Presenting prize winning products to Pilgrims

December 19, 2024

Food students and staff at CAFRE were delighted to welcome representatives of the New Product Development (NPD) team of Pilgrim’s Europe to Loughry Campus. 

Pilgrim’s Europe is an industry leading UK and European food company which incorporates the Moy Park brand. They operate over 40 food facilities across the UK, Ireland,  France and the Netherlands. With a team of over 20,000 staff they strive to drive forward sustainability and innovation across their product portfolios.

With the scale and global reach of the food industry in mind, students at Loughry Campus, studying on the BSc (Hons) Degree in Food Innovation and Nutrition course and BSc (Hons) Degree in Food Business Management were tasked with developing new chicken products. Six teams of students from two degree programmes tackled their Food Product Design module task together.

The challenge

Clare McAuley, Product Development Manager at Pilgrim’s Europe, commented on the students’ briefs. “We set the students with briefs that would challenge their understanding of the competitive industry in which we operate. The students had to address changing consumer demands, focusing on healthier products. They also looked at emerging trends for convenience in the ready-to-eat sector. They aimed to improve profitability and sustainability of primal meat cuts. As well as attracting new customer segments through seasonal products and diversifying product portfolios. In a dynamic and competitive market, the ability to innovate effectively is a key differentiator for food businesses”.

The process

The students started their concept development stage, setting to work on market research,. They assessed the feasibility of their ideas, aligning them with Pilgrim’s Europe strategy. Product concepts were discussed, outlining the target audiences, unique selling propositions (USPs) and potential product benefits.

Working in CAFRE’s state of the art product development suite in the Food Innovation Centre at Loughry Campus the groups began their product formulation phase. “This is the fun stage where ideas come to life for the students”, commented Louise Harkness, CAFRE Lecturer. “The students get to create initial prototypes of their product, experimenting with formulations, ingredients, and flavours. The focus is on balancing sensory appeal with nutritional value, shelf life, cost considerations and sustainability,” remarked Louise.

Alongside the sensory assessment of the product the students conducted feasibility analysis examining the technical, financial, and operational aspects of producing their new product. Key considerations included availability, cost, and sustainability of materials.

Using the specialist production facilities within the Food Technology Centre at Loughry Campus, pilot testing of products can be achieved. This process is conducted to test the viability of the product in a real manufacturing environment. It identifies potential production challenges, validates the formulation, and allows for adjustments to optimise efficiency and quality.

The presentation

On finalising their innovative new food products, the students had to present their ideas to a panel of judges in a ‘dragons den’ style pitch. They needed to justify their decision-making and demonstrate the commercial viability of their product. The panel was made up of Pilgrim’s Europe Product Development Managers Clare McAuley and Neil Russell alongside CAFRE’s Head of Food Education, Fintan McCann. Each pitch was assessed on its merits with the hard task of deciding on the ultimate winning team.

The outcome

This year’s winning product was announced as the ‘Jingle Bell Wreath’. The winning team comprised of Holly Dunne (Knockloughrim), Sophie Hawthorne (Collone) and Rachel Steenson (Cookstown).

Commenting on the standard of the products presented Neil Russell said, “It is a great honour and experience for me to be part of the panel representing Pilgrim’s Europe. As a former Loughry student it’s great to be back to reconnect with the college and see the developments that have taken place. Given how challenging the briefs were, all the teams did really well. You should be very proud of yourselves”. 

Delighted to have won the challenge Sophie said, “Our task was to devise a seasonal coated party food to explore sensory attributes. We set about creating a discovery of sounds, tastes and aromas through the creation of our product”.

“Our variety pack explored the use of a minced chicken ball. We created flavour and texture explosions through alterative stuffings. We incorporated Brussel sprouts and bacon in one, and brie with cranberry sauce in another,” added Holly.

 “Encapsulating the flavours was fun. We trialed a variety of textures and flavors for our chicken ball product during our product development process. Eventually, we decided on two options. One option features a coating of breadcrumb stuffing. The other has a coating of stuffing and dried cranberries. No party food is complete without a dip, so following festive traditions we accompanied them with a cranberry dip,” said Rachel.

On speaking about the module, Judith Oliver, CAFRE Lecturer said, “The applied nature of this module encourages all students to participate in the group work activity, helping them to develop their teamwork skills and confidence. Students must identify market opportunities for innovative ideas, successfully solve problems and overcome developmental challenges along the way. The partnership that we have with Pilgrim’s Europe enables CAFRE students to experience all aspects of new product development. This module delivers them a project which involves real industry examples. A great talking point for use in future job interviews”.

CAFRE is delighted to collaborate with Pilgrim’s Europe in the delivery of this module on the Ulster University validated Degree programmes at CAFRE, Loughry Campus. Applications are open for courses starting in September 2025, explore food courses here.