Biz kids whizz up a new treat (+video)

Using a Kiwi favourite, a Rotorua school's business studies team is excited to be launching their ice-cream product at the Seriously Good Food Show in Tauranga this weekend.

John Paul College students Brianna Donlon, 16, Thomas Firth, 17, Jared Sinclair, 16, and Britney Orr, 16, have created Crunch, a gingernut ice-cream on a stick, as part of their Young Enterprise scheme.

Young Enterprise is a nationwide competition where Year 12 students create and run their own product and company as part of the business studies curriculum.

The team said the process to create the product was laborious and Thomas said they "ran through heaps of ideas" before narrowing it down to ice-cream.

The only sugar in Crunch is from the gingernuts themselves, and is sweetened with apple puree. The design was made from scratch at the school cooking rooms.

Crunch team members (from left) Jared Sinclair, Brianna Donlon and Thomas Firth have used gingernuts in their Young Enterprise project. Fourth member Britney Orr was away. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

"Once we decided on ice-cream we rung lots of places that produce ice-creams. Dr Feelgood got back to us and they said they would be willing to help us out."

Dr Feelgood is an Auckland-based ice-cream company whose products contain no refined sugar. The company has been providing the team with equipment and advice, something Thomas said was "pretty handy".

They have been to Auckland to put through an initial run of 1500 ice-creams before launching at the food show at the ASB Baypark this weekend. Each ice-cream will be sold for $4 to compete with boutique range competitiors.

They have also had all their milk and cream donated by Green Valley, and cheaper refrigeration hire.

As part of the Young Enterprise project teams must donate some of their profits to charity.

The Crunch team are still deciding which charity they will support.

The team has invested more 120 hours, including school lunchtimes, to their project. Luckily, Brianna said, the team got on really well.

"We all have different strengths in different areas so it balances out the team."

The winners of each regional will compete at the national award competition held at the end of the year in Wellington.

There are six Young Enterprise teams at John Paul College led by head of business studies, Minka Webb.

She said Crunch was the "most organised, efficient, self-directed group she'd ever had", having made all connections and calls themselves.