Pupils Ellen Lauder and Zuzanna Lewandowska took the top podium spots in this year’s Global Burger Challenge ran in collaboration with Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland.
Ellen Lauder from Moffat Academy claimed first place in the S1-S3 category with her Pork and Pip Burger, while Zuzanna Lewandowska from Trinity Academy took first place in the S4-S6 category with Zuzanna’s Garlick Tastic Burger.
The Global Burger Challenge is a nationwide competition for pupils to explore the food journey from farm to fork. Participants dove into the food supply chain, the importance of red meat provenance and the diverse careers that shape Scotland’s food and drink sector.
Ellen’s Pork and Pip Burger focused on Roman-inspired flavours, balancing sweet and savoury through pork and apple. Zuzanna’s Garlick Tastic Burger brought together pickles, garlic and cucumber to create a Polish-inspired patty which focused on locally sourced meat to reduce its carbon footprint.
Following on from the success of last year’s challenge, this year’s competition was extended to pupils from S4-S6, with two categories: S1-S3 and S4-S6. With the inclusion of S4-S6, pupils from this age bracket were able to dive deeper into recipe formulation, supply chain production and retail overhead costs.
Inspired by global cuisines, pupils from across Scotland were encouraged to design and create a burger featuring 100g of Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb or Prime Scottish Pork.
Guided by QMS’s Farming Footsteps resources, the pupils then had to evaluate the burger based on nutrition, environment, production, marketing, cuisine, careers and cost.
Abby Goldie, Community Engagement Co-ordinator at QMS said: “It was great to see the creative recipes the pupils came up with and the different cuisines they incorporated. It was difficult to choose our short list for the judging day as the standard of entries was extremely high and everyone who entered should be very proud of their efforts.
“Gordon Findlater, one of our Make It Scotch Ambassadors, was faced with cooking and recreating the burgers on Thursday 14th May at West College Scotland, Paisley Campus. Fraser Cameron, Head Chef at The Globe Inn, Dumfries, then had the almighty job of tasting each burger and choosing a winner from each section. It was no easy task, but it was great to see Ellen & Zuzanna come out on top.”
Moira Stalker, Skills Manager at FDF Scotland said: “The aim of the Global Burger Challenge is really to help young people understand where their food comes from and the different people, roles and skills required to make food products alongside the career opportunities that are available across the food and drink industry.”
“It’s really important that we give these opportunities to young people because the Global Burger Challenge allows them have free rein on designing a new burger product…it’s not just about a teacher telling them what to do, they get to be really creative.”
Alongside Abby and Moira, Head Chef Fraser Cameron (The Globe Inn Dumfries) and Chef Gordon Findlater (Make it Scotch Ambassador) assisted with judging.
The Global Burger Challenge for 2027 will launch this October, giving schools more time ahead to take part and get their entries in. More details will be released ahead of the launch.
For more information, follow @makeitscotched on social media or contact: Abby Goldie, QMS Community Engagement Co-ordinator: agoldie@qmscotland.co.uk