Children's chocolate bar ideas brought to life
Children in Leicester enjoyed a taste of entrepreneurship when they got the chance to make their dream chocolate bar.
Students with special educational needs at Ellesmere College took part in the competition, which was led by chocolatiers Cocoa Amore in the city.
They were tasked with choosing the ingredients, picking the name and designing the packaging for the bars.
Unbeknownst to them, the shop produced 100 bars of each of the winning students to sell in-store.
Peter Gardner, owner of the firm, volunteers to help improve careers activities at the school.
He said 50p from each bar sold would go back to the school to fund careers activities.
“Money is tight for every school at the minute and I was trying to find a way to generate revenue for them,” he said.
“We held the competition back in February and it’s taken some time to get the bars designed and ready to go on sale.
“I think the students were quite surprised to see something they put together come to life.
“The whole thing was a great experience. Having access to a whole new research and development team that were brutally honest was really refreshing.”
One of the winning bars, called “Explosion Bar”, was made from cola, honeycomb and popping candy, said Peter.
An unveiling of the packaged chocolate bars for competition winners took place at the school at the end of May.
Ange Smith, executive vice principal at Ellesmere College, said: “Allowing our students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills for employability, creativity and independence as well as proving to themselves they have it in them has been really beneficial to them and the school as a whole.”
Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.
