Zeelandia UK has given catering students from Market Field College in Clacton, Essex, a taste of industrial baking by hosting a four-part workshop.
The two organisations first partnered in early 2023 to help offer students an understanding of what a career in the baking industry could offer. The latest workshop saw students explore behind the scenes at the global bakery ingredients manufacturer, where they had the opportunity to learn from Zeelandia’s bakers while baking bread, cakes, and pastries with production process guidance.
Market Field College aims to provide education for students with moderate learning difficulties and invited several students with a passion for food to learn more about the science behind food and the day-to-day operations of a busy bakery.
“The Zeelandia UK programme offers our students an opportunity to develop their patisserie skills and knowledge of industry practice, exploring commercial processes, facilities and equipment beyond that available to us in-house,” said Duncan Thomas, head of Market Field College.
Students are then able to apply these skills with work placements and via the college’s Ambition Café, where participants support the production of cakes, cookies, and pastries to sell to the public.
“Such context-based learning has served well to develop understanding, foster self-belief and promote aspirational thinking amongst our students,” Thomas added.
Since participating in the workshops, Year 13 student Bradley has taken up a work placement within the canteen of a local primary school making school lunches.
Zeelandia plans to run run further workshops with Market Field College in the future.
“At Zeelandia, we are committed to driving the commercial bakery industry forward and recognise that as a leading global food and bakery business, we play a key role in this journey,” said Andrew Taylor, product development manager and CSR ambassador at Zeelandia UK.
“Through our partnerships with Market Field College, University College Birmingham, the National Bakery School and ABST, we are helping to inspire the next generation of industry professionals and love to see examples where our support has driven real career progress.”
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