Bakery students from City of Wolverhampton College were recently given an insight into bakery production at Dawn Foods in Evesham.
Students working towards level 2 and level 3 diplomas in professional bakery, as well as some who are studying for the bakery & patisserie technology foundation degree, spent the day at Dawn’s HQ, undertaking a factory tour, attending a product overview presentation, and taking part in a trends discussion focussing on vegan and super grains.
The students also got ‘hands-on’ at a practical session with Dawn’s technical application chef Robin Loud, who showed them the different ways of icing and decorating cupcakes using Dawn frostings, sprinkles and Dobla chocolate decorations.
The day finished with a presentation by Tim Clarkson, Dawn’s cluster director UK and Ireland, who is a time-served baker, starting his career as an apprentice in the industry. Tim talked through the different career paths open to bakery students, both in retail bakery and within a plant bakery environment such as Dawn Foods.
Stephen Bladen, lecturer in hospitality, catering and bakery at the college, said: “This was the first time some of these students have visited a bakery production site so it was a great experience for them to see the different avenues that a bakery diploma or degree can take them, whether in production, NPD (new product development) or management.
“The group couldn’t stop buzzing about the information, practical knowledge and skills they learned on the day. Many thanks to the team at Dawn Foods for hosting this event for the students.”
Get details of all bakery courses offered by the college here
