Penweddig taste success with meal kit study

Members of the winning Penweddig team Maria Jones, Elain Tanat Morgan (second from the right) and Noa Rowlands presented with a cheque for £2000 by Professor Elizabeth Treasure, Vice-Chancellor of Aberystwyth University in the company of Jane Richards, Head of Business at Ysgol Penweddig (far left) and Mr Jonathan Fry from Aberystwyth Business School.

A study of the global market for recipe boxes and meal kits proved to be the vital ingredient for the winners of the Aberystwyth University 150^th anniversary business prize.

Launched in 2022 by Aberystwyth Business School, the competition attracted over 170 entries from across the UK.

The winners, Ysgol Penweddig, delivered a detailed market analysis of sector leader Hello Fresh, with members of the successful team presented at the University’s annual Founders Day celebrations on Friday 13 October.

As well as providing an analysis of its leading competitors, the winning entry applied marketing theory to propose business development ideas for the brand and presented in a five minute video presentation.

Identifying ‘Toddlers and Children’ as a potential new market, they make the case for launching ‘Cooking With Kids’, a new category of food boxes designed to help children learn to cook.

One of the judges of the competition, Jonathan Fry, Lecturer in Business and Management at Aberystwyth Business School, congratulated the team on their winning entry.

Jonathan Fry said: “The quality of the finalists entries was exceptional, and the winning entry showed deep level analysis and evaluation and highly effective communications ability. It was also great to see the work presented in Welsh and English, reflecting the bilingual provision at Aberystwyth Business School.”

The competition was aimed at year 12 pupils studying business, and business-related subjects.

Teams could choose from a wide range of tasks related to Economics, Accounting and Finance, Business and Management, Marketing and Tourism Management.

Over the course of 5 months, teams were given the chance to attend academic led online sessions, introducing them to their chosen themes and discussing industry standard processes and opinions that should support their research, as well as liaise with expert academics from each field to formulate their final outcomes.

Short-listed finalist content ranged from traditional business communication styles such as Dragon’s Den to new media such as TikTok and Instagram.

Team members Maria Jones, Noa Rowlands and Elain Tanat Morgan, were delighted to receive the award and with the experience they gained from taking part.

Maria said: “By doing this project I was able to develop many skills, from the creative aspect of putting an attractive presentation together and thinking outside the box for a new venture for Hello Fresh, to the academic aspect and applying what I have learnt in my school work to the project to strengthen our submission and our understanding. It really was an excellent experience.”

Elain said: “This challenge has greatly improved my collaboration skills. I enjoyed the research we did around Hello Fresh and the experience has certainly been useful to me ahead of going to university.”

Noa added: “This project certainly helped me with my exams as it gave me different ways of looking over what I know of the subject and another way of revising.”

Jane Richards, Head of Business at Ysgol Penweddig guided the winning team as they prepared their submission. She said:

“This has been an excellent experience for everyone involved. It has enhanced their academic skills and helped them apply what they have been studying in the classroom to a practical scenario. They have also been challenged to think creatively and work as a team. They are to be congratulated on their success which is particularly rewarding given the number of entrants and their decision to present their work bilingually.” 

Each member of the winning team received £200 with £2000 presented to the winning school.

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