Fizzing with business ideas

It felt impossible to get the product out but now we’ve done it. Managing director Maddy Willis

A group of 15-year-olds believe they have created a healthy fizzy drink and they’re ready to sell it to the public.

Roncalli College year 10 enterprise studies students are in preparation mode ahead of their market day on Friday.

One of the student businesses, FYI – Fizz Your Insides, will sell what they claim is a healthy fizzy drink using Barker’s cordials.

Managing director Maddy Willis, 15, said they decided to build their business around a food related item because they thought it would sell better than non-edible products. The drinks, which come in four flavours, were bottled and labelled in Dunedin and will be ready to be sold at the market day on Friday.

Watching the idea come together had been the best part of the project, for Willis.

‘‘It felt impossible to get the product out but now we’ve done it.’’

It took six weeks of unsuccessful brainstorming before Anna Gregan’s group come up with an idea to sell rugby supporter socks.

Which could prove to be a very good idea, as New Zealand goes rugby mad over the next few weeks. Gregan described the socks as being similar to the America’s Cup lucky red socks, except their were black and had ‘sock it to them boys’ inscribed in white. The socks would not arrive in time for Friday’s market but the group would be taking pre-orders. The annual market day had been run by the school for the past 12 years.

Teacher-in-charge, of commerce studies, Regan Powell said each year they aimed to expand and improve ideas. This year was no different, with a variety of food and drink, garden ware, and clothingm produced by the 22 groups of students. The record for gross sales was set by a group of students who produced a cookbook which pulled in $5000.

The market is open to the public from 11.15am to 2pm at the Roncalli College gym on Friday.