BSc Food Business and Marketing with Placement Year

Overview

If you are interested in a commercial career with a connection to food, then this BSc Food Business and Marketing with Placement Year is the degree for you.

It develops skills in business management, marketing and economics designed to address key food industry challenges. You will have the chance to apply these skills to live food business problems. For example, working as part of a team, you will develop a research proposal to address a real food business brief, carry out the research and present your findings to the company. If you’re thinking of starting your own food business, this course also offers opportunities to gain entrepreneurial skills and insight.

An exciting part of the course is a marketing research project, which enables you to work as a consultant for a real food business. Working as part of a team, you will develop a research proposal to address the client’s brief, carry out the research and present your findings to the company. Past projects have included a review of the pre-packed chilled deserts category for Waitrose and fairtrade awareness for the Day Chocolate Company. Other clients have included Sainsbury’s, Hotel Chocolat, Procter & Gamble, Mars and United Biscuits.

During your final year, you will complete an independent project on a food-related topic that covers at least one of the three major disciplines of the course (business management, marketing and economics). In the past, these have covered topics as varied as food insecurity in The Gambia and the importance of corporate ownership in consumer choice.

Accreditation

This course is recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) as an Accredited Degree, enabling graduates to receive exemptions from all but one module of the Certificate in Professional Marketing or Certificate in Professional Digital Marketing qualification, or exemptions from all but two CIM modules for the Diploma in Professional Marketing qualification or Diploma in Professional Digital Marketing.

Placement

Between your second and final year you will carry out a paid industrial training placement, lasting a year. Placements can be located anywhere in the UK, and occasionally take place abroad.

You could work within a wide variety of areas include food product development, account management, category management, brand development and business administration. Recently students have worked at major companies such as Unilever, Warburtons, Mornflake and Waitrose.

You will be given advice and support for finding the ideal placement, writing a CV and interview skills, by our dedicated placements officer. They will continue to support you throughout your placement year.

Entry requirements

Typical offer

BBB

International Baccalaureate

30 points overall

Extended Project Qualification

In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) provides to students for University study, we can now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250

New international students: £20,300

Careers

As a graduate of this course you will leave with a range of specialist and transferable skills, including tools for market and business analysis, qualitative and quantitative research enquiry, and an understanding of consumer behaviour, marketing and business strategy.

You will be well-placed to move into a range of key business roles within the food industry and other sectors. These can include marketing, brand management, category management, retail management, supply chain management, sales, buying, policy analysis and production development. Previous students have gone on to work for a wide range of companies, both big and small, including Mars, Sainsbury’s, Kellogg’s, Unilever, and Heineken.

Alternatively, you may choose to move into other careers, such as banking, accountancy or teaching. This degree is also an ideal stepping-stone for postgraduate study.

deadlines

We process applications all year round but recommend applying as early as possible to ensure you can have a place in your chosen degree. Please be aware that to ensure there is enough time to complete all administrative procedures, and VISA requirements, applications may need to be submitted no later than a month (or longer) before the start of the courses.