London’s secondary school pupils will be turning their hands to market trading and showcasing their warming winter creations at Borough Market on Tuesday 4 February, with the return of the Young Marketeers Winter Soup Sale.
Classic chunky vegetable or a hearty leek and potato? The popular annual event sees children aged 11-16 from four London schools, sell soup and bread they have made from scratch at London’s iconic food market. All proceeds from the sale are donated to raise money for Borough Market’s partner food redistribution charity Plan Zheroes.
The event forms part of the Young Marketeers programme– a partnership between Borough Market and School Food Matters – which enables school children to grow their own fruit and veg, develop their cooking skills and knowledge, understand how to eat seasonally and avoid food waste.
The Winter Soup Sale is one of three sales that take place in the Market each year and is the only one where pupils make a dish from the produce they have grown, to sell. Ensuring the soups are up to the high standards local shoppers are used to, a special panel of food experts is brought into the partaking schools to select the top tasting soups to sell at the Market. Pupils also learn how to make the perfect bread to accompany their soup, with a bread-making class from renowned Borough Market bakery, Bread Ahead.
The Young Marketeers programme not only teaches children about where their food comes from and how to get the best out of it, it also encourages them to develop business-related skills that could help with future careers. This is learnt through workshops with the Market’s traders who share their secrets on how to attract customers to their stalls and sell their goods to make a profit.
The Winter Soup Sale will take place on Tuesday 4 February from 12-2pm in Borough Market’s Green Market. 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.
In the summer of 2024, the Young Marketeers programme started donating proceeds from its sales at Borough Market to Plan Zheroes, a food redistribution charity that collects quality surplus food from businesses in London and redistributes it to charities supporting vulnerable people across the city. Borough Market has been working with Plan Zheroes for 10 years, with volunteers now collecting surplus food from the Market’s traders six days per week, meaning no food is left to go to waste.
Jane Swift, CEO at Borough Market, said: “The Winter Soup Sale is such a great way to kick-start our community events each year. There is something so comforting about having a homemade soup – and even more so knowing these creations have been made by local young people to raise money for a good cause. It is so rewarding seeing the pride pupils take in selling something they have made, from produce they have grown in school and it is this passion that keeps the Young Marketeers programme running successfully year-on-year.”
Stephanie Slater, Founder and Chief Executive of School Food Matters, said: “The Young Marketeers programme is a shining example of the work we do at School Food Matters – teaching children and young people all about food. In partnership with Borough Market, this programme provides students with fun, hands-on opportunities to bake, cook, and explore new flavours, while building enterprise and communication skills. Quality food education is essential for every young person’s future and deserves the same attention in the curriculum as core subjects like English and maths.”
To date, the partnership has seen more than 250 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 seasonal produce. Over the years, over £14,500 has been raised for charities from these sales.
For top tips from Borough Market’s traders, watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwq2M1pH1ig
