Young Marketeers Winter Soup Sale

Pupils from four London schools are busy making final tweaks to their winter soup and bread recipes ahead of next week’s annual Young Marketeers Winter Soup Sale at Borough Market – with the help of some extra special expert judges. Food critic, author and sustainability champion Melissa Hemsley and columnist, chef and food writer Xanthe Clay visited Lilian Baylis Technology College in Kennington, this week, along with the Market’s new CEO Jane Swift, to sample and judge some of the pupils' recipes.

The sale will take place on Thursday 2nd February from 10am-3pm where six schools will set up stalls in London’s iconic food market and sell their delicious creations to the public, raising money for The Felix Project. Every £1 provides enough food for six tasty meals for vulnerable people across the capital.

The Winter Soup Sale is an annual event and forms part of the Young Marketeers Programme, now in its 11th year. Run by Borough Market in partnership with School Food Matters, the programme teaches students about how to avoid food waste, eat seasonally and develop their cookery skills as well as giving them the entrepreneurial skills to market and sell their goods, thanks to advice from the Market's expert traders.

Pupils taking part are taught by the School Food Matters food teacher how to make three tasty soups using surplus vegetables, while Borough Market’s popular bakers at Bread Ahead give the students a ciabatta breadmaking masterclass to serve alongside their soup.

The soups are tested by a judging panel of Borough Market specialists ahead of the sale, to ensure the quality and flavour meets Market standards. Students can then refine their recipes before the big day.

The Young Marketeers will be selling their freshly made produce in the glass fronted Market Hall. In line with Borough Market’s commitment to sustainability, the soup will be served in compostable containers with no single use plastic cutlery on site.

To date, the partnership with School Food Matters has seen more than 200 schools attend ‘trader training’. Some students have grown their own fruit and veg and sold it at the Market, while others have made soup from surplus produce. Over the years, £10,414 has been raised for FareShare and The Felix Project, providing 62,482 meals for vulnerable families.

For more information on the Winter Sale and Young Marketeers Programme, visit: https://boroughmarket.org.uk/events/school-food-matters-soup-sale/