Food Pocket Money Pitch

Imagine a year's worth of pocket money up for grabs,

just waiting for kids like you from across the UK to come up with

a winning business pitch.

-I live in Newcastle...

-Birmingham...

-I'm from Manchester...

Could you spot a gap in the market?

My business idea is to grow fresh fruit and vegetables in

my back garden and sell them to my neighbours and my local community.

What's your big idea?

-Our business idea is...

-Freshly made waffles.

Or are you the next Branson, Sugar or Dyson?

My pitch is about a healthy fruit tuck shop.

Now, budding entrepreneurs are entering the Pocket Money Pitch Off.

All are hoping to secure that valuable pot of cash and

the priceless help of a top industry guru to kick-start their business.

They will have just one chance to call for help, and this is it -

the Pause My Pitch Button.

One guru to impress...

Only one idea can come out on top.

This is Pocket Money Pitch!

Pocket Money Pitchers, it's time to go head to head.

-Present your pitch.

-The pitcher...

-I've chosen...

-Is...

We have searched the whole of the UK

to find the best young business talent.

And the cream of the crop are going head to head.

In this episode, we have six new pitchers battling it out

for a slice of the food market.

In the UK we spend nearly £200 million a year on our food -

that's 11% of everything our families buy.

Only three will get the chance to pitch in the vault,

to today's guru, Levi Roots.

Levi has an appetite for success and his Caribbean sauces

have made him a multimillionaire.

Our pitchers can improve their chances of impressing Levi

by winning over the buddies.

These guys are top entrepreneurs

who will spot which mouthwatering idea could be a winner.

So they are our buddies - who are our pitchers?

First up, two brothers from Devon - Kirby, 13 and Ashton, 12.

-He's always bugging me.

-But when it comes to business...

BOTH: We're a great team!

Going head to head is 14-year-old Lauren from Somerset.

When it comes down to business,

I feel like I have great ideas, and I'm hardworking.

Both businesses are pitching to the buddies, but only one idea

can go through to the next stage.

Real Meal Pizza, you're up first, take it away.

-Hello, I'm Kirby.

-And I'm Ashton. And our business idea is...

# Real meal pizza! #

Real Meal Pizza, is as the name suggests -

-a real meal on a pizza.

-We're going to take toppings

to a whole new level. And as far as we are aware,

no other company offers pizzas quite like ours.

Our ultimate goal would be to sell frozen real meal pizzas

off to supermarkets.

BOTH: Remember, Real Meal Pizzas are the real deal!

Well, if the buddies fancy their Sunday lunch on a pizza,

they'll like Kirby and Ashton.

But Lauren is also hoping for a pizza the action.

-Take it away for Scrummy Eggs.

-The humble egg.

It's OK, but what I like to do is I like to wrap filling around it

in coating. Well, what have you got, then?

Well, you've got a Scotch egg - it's just that simple.

I've expanded the simple Scotch egg recipe

into amazing different varieties and ideas.

Chicken curry, even a vegetarian range and a bolognese range.

I hope you like my idea.

Both delicious ideas,

but only one can go through to the next round.

So let's find out what the buddies think.

We're going to start out with our resident chef, Luke.

Firstly, guys, I really, really enjoyed listening to these pitches,

but for me, I'm going for Real Meal Pizzas.

Next up is pioneering product designer Emily.

For me, my vote goes to Scrummy Eggs.

Suleman is a self-made online entrepreneur.

Scrummy Eggs, I think you've got a bigger market,

so I'm going to go for you.

Influential branding consultant Bianca is next.

I think both concepts are really strong, but I can imagine

eating a pizza with my meal on it, so Real Meal Pizzas it is.

To pitches, two votes each. It's all down to the final buddy Ben,

-a digital media expert.

-Both of you, really good pitch.

But I think - pizza is actually my favourite food,

so my vote goes to Real Meal Pizzas.

So close, but Real Meal Pizzas have done it.

It was really close, it was like deciding between one judge,

and obviously they picked Real Meal Pizzas but I'm not worried,

it's good experience and I'm really happy.

Now, the lads need a buddy to be their lifeline

if things get tough with the guru.

But they can only choose one who voted for them -

Bianca, Ben or Luke.

-Who are we going for?

-We have decided to go with Bianca.

With Bianca! There you go.

