where I might fit into the industry”.
Heather Kennedy FME2
“Personally, I found that it unleashed my creative and innovative side. I loved designing new packaging for the products and it’s amazing to see our creation sitting on real-life supermarket shelves!! It is nice to have something to show from the time we spent working with Laura. Also, this will benefit me hugely when designing prototypes for my FYP next year so I am very grateful to have had this opportunity. Between the Foodie Society and this project, I’ve gained so much confidence in myself and my ability to lead a team to accomplish a shared goal. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Darren, Maeve, Diarmuid and Laoise. They really were a dream to work with. I would never have met them if it wasn’t for this project and we’ve all decided to stay in touch! “
Laura Kilmartin FME3