Ambitious young chefs and entrepreneurs from across Northamptonshire are being invited to invent the county’s next big food trend as part of an innovative new competition launched by Delapré Abbey.

The Delapré Abbey Food Festival Young Enterprise Competition brings together catering and business students from Northampton College, Moulton College and Tresham College.

Students are being challenged to design a new food concept that could become the next big trend in the sector. Working in teams, they will develop a full business concept including product development, branding, packaging, costing and a marketing strategy before pitching their ideas in a ‘Dragons’ Den’-style presentation to industry judges.

The competition forms part of preparations for the popular Northamptonshire Food Festival which will be the highlight of this year’s Northamptonshire Food and Drink Week. Now entering its third year and attracting thousands of visitors, the Northamptonshire Food Festival will take place at Delapré Abbey which is partnering with festival organiser Crispin Slee on the event.

The winning team will launch and sell their product at the festival this summer, with the added opportunity to supply it into Delapré Abbey’s Orangery Café for six months. They will also gain hands-on experience working alongside award-winning Executive Head Chef Bart Polinski in the Abbey kitchens and receive mentoring from industry experts.

The initiative is designed to nurture innovation, encourage entrepreneurship and highlight the role food and drink can play in driving tourism and economic growth across the county.

Amanda Nichols-Polinski, deputy chief executive at Delapré Abbey, said: “We are incredibly excited to launch this competition and give students the opportunity to turn their creativity into a real-world business idea. Food innovation thrives when young talent is given the chance to experiment, collaborate and think commercially.

“By connecting students with industry professionals and giving the winning product a genuine route to market through the Food Festival and our Orangery Café, we hope to inspire the next generation of food entrepreneurs right here in Northamptonshire.”

During the development phase, students will research food trends, source ingredients from local suppliers, trial recipes, test their products and build a launch strategy.

Entries must be submitted by Monday, 23 March, with finalists presenting their ideas at Delapré Abbey in front of a panel of judges the following week.

Phil Martin, curriculum manager for catering and hospitality at Northampton College said:
“This competition gives our students a brilliant opportunity to bring together their culinary skills and business knowledge in a real commercial environment. It’s exactly the kind of challenge that prepares them for careers in the food industry.”

Jennie Porter, Head of Faculty for Business and Hospitality at Moulton College, added: “We are delighted to be taking part in this exciting competition and our students are stepping up to the challenge, working hard to produce the next big thing in the bakery sector.”

Products will be judged on creativity, taste, commercial viability, branding and how well they reflect Northamptonshire’s identity.

The winning creation will officially launch at the Northamptonshire Food Festival this summer before being featured and sold in the Orangery Café for six months. The students will be allowed to keep proceeds from the sale of their product to help develop it further.