The Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management is celebrating again with the news that Katie Craig, a final year student in BSc Hons Consumer Studies, was announced overall winner of the Placement Innovation Award 2012.

Katie, from Tandragee and a former student of Portadown College completed her placement with Cookstown-based Big Pot Soup Company developing a comprehensive marketing strategy for the artisan hand-made soup company and initiating the introduction of a new line of `single serve` soups.

During her placement Katie was involved in all aspects of the company from production, packaging and dispatch, to marketing and sales and new food product development.

Enthused by her experience and her well-earned award Katie reflected on the benefits of placement and in particular her time at Big Pot Soup Company: `My placement was special because as it was a small company, I was able to work on a number of projects and through this I came up with a new category range for the company and developed a marketing strategy to go with it.

I have learnt so much about the food industry and how it works on a large scale. My placement year has helped me to decide that I want to pursue a career in this industry particularly within marketing or new product development. I would recommend a placement year to every student – not only does it help you in your career but it also has many benefits for your final year of study’.