A student from Armagh has completed a placement year with Dale Farm at its Pennybridge site while studying food innovation and nutrition at CAFRE’s Loughry Campus.
Sophie Hawthorne, a former pupil of Markethill High School and The Royal School Armagh, is taking a BSc in Food Innovation and Nutrition at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise.
Her placement included work with Dale Farm’s New Product Development team across multiple sites and product categories. DAERA said her focus areas included cheddar process development and ice-cream innovation.
During the year she worked on tasks including cheddar sample testing, pH and chemical analysis and support for factory trials. The placement also included helping to develop a Sea Salted Pistachio scoop product under the Mullins brand, taking it through the new product development process from concept to launch.
The department said Sophie’s route into the company began in her first year at CAFRE, after she received a £1,500 Dale Farm bursary through the CAFRE Industry Support Programme. That led to a summer placement, followed by part-time work during second year and then the full placement year.
DAERA said Northern Ireland’s food and drink industry generates about £7.3 billion in economic value, supports almost 109,000 jobs and accounts for more than a third of all manufacturing sales in Northern Ireland. National Ice Cream Day is marked on 19 July.