Culinary Arts Management students win award for Veggelicious cakes

GMIT Culinary Arts students Alexandra Bourke, Catherine Carroll and Michelle Connor have been named the winners of the GMIT Development Chef of the Year 2016 competition in association with Blenders.

The event is the culmination of a year’s work by the fourth year students on the Bachelor of Business in Culinary Arts Management degree, bringing together modules in New Product Development, Business Creation, Business Plan, Visual Design and Sensory Analysis. In groups of three, students were tasked with developing an innovative food product as well as a business plan for their product.

Five groups, totalling fifteen students, presented their ideas to a panel of judges which included Artie Clifford, Chairman of Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards; Michele Santry, Food To Go Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland; and David Chandler, Sales Director Blenders.

The winning team’s project ‘Veggelicious’ is a vegetable-based cake range that is gluten free, dairy free and free from refined sugar with varieties, lemon and courgette ginger and parsnip and chocolate and beetroot.  The product was right on trend being entirely natural and extremely low in sugar and was presented with a clear business plan. 

All the entries were to a really high standard; Products were Bellaroons Macaroons, Supergrain superfood crisps, Just Add Water gluten-free instant soup, and Strictly Vegan spiced vegan burgers. All of the students did themselves and their lecturers proud with their projects.

Lecturer and mentor Anne O’Leary says the standards were exceptionally high. “Working in groups have provided the students with the opportunity to learn collaboratively. It gives the students peer support, allowing for the sharing of ideas and knowledge and at the same time allowing student to understand the dynamics of group work. This transferable skill is required by employers of our graduates.”

David Chandler, Sales Director from Blenders commented “We are delighted to be sponsoring the Blenders GMIT Development Chef of the Year and we would like to thank the students and staff of the college for all their hard work that went in to creating a truly wonderful event.”

This year’s competition was open to fourth year students undertaking the Product Development module as part of their Culinary Arts Degree.  All competitors received a commemorative chef jacket from Blenders for participating in the event and a bursary was awarded to the winning team.

For more information on GMIT’s Culinary Arts programmes, visit: http://www.gmit.ie/college-tourism-and-arts/college-tourism-arts