Nurturing the next generation

While shortages remain across the food industry, and bakery is no exception, global sweet bakery ingredients manufacturer, Dawn Foods has long been an advocate of supporting new recruits into the bakery industry. In fact, Dawn has recently welcomed its newest ‘Student Ambassadors’ as part of a successful programme that the company has been operating with bakery schools for the last eight years and has recently also embarked on a partnership with City of Wolverhampton College to support 16–17-year-olds thinking about a career in bakery.

Dawn’s roots started in the artisanal bakery channel, so the importance of bakery knowledge and expertise is at the centre of its business model. The company’s technical sales managers are all ‘time served’ bakers themselves and Dawn’s UK and Ireland managing director, Tim Clarkson started out his career in the industry aged just 16 as a bakery apprentice. As a result, Dawn’s Student Ambassador programme was developed to encourage young people to think about all the different career options open to them within the commercial bakery sector and to nurture up and coming talent in the industry.

Jacqui Passmore, marketing lead West EU & AMEAP at Dawn Foods and president of the Alliance for Bakery Students & Trainees (ABST) explains why supporting young people, who have a passion for baking is so important for the future of the industry: “Despite the popularity of baking at home and shows such as The Great British Bake Off, bakery has been a declining career choice among school leavers for some time.

“There are so many opportunities in bakery that young people may not be aware of – manufacture and production, NPD, procurement, sales and marketing and operations, to name just a few. Our student ambassador programme not only helps students gain insight into the roles but, of course, helps to boost their CV too and enhances students’ prospects with future employers. It allows Dawn to link with key bakery schools and to have access to some of the creative ideas that bakery students are coming up with today.

“We are also keen to promote bakery to younger students who may be studying T levels or diplomas at college and are now working closely with City of Wolverhampton College to offer students hands-on practical skills sessions with our bakery team.

“We believe it is important to ensure that design and technology teaching professionals as well as careers advisors have information about bakery as a future study or career option to encourage their students to take their studies further.”

“We may be biased of course but bakery really is a fantastic industry and there are so many interesting jobs available without the 4am start often associated with bakery!”

While in previous years Dawn selected its Student Ambassadors from the highly regarded University College Birmingham, this year, the company widened the opportunity to all students 18+ undertaking a level 4+ bakery related qualification or undertaking a recognised bakery training programme. The ambassadorship opportunity was promoted at bakery schools and within the Alliance for Bakery Students and Trainees (ABST), the bakery student membership organisation with which Dawn Foods and several other key players in the industry are involved.

The three students selected as Dawn Student Ambassadors for 2025 were ABST member Jordan Young, who is studying BSc Food Science at Nottingham Trent University, food science postgraduate Soraya Akbari, a bakery apprentice at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre and Sarah Farrow, also an ABST member, and a final year BSc Bakery and Patisserie Technology student at University College Birmingham.

A straightforward application process involved the students putting together a short presentation on themselves, baking inspiration and trends in the marketplace. Dawn chooses students each year for their commitment to the craft of baking, understanding of current trends and challenges in the industry, along with exciting ideas for new products and recipes.

Jordan, who has won several awards in his career to date, started his bakery journey straight from school as an apprentice with Patton’s Bakery in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. With a passion for bakery production, he studied first at The School of Artisan Food, in association with Nottingham Trent University, where he was awarded Top FdSc Student in the school in 2024. In a move to help develop his technical knowledge and skills, Jordan then continued at Nottingham Trent University to undertake a BSc Food Science degree.

Originally from Iran, Soraya, aged 32, completed an MSc in Food Science at London Metropolitan University and has chosen to specialise in the bakery industry at ZERO2Five, the Cardiff Metropolitan University’s unique food and industry collaboration facility.

Soraya says that her passion for bakery started during her childhood when she made traditional products with her family. She aspires to work in product development and marketing.

A final year student at University College Birmingham, 21-year-old Sarah’s passion for baking started young too when she baked with both her mum and nan. During Covid she set up a small business making cakes and bakes to be delivered to neighbours on her estate. Her enterprising spirit saw her ending up with back-to-back orders and it was this experience that led her to thinking about bakery as a career. Her degree course has given her an insight into product development, which she is keen to explore more with Dawn Foods.

The Student Ambassadors are currently working with Dawn’s development team on new recipes as well as creating content for the company’s social media platforms and blogs for the website and editorial for external media so providing excellent opportunities for the students to promote themselves to the wider bakery sector.

Sarah Farrow, the youngest of this year’s students, and about to graduate this summer, sums up why the Dawn Student Ambassador programme appealed to her and what she has learned along the way: “I applied to become a Dawn Student Ambassador because it seemed a great opportunity to get my name known into the industry as well give me a better understanding of the types of jobs available in food manufacturing. I didn’t have the opportunity to gain much bakery experience before I came to university so connecting with a large company like Dawn was important to me.

“So far, the opportunity has helped me to develop ‘soft skills’, such as communication, video editing and blog writing as I have been working on some product marketing. This has encouraged me to have confidence in my ideas and to work with new Ingredients. Professionally I have learned about the dynamics of the bakery industry, and this will be invaluable when I start to look for my first job. It’s amazing how many people are involved in the launch of a new product from teams across the world!”

An ambitious baker, Jordan’s many awards include the National Bakery Awards Young Baker of the Year 2023, ABST Danish Pastry Bronze Award Winner. He has also secured bursaries to continue his studies such as the 2024 Worshipful Company of Bakers Bursary to attend the Richemont Bakery School in Switzerland. Dawn’s Student Ambassador programme added another string to his bow as it has given him invaluable insight into how his craft can be applied in an industrial bakery setting. Jordan will be undertaking some recipe development using

Dawn’s improved Chocolate Crème Cake Base and developed a blog insight post on the latest trends in doughnuts to coincide with National Doughnut Week this May.

Soraya Akbari, one of Dawn Foods’ Student Ambassadors 2025 is inspired by flavours and has been looking at new takes on traditional favourites using Persian influences from her heritage. She says that bakers working in all channels can use many Eastern inspired flavour combinations to create visually stunning, delicious bakes:

“From matcha croissants to tiramisu doughnuts, flavours are making their way into bakeries in fresh and creative ways. Ube is used in cookies, yuzu adds a refreshing twist to cheesecakes, and caramel miso gives brownies or eclairs, for example, a new depth. Vibrant colours like ube purple and matcha green create ‘pick me up appeal’ and of course, are perfect for Instagram content!

“But beyond these combinations, there’s also room for unexpected pairings—like pistachio and orange blossom in layered pastries, or date and walnut cake with cinnamon cardamom cream. These combinations not only appeal to modern palates but also bring a sense of modernity to bakes”.

For more information about Dawn Foods visit www.dawnfoods.com/uk