Award-winning snack firm aiming to “grow, grow, grow!”

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An award-winning snack firm founded by a group of students is going from strength to strength – and the team behind it say they plan to “grow, grow, grow!”

Riff Snacks was put together by  Food and Business  students at Harper Adams in February to take part in the Young Enterprise competition, whose initial heats this year happened to be being held at their University in Shropshire.

They developed a series of bars, using surplus food, such as bananas, which had been donated to the University’s Community Fridge project.

Since that moment, the students who now make up Riff - Hannah Plush, Lucie Campbell, and Ava Kind – have surged ahead to find international success with their company, seen their first product range snapped up by consumers – and even been invited to meet with civil servants in the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London.

At the regional UK finals, the team won and proceeded to the national finals in Manchester, where they were shocked to be chosen as overall UK winners – and asked to represent the country at a pan-European event in Riga, Latvia.

At this competition, they took third place – despite competing against 20 teams each chosen as the best in their country from across Europe. The team now say this was the moment they began to realise their company could be a viable prospect.

Ava, a first-year Food Business Management student, said: “It all happened so quickly!

“We only started Riff in February, so representing the UK and Harper Adams just a few months later felt hard to believe.

“It was such a proud moment. We only officially became a registered business last month, so finishing third in Europe so early on has given us a huge confidence boost.”

Fellow first year Lucie, who is studying Food Business Management , said: “Flying to Latvia felt absolutely surreal - and really exciting! 

“I think the whole team was just absolutely shocked to take third place, to be honest. It was amazing, but it definitely didn't set in for a while.”

Her colleague, final year Food Technology and Product Development student, Hannah, added: “It was a proud moment, and a realisation of quite how big of an achievement it was to represent our country.

“It's not every day you can say you were a UK representative!

“I was shocked when they announced the results. In that moment I think we all started to believe there was genuine credibility to Riff, it was no longer a temporary thing.”

Zoe Harrison, Senior Lecturer in Food Business and Enterprise at Harper Adams University, said: “We couldn’t be prouder of what Riff have achieved.

“To go from developing an idea as part of a university enterprise competition to representing the UK on a European stage just a few months later is extraordinary.

“What impressed me most in Riga wasn’t simply that they came third in the JA Europe Start-Up of the Year competition, but the way they held their own among some incredibly strong young businesses from across Europe.

“They were confident, credible and completely committed to what they had created.

“Riff began with a simple idea – taking food that might otherwise go to waste and finding a way to give it new value – but they have turned that idea into something with genuine commercial potential. Watching them realise that for themselves has been one of the most rewarding parts of the whole experience.

“Third place in Europe is an incredible achievement, but I have a feeling this is only the beginning for them.”

Since returning from Latvia, the team have begun to build their business further and enjoyed a busy summer.

As week as finalising and launching their first range of bars and taking them out to food festivals and shows up and down the country, the team were also invited to discuss their business and its European success at the Foreign Office.

Ava added: “We're excited to keep the momentum going.

“We want to grow Riff, get our bars in front of more people, and keep building on everything we've achieved so far.”

And Lucie added: “We are getting everything in order - and then hoping to grow, grow, grow!”

The Riff Snacks website can be found here.