You can now buy 11-year-old Olivia Cresswell’s Nutty Stars at your local East of England Co-op store.
Olivia Cresswell, of Shotley Community Primary School, has just launched her very on chocolate after winning a regional competition last summer.
The competition – which was run by the East of England Co-op in partnership with local chocolatier Hadleigh Maid – challenged youngsters aged between nine and 11 to design a brand-new chocolate bar, with the winner’s idea going on to become a reality and sold East of England Co-op Food stores across Suffolk.
Beating some stiff competition, Olivia Cresswell was crowned the eventual winner thanks to her ‘Nutty Stars’ design – which incorporates hazelnuts, white chocolate, dark chocolate and marshmallows.
Her idea was then taken to Hadleigh Maid’s test kitchens, where the recipe and packaging were refined, perfected and made retail-ready.
However, akin to real-life product development – the project wasn’t without its hiccups. When Covid took hold around the country, the project was temporarily suspended amidst social distancing restrictions.
Olivia and the project team then worked together to find new ways to keep on track and bring her exciting design to life.
Priced at £2.99, Olivia’s ‘Nutty Stars’ are now hot off the production line, and making their way to selected East of England Co-ops in Suffolk – including Manningtree and Felixstowe supermarkets, as well as Holbrook, Hadleigh and Rushmere Food stores.
Each pack contains three tasty stars, all wrapped in plastic-free packaging that has been designed by Olivia herself.
East of England Co-op president Sally Chicken said: “The original aim of the project was to explore the full life-cycle of food production. We wanted the students to be able to explore, in a real hands-on way, how the food they see on shop shelves is designed, created, packaged and transported.
“The project has been a huge success and really brought to life the whole process in an exciting and engaging way. Olivia and her peers have seen first-hand all the work that goes on behind the scenes to get food from local factories to our customers’ baskets. What a fantastic end result - I can’t wait to sample one of the winning stars myself.”
East of England Co-op’s Holbrook Food store branch manager Sharon Mayhew added: “It’s a privilege to be one of the stores stocking Olivia’s creation. The Nutty Stars look fantastic on our shelves and it’s wonderful to know they were designed so near to us – just six miles away – by a talented local school pupil. Unsurprisingly, they’re proving quite popular.”
All profits from the sale of this limited edition, locally-made treat will go to Shotley Community Primary School - with the East of England Co-op pledging to bolster the amount so that at least £500 is donated to the school.
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