PUPILS from a secondary school in Basingstoke have been enjoying a special coffee-based work experience programme that allowed them to come up with their own new flavour.
Twelve students from Everest Community Academy have become the first to experience Lavazza Professional’s new week-long work experience programme, which culminated in an award ceremony celebrating their achievements.
Lavazza Professional opened its doors to its 'Coffee School,' where the students learned about the origin of coffee as a plant and how it turns into the premium Lavazza coffee blends that people across the UK consume every day.
Through smell only, students identified different tastes such as caramel, pepper and coffee blossom, and were introduced to the ‘cupping method’ that allows connoisseurs to evaluate the quality and flavour profile of coffee.
READ MORE: New 'authentic' Indian restaurant hopes to 'bring community together'
Throughout the week, students also went behind the scenes to discover how the popular KLIX and FLAVIA drinks are manufactured in the factory in Armstrong Road.
The timetable included activities such as planning factory production schedules, crafting compelling coffee machine sales pitches and brainstorming innovative drink ideas, which included a unique banana-infused coffee blend.
Marketing and customer service roles were amongst their favourite careers – pupils enjoyed the creative freedom of marketing and listening to how the team dealt with different customer queries in the call centre.
Joined by Philip Messingham, assistant headteacher at Everest Community Academy and Shirley Ducker, enterprise coordinator at Hampshire County Council's careers hub, the week concluded with a special recognition award ceremony, celebrating the students’ hard work and achievements.
The programme was built by the businesses’ gender equality employee resource group (ERG) throughout the last six months, led by Nicky Green, global IT director at Lavazza Professional, who said: “All the students have been so engaged in this process, right from their initial written applications, through the interview stage and work experience week with us.
"The purpose of this was to educate young people on the types of roles that you would find in the workplace today, and get them interested in possible career prospects for the future.
"It has been a huge success and one we are looking to grow with the support of Hampshire schools and other local businesses in the community to offer more young people the same opportunities.”
Share