So Bianca's going to give you all the advice

and tips you need before you do your next pitch to the guru.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

-Bye.

Next up is 12-year-old Ben from Orpington.

Does he have the raw ingredients for business success?

I love food and it's my passion

and I just want my passion to come through.

Ben is up against eight-year-old twins

Thomas and Zoe from Manchester,

with an idea that really takes the biscuit.

Sometimes we do argue,

but most of the time we're fine and getting on together.

So that's why we would do well in business.

With Bianca teamed up, we have a new buddy,

international kids-clothing entrepreneur Emma-Jayne.

Pocket money pitchers, it's time to go head to head.

Ben, you're going to start us off -

give us the pitch for Kitchen Kids.

Hi, I'm Ben and my business idea is Kitchen Kids.

They are DIY lunchboxes for kids.

You buy a five-day supply of ingredients

and recipes that come in a lunch bag like this.

Some of the ingredients you might find in a Kitchen Kids box

would be pasta...

..or plain flour.

For things such as making pasta salads or apple scones,

or cheesy biscuits. I just want to get my passion for food

and cooking across to other children and to get them in the kitchen.

Thank you very much for your time, I really appreciate this opportunity.

Ben has packed a lot of passion into his pitch.

Zoe and Thomas, it's your turn now.

Take it away for the pitch for Cool Cookies.

Hello, I am Thomas and this is my sister Zoe.

And we are founders of Cool Cookies.

Cool Cookies are frozen,

healthy, ready-shaped cookies which you can bake at home.

Busy people could buy Cool Cookies from the supermarket

and pop some in the oven.

Eight minutes later they would have a yummy snack.

We use ingredients such as raisins,

British carrots, dairy-free chocolate buttons and porridge oats.

We like experimenting with different flavours too,

although we've ruled out curry and liver flavour.

We hope you'll love our business idea, Cool Cookies!

-We make them...

-You bake them.

-Yummy.

Which idea will the buddies buy into?

Bake-at-home cookies or build-your-own packed lunches?

-Ben, we'll start with you.

-From a branding perspective,

-I'm going to go with Cool Cookies.

-Luke.

Ben, big, big well done.

I really love your concept, but from a business perspective

I'm going to, on this occasion, go with Cool Cookies.

That's two votes for Cool Cookies.

They only need one more to win the head-to-head.

For me, it's Ben and it's Kitchen Kids.

It is getting tense now, isn't it? So, Suleman.

I'm going to go with...

Cool Cookies.

Suleman's vote makes it three for Thomas and Zoe.

You've made it through to the next round,

but let's find out what Emma-Jayne thought.

My vote would be going with Cool Cookies.

Ben says bye to the buddies, but remains positive.

I found it very helpful and I'm very grateful for their feedback.

Cool Cookies can now choose from the buddies that voted for them.

Who will best help them to pitch to Levi Roots?

Online supermarket supplier Suleman,

clothing innovator Emma-Jayne,

social media expert Ben

or international chef Luke?

Choosing the right buddy is key when pitching to the guru.

THEY WHISPER

We've chosen Suleman.

Suleman!

That's a good one - you want to get it in the supermarkets, don't you?

Time for our last pair.

Here's 11-year-old Lily May

from Worcestershire. Her inspiration is today's guru himself.

Levi Roots is my inspiration because he started at the bottom

with just a jar of his sauce and he got to the top.

Finally, we have ten-year-old

Olivia from Caerphilly

who accidentally overcooked some fudge and saw gold.

My business idea was a happy mistake, but I don't want to

make any mistakes today in front of the buddies.

For our final head-to-head,

buddied-up Suleman is replaced by Amber, a fashion entrepreneur.

Lily May, you are going to start us off.

Give us your pitch for I'm In A Pickle.

Hi, my name is Lily May.

The name of my product is I'm In A Pickle.

My product idea is to pickle all of the unwanted courgettes.

No-one else could possibly make pickle like this.

My aim is to sell my product in all of the branded supermarkets

and local shops too.

My motto is, "Once you try it, you have to buy it."

I hope you and many other people

will enjoy my pickle as much as I do. Thank you.

'Confident pitch there from Lily May.'

Olivia, you're up next.

Give us the pitch for Sludge.

My name is Olivia and my product is called Sludge

and it's a delicious new spreading fudge.

