The Technology Challenge, organised by Business & Education South Yorkshire, involved more than 80 students from Bradfield School, Handsworth Grange and Sheffield Springs Academy, who were challenged by Pennine Foods to design new packaging for their Chinese Box Meal.
The Year 7, 8 and 9 students had to design and make the packaging appealing to consumers, innovative, practical and cost effective but most importantly environmentally friendly in line with Marks & Spencer's 'Plan A' to reduce packaging.

The winning team, Sticky Jam from Handsworth Grange School, wowed the judges with their cylinder tube packaging, proving it was easy to transport and stack, as well as calculating that it would save 39.13% packaging compared with a rectangular design as the surface area was drastically reduced.

Team member Sophie Wilson said: "We have all really enjoyed working on the challenge and it was a huge surprise when we found out we had won. We all had lots of different ideas but worked together to make a compromise, making sure everyone's ideas were incorporated into the final packaging.

"We have worked on this project every school lunch time for the past month so it is great that we now have this trophy for all our hard work. The challenge has definitely made us all think about design as a future career."

The judging panel was made up of three judges from the food industry, Rowena Clayton, HR Manager at Pennine Foods Ltd, David Hickman, Operational Manager from food and drink sector skills council Improve and Richard Saunders from Cadbury plc.

Rowena Clayton has invited the teams to Pennine Foods so they can present their ideas to the senior management team and have a tour of the factory.

She said: "Reducing waste is a major issue facing our industry right now, which is why it is important for students to be aware of how suppliers and customers are working together to reduce use of packaging and increase the amount of recycled materials they use.

"Some of the packaging ideas that have been developed through the Technology Challenge are definitely worth pursuing so we hope the students can come along to Pennine Foods so we can explore the designs and feasibility of actually producing them further."

Sheila Ryalls, Handsworth Grange Food Technology Coordinator, worked with Sticky Jam throughout the project: "The girls have worked really hard and have enjoyed every minute of the challenge. In particular they have shown excellent team-working skills, each of them contributing a great deal to the project."

lFor further information on how to get involved in enterprise activities contact Business & Education South Yorkshire on 01709 336 700 or visit www.be-sy.co.uk