With new food products launching every day, food product development sits at the heart of what and how the world eats. From responding to changing consumer tastes to improving nutrition, sustainability and affordability, this is a discipline that shapes real products for real people — and the global systems that bring them to market.
With Harper Food Innovation, you’ll develop the skills to take food ideas from concept to shelf. Through applied, hands-on learning, you’ll explore product design, consumer insight, formulation, food business management and supply chains, understanding not only how to create great products but how to deliver them successfully in a competitive marketplace.
With access to our Food Academy, development kitchens, sensory labs and workshops, and teaching led by experts with strong industry links, you’ll graduate with the technical knowledge, commercial awareness and leadership skills needed to thrive across food product development and food business management.
Harper Adams University has been delivering education in Shropshire since 1901. Our Edgmond campus is home to Harper Food Innovation, with its excellent food development facilities - you'll find everything you need here for your academic and social life. Yet, in just over an hour by car, you can be in Birmingham, Manchester or Liverpool, and London can be reached in 90 minutes by train from nearby Stafford. And now we have a second campus in Telford, with excellent transport links across the Midlands and into Wales.
Discover how Charlotte is
Shaping the Future of Food
As one of our two new schools, Harper Food Innovation combines our research impact with industry-focussed teaching, giving you access to our full suite of expertise and learning under one roof.
Our Food Academy, as well as development kitchens and modified atmosphere rooms, provide an incredible space to support your food innovation. You can also make use of our sensory evaluation laboratories, food grade lecture theatres, on-campus farm and independent study spaces.
With the support of our global food network, every course we offer is built on real-world expertise. With live client briefs, workshops, and food development projects woven into the curriculum, we give you the tools to launch your career from day one. Employers and connections include Muller, McDonald's, Aldi, and ABP Food Group.
Our Food Innovation courses are consistently ranked within the Top 10 for Food Science Graduate Employment Prospects and Top 20 for Student Satisfaction
(Complete University Guide, 2025).
We received an overall Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework 2023 - 2027.
60 per cent of our research is world-leading or internationally excellent, according to the Research Excellence Framework (2021)
Thanks to our students, we have been voted the best university in the UK for career prospects, eight years running (2016 - 2024).
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