You can put Sludge on pancakes, porridge, toast,

bread or whatever you can think of.

It comes in a variety of flavours, such as vanilla, original,

double vanilla, white chocolate or salted caramel.

My aim for Sludge is to become a unique household brand

and to be sold to all ages.

Thank you for listening to my pitch.

'Sweet Sludge versus savoury pickle.

'Only one can go through to the guru.'

I've got a sweet tooth, so I'm going to vote with Sludge.

Imogen?

I'm going for I'm In A Pickle.

I'm going to go Sludge.

Sludge, there you go, you have two votes now,

you just need one more to go through to the next round.

Luke?

For me, on this occasion, I do have a sweet tooth as well

and I am going to go for Sludge.

Sludge. Olivia, you're through to the next round,

but let's find out what Emily thought.

For me, it was the logo and branding that really won me over for Sludge.

Lily May is off. She couldn't quite persuade the buddies

to pick the pickled pickler.

I'd like to carry on with my product

and maybe take it into the supermarkets.

Now Olivia can choose a buddy from the ones that voted for her,

to help shape up her pitch for the guru.

Fashion pioneer Amber,

digital expert Ben,

chef Luke or inventor Emily.

Olivia decides.

I would like to work with Luke, please.

Luke, well, I think Luke will be a great buddy for you,

-so go and get prepared and I'll see you in the vault.

-Thank you.

So Real Meal Pizza, Cool Cookies and Sludge

have made it through to the next round,

where they will pitch to our guru Levi.

Superstar food guru Levi Roots became famous almost overnight

when he went into business with two TV Dragons.

The public loved his take on Caribbean food

and Levi is now worth £35 million.

Tasty!

The food business is really tough because it's food,

it's what people put in their mouth

and people are really concerned about that.

At stake is a year's worth of pocket money - that's £322.40 -

plus a chance to get the recipe for success from Levi himself.

And he knows exactly what he wants.

I'll be looking for a business that has its own USP -

unique selling point.

The key to success is actually a business

with a really good brand identity.

The other thing is, it's actually about the passion

of the person who is selling the business.

You will have to work hard for it.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

'The young entrepreneurs will need to draw on

'all the experience of their business buddies

'to pitch to the guru.'

Oh, good, you brought some Sludge with you. Good.

'Bianca wants the boys to show how Real Meal Pizza

'will stand out on the shelf.'

First thing, for me, that was lacking

-was really a good example of what that pizza looks like.

-Yeah.

'Luke is making sure that the unique selling point of Sludge

'comes across loud and clear in Olivia's pitch.'

When you talk about unique selling point,

well, how are you going to get the world to want to eat your product?

'And buddy Suleman wants Cool Cookies to be pitch-perfect.'

From here... we want to take it up there.

It's taking it up to that next level.

Now, while the Pocket Money Pitchers get ready,

the vault is preparing for the final showdown -

the mission to win over the gurus.

But if at any point the pitchers get stuck, they can press this,

the Pause My Pitch button, and the guru will be locked away

and the buddy will be able to run on and help them,

but they need to choose their time wisely with this

because they can only Pause My Pitch once.

Levi is looking for a passionate pitch, a great new brand

and a unique selling point.

Can Kirby and Ashton deliver with their Real Meal Pizza?

Watching backstage is buddy Bianca, ready to throw them a lifeline.

Good luck, lads, present your pitch.

-Hello, I'm Kirby.

-And I'm Ashton.

-And our business idea is...

-BOTH:

-Real Meal Pizza!

So, Ashton, what is a Real Meal Pizza?

Real Meal Pizza is, as the name suggests,

a real meal on a pizza,

such as a Sunday roast, spaghetti bolognese

and, the most popular, a lamb rogan josh. Yum yum.

If we were lucky enough to receive a year's worth of pocket money,

we would start off small by selling individual slices

of our pizzas down at our local youth club.

Our most expensive pizza to make is a lamb rogan josh,

which costs £1.33 to make one pizza.

We would sell individual slices of this pizza for £1.50.

We would cut the pizza up into eight slices,

which would give us the profit of £10.67.

Our ultimate aim would be

to sell frozen Real Meal Pizzas in supermarkets.

So, Ashton, how would we spend the pocket money?

