The students in their final year at Mearns Academy, Mackie Academy and Portlethen Academy have joined the Macphie Ltd team for seven weeks as part of a foundation apprenticeship in Food and Drink Technology. Lewis Mowatt, 16, a pupil at Mackie Academy, is finalising the creation of a non-alcoholic mulled wine flavoured dessert topping as part of his placement.

Mark Duncan, technical director at Macphie said: “Our aim with these partnerships is to inspire careers in the food and drink industry and provide practical support for the next generation. It’s been a pleasure to see seven, enthusiastic young people develop their skills and get their creativity flowing during the development of some new dessert toppings.

“Most importantly, this experience will help these budding new chefs and product designers as they take that next step onto the career ladder. We are really looking forward to welcoming even more students to take part in this incredibly worthwhile placement.”

Following a health and safety induction, an introduction to the product design team and lessons in marketing, each apprentice was then tasked with carrying out their own research and creating a new dessert sauce, using flavours such as kiwi, toffee popcorn and fittingly festive gingerbread.

The pupils spent a full day in the development kitchen cooking up their very own recipes, testing different ingredients and taking part in group product tastings. 

The students were also then taken through quality testing, label creation and finally, will present their products to the senior Macphie team and product panel, who will provide the students with important feedback on their concepts. If successful, students will gain a SCQF Level 6 qualification.