Premier Foods is delighted to launch its McDougalls Young Baking Team of the Year competition for the fifth year running.
The 2019 competition will focus on how cookery skills can help build children’s overall confidence. Returning to judge this much-loved cookery competition will be Carol Harwood, on behalf of LACA; Andrew Green, representing the Craft Guild of Chefs; and Mark Rigby, Executive Chef at Premier Foods.
Schools have until Friday 17th May to enter and then all recipes will be handed over to the judges to whittle down. Five shortlisted teams will have the opportunity to cook in an exciting live final at LACA – The Main Event on Thursday 11th July 2019. Schools looking to bake their way to the top should recruit a team of up to three enthusiastic 7 to 11 year olds and register online.
One team will take home the jackpot of £1,000 worth of equipment for their school kitchen, whilst each of the four runners up will win £250 worth of equipment. As Premier Foods aims to help children learn more about where their food comes from, the competition will focus on local produce, encouraging schools to source ingredients within a 30-mile radius of their school.
Schools up for the baking challenge can register their interest here and will receive a McDougalls toolkit within seven days. It will include product samples, an application form and recipe inspiration. Teams will be asked to create either a sweet or savoury recipe, which includes one local ingredient and one McDougalls Flour Based Mix for submission.
Mark Taylor, customer controller at Premier Foods, said: “The McDougalls Young Baking Team of the Year competition really is one of the highlights in our calendar. It has proved such an important tool for teaching children cookery skills, the importance of local ingredients and above all, has proved a real confidence booster for those involved. We have had many teachers and parents commenting on what a positive experience it is and we love witnessing this for ourselves at the live final each year.”
Nic Hastie, school chef at St Martin and St Mary’s C of E Primary School, 2018 winner, comments: “Since winning the competition it has given both myself and the children a real confidence boost. It has really taught the children that if you work hard you can achieve your goals. When I look back to the beginning of the process, when we first started practising for the competition and how they have come out of their shell since taking part and winning, it is incredible.
"The £1,000 prize money which we received as a result of our victory has been used to set up a weekly after school cookery club, it has paid for chef coats for the children and the equipment we need in order to make it a success. We launched this just after the October half term, opening it up to years three to six and we’ve already had over 40 sign ups. We’re really hoping it will encourage the children to start baking more at home too with their families.”
Want to get involved? You can follow all the latest news and updates about the McDougalls Young Baking Team of the Year on the Premier Foods Foodservice social media channels and with the hashtag #McYBT. Follow @PremierFoods_FS on Twitter and Instagram and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PremierFoodsFoodservice.
Those interested in the competition should keep the following dates in their diary:
- Registration opens: 2nd January 2018
- Registration closes: 5th April 2018
- Recipes to be submitted: 17th May 2018
- Live final at LACA – The Main Event: 11th July 2018