On cooking equipment, ingredients, advertisement, packaging

and health-and-safety training.

We hope you would like to support us on our venture and remember...

-BOTH:

-Real Meal Pizzas are the real deal!

A slick pitch from the pizza brothers.

Now they face a grilling from the guru.

If you were lucky enough to walk away with the money,

what would your profit be like in a year's time?

In a year's time, just by selling at the youth club,

we have worked out it will be almost about £5,000.

The brothers are thinking big, but Levi is thinking even bigger -

about the impact on the planet.

Carbon footprint?

-Pause?

-Yeah.

Ooh, Kirby has paused the pitch and locked in Levi.

Can buddy Bianca help the boys save the planet and save the pitch?

Don't worry, you are doing really well.

It's a tough question.

So, carbon footprint is basically about

-how much impact you're having on the environment.

-Yes.

OK, so for you, your impact is quite low

because you are using ingredients that are locally sourced

and you had a special box, didn't you?

Yes, we got a special cardboard.

So recyclable cardboard and locally sourced ingredients

and produce and you are making it yourself.

-And we are making it ourself.

-Great. Well done, keep going.

Has buddy Bianca given the boys enough information

to convince Levi that Real Meal Pizza won't cost the earth?

Were going to cause a small carbon footprint,

it won't be very big.

We are using locally grown ingredients and we are going to

use cardboard, recyclable cardboard, to serve our pizzas up on.

That's very good.

And my final question is about market research.

Who have you market researched the product with?

Well, our target audience was teenagers,

so I did it in one of my school lessons

and I asked, "What are your favourite meals,

"would you have them on pizzas?" 95% of them said yes.

All right, thank you, Ashton and Kirby.

-You've done very well, thank you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

So, have Real Meal Pizza done enough

to secure a year's pocket money and time with the guru?

It's Thomas and Zoe's turn to enter the vault next.

Will Cool Cookies crumble under the pressure?

Hello, I am Thomas and this is my sister Zoe.

We are the founders of Cool Cookies!

Cool Cookies are frozen, healthy,

ready-shaped cookies that you can bake at home.

Busy people could buy Cool Cookies from the supermarket

and pop them in the oven.

Eight minutes later, they will have a yummy snack.

We have calculated that a box of ten cookies

will cost us only 50p to make.

We could then sell them to the shops for £1 a box.

The shops could sell them on for £1.50 each box of ten.

There are over 60,000 convenience stores in the UK.

We aim to have 100 of those convenience stores

ordering one case of our Cool Cookies each week.

-WHISPERS:

-Go on, press it.

THEY WHISPER

We hope you love our business idea.

-BOTH:

-Cool Cookies!

-We make 'em...

-You bake 'em.

A wobble at the end there, but the twins kept their cool.

That was a very accomplished pitch.

But I do have to ask you, cos you know recipes have to be protected,

is the recipe protected?

We did see someone about protecting our logo,

but not our recipe.

We are still working on the recipe.

Thomas and Zoe don't have legal protection of their recipes,

so anybody could sell the same cookies,

a potential problem in the future.

Can I have a look at the cookies? Do you mind?

Yes, you can look at the cookies.

This is our strangest flavour, carrot and blueberry.

Carrot and blueberry.

And also, we have made an oatmeal raisin.

I kind of like the look of this one, this carrot and...

It looks scrumptious.

Can I just have a little nibble?

Well, during the process of setting this up,

-that was knocked over.

-It was?

And they went on the floor, so you might not...

Not for my indigestion, no?

-You might not want to.

-All right.

No free samples for Levi today!

But he's not the only cookie fan in the Roots house.

Well, I have a two-year-old son and he can't take allergies

and stuff like that, like egg-free and gluten-free -

will you be doing something like a gluten-free?

We have used before dairy-free chocolate buttons.

If we won, we could look into going into gluten as well.

OK, Zoe and Tom, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Two guru pitches down, one more to go.

Also hoping Levi has a sweet tooth is Olivia, with Sludge.

Hello, my name is Olivia and my product is called Sludge

and it's a delicious new spreadable fudge.

Sludge can be enjoyed in many ways.

You can have it on things such as porridge, bread, toast,

pancakes, whatever you can think of.

Sludge is unique cos it's not currently on the supermarket shelves

and is an alternative to jam, chocolate spread or peanut butter.

The cost to make one jar is 50p.

And if I sell it at £1.50, including VAT,

I will get 35p profit

and the retailer will also get 35p profit.

If I receive a year's worth of pocket money,

I would use it to seek guidance in marketing

and use it to help to improve the quality of my product.

Thank you.

A detailed pitch for Sludge, but Levi means business.

Thank you very much, Olivia. That was a very cool pitch.

Thank you.

But I was going to ask you something about a P&L sheet.

-OK.

-And if you know what that is?

-No, I don't know.

-Profit and loss sheet.

-OK.

If I was to ask you, in your first six months of trading,

what would your P&L sheet look like, would you be able to tell me?

Is Olivia willing to use her Pause My Pitch on the very first question?

Levi is locked away and buddy backup arrives in the shape of Luke.

I think the answer that you could give is probably say

that at the moment our buying power isn't very strong,

so we know our costs are fairly high.

Think of it as seize the moment.

The costs are high and the profits are low. As we get further along,

it is going to go the other way -

profit will go up and cost will come down.

-All right? Good luck, good luck.

-Thank you.

Time to unlock Levi.

Will he be convinced by Olivia's answer?

Well, right now the cost is quite high

and the profits are quite low,

but I think as we move on,

the profits will rise and the cost will probably go down.

Good comeback there from Olivia,

but she can't pause her pitch again.

I've got a two-year-old son and we both love this kind of product.

OK.

But he is... He can't have dairy.

-OK.

-And I'd love him to be able to be trying Sludge when it comes out.

Yeah. I've got some people in my school, actually,

and they can't have dairy, so I definitely want to try it

using other stuff that doesn't include dairy.

Fantastic.

-You know a lot of people are talking about environmentally friendly?

-Yes.

Is anything about Sludge that you can tell me

that will actually enhance that?

-Em...

-Another tough question and Olivia is on her own.

I make it at home and there is just sugar and milk and butter,

so there is nothing that would interfere with that.

So you'd keep it as friendly as possible?

-Yeah, definitely.

-That's fantastic.

-Well, thank you.

-Thank you.

Olivia leaves the vault after a tough cross-examination.

The pitching is over.

Will it be Real Meal Pizza, Cool Cookies or Sludge

who walk away with a year's worth of pocket money

and priceless time with the guru?

Levi, this is a tough one, isn't it?

What did you think of them?

I think I'll start with my mates here, Ashton and Kirby,

who I thought did really brilliantly and when I did sort of get down to

the nitty-gritty and, you know, I asked you really tough questions,

you really came through with it, so that was really special.

Yeah, Cool Cookies.

Again, a very accomplished pitch and the best thing, I think,

was that you talked about actually having dairy-free in your product,

which is absolutely wonderful.

Olivia, Sludge.

Mmmm!

I'm actually tasting Sludge at the moment.

It was really, really fantastic, really loved the fact that

when I challenged you, you came back with your profit and loss,

because that was a really hard question I threw at you there,

but you came back and you answered it absolutely brilliantly.

So I thought they were all brilliant.

But as you know, our guru can only choose one business,

so, Levi, who have you chosen as today's prize pitcher?

'It's the moment of truth.'

All right, Steph, well, the pitcher I have chosen is...

..Cool Cookies, Tom and Zoe.

APPLAUSE

Oh, well done, guys!

Wow! You did it, guys!

-How are you feeling?

-Amazed.

Did you expect that you would be the ones?

-No!

-No?

You've made it through loads, haven't you?

Yeah. I've been nervous at times and excited at times.

Three great pitchers.

Business isn't over. It's been a great experience

and we are going to keep going.

I found the experience really, really exciting

and really, really good.

But only one could be chosen by the guru.

Cool Cookies.

I thought they were the coolest!

Absolutely wonderful!

I struggled to actually break down their armour

and try to find a little chink where I could get in there.

-We make 'em...

-You bake 'em.

Now Thomas and Zoe have a year's worth of pocket money

to help them make their business a reality.

Let's do it! Come on, guys.

What business tips will they learn from Levi?

-You might want to stand back!

-Argh!

LEVI LAUGHS

And how does the Cool Cookies story heat up?

I really hope this is going to taste as well as I think it should.

Find out in Pocket Money Pitch: What Happened Next

at the end of this series.