Fruit Trade Your Way to the USA

I'm Saira Khan.

I started trading when I was just a teenager.

Now I'm looking for the next generation of budding entrepreneurs,

who are fantastic at trading,

and know how to make a profit.

I'm looking for Britain's best young traders.

Could you do three for £2?

Can I interest you? Only 50p for the jumbo sword.

-Yes.

-No!

From over 1,000 applicants,

14 teams have made it through to the heats.

Would you like a pick-and-mix fruit dessert?

Very nice. Lovely.

They will be tested in a range of tough trading challenges.

I don't know how I'm going to survive this challenge.

I think you look amazing.

Each team will be given £75.

They must decide what to buy...

I think we need to look for a cheaper option.

-..negotiate the lowest prices...

-It's a deal.

-£8.40?

-You drive a hard bargain, you guys.

Nice doing business with you.

..and then they must sell, sell, sell.

-Any ring you want.

-Yeah, £10.

Come on, glitzy glam.

The team that takes the most money wins the challenge.

But only the teams that top the leaderboard

could be in with a chance of competing

in the grand final in New York.

USA!

U-S-A!

Watch them in action,

listen out for my top trading tips,

and one day you too could trade your way to the USA.

Let's meet today's two teams.

It's Sapphire from south London versus Friendlee Traders,

from Surrey.

Our team name is Sapphire.

We chose it because it's a bold name,

and it represents boldness as well as beauty.

I'm Bismah, and personally I think

I'm really good at speaking to people and helping people,

having fun with people, talking to people.

And doing the serious sides of things, too.

I'm Komal, and I definitely think I'm a very creative person.

I also think I'm a very good planner,

I like to think far into the future, and plan ahead.

Bismah is my sister, so obviously I know her quite well.

At times she can be very bossy and demanding.

Listen to me, I've got something to say!

I'm Sonali. I think I'm quite a bubbly person.

I love to make new friends.

I think I'm really, really chatty, and sometimes a bit too chatty.

I wonder how much this is? I really need to buy this.

I think I can really make customers smile when I sell,

and I can joke about with them.

Sapphire sound confident.

Let's check out their competition.

We're called the Friendlee Traders, because their second name is Lee,

and my second name is Friend.

I'm Arthur. I'm very competitive, and I love numbers,

so I hope I'll be able to add up all the profit my team makes.

I'm Anna. I like being creative, and making things like hearts,

which could be cushions.

I make them by cutting them out and sewing them,

and then I like selling them on.

I'm Josh. I'm a magician. I'm going to mystify and bewilder my customers,

so I can conjure up some fantastic deals for me and my team.

So, it's Sapphire, with the gift of the gab,

taking on the Friendlee Traders, with a few tricks up their sleeves.

I'm going to put their trading skills to the test,

but which team will make the most money and win today's challenge?

Today, we're heading deep into the Surrey countryside.

There's rolling green fields and acres of farmland,

so let's reveal today's trade challenge to the teams.

Welcome, everybody.

Your trading challenge is to set up a summer fruit stall,

and sell desserts at a very busy farmers' market.

You'll be rolling your sleeves up

and getting your hands very dirty, cos you're picking your own fruit.

There's so much choice here at the fruit farm.

Friendlee Traders and Sapphire must decide on the right desserts

to sell at the farmers' market.

What will their customers want? It's time to buy.

This is your trading fund.

There's £75 in each envelope.

Now you've got to think about, who are you selling to?

And where are you selling?

'So what will Sapphire and Friendlee Traders spend their £75 on today?'

'The first rule of trading is research.

'They now have to find out what sells best.'

OK, teams. This is John Secret.

Now, he runs the farm.

So pick his brains.

What's the best-selling fruit you have here?

It is undoubtedly strawberries.

-So, what makes a good strawberry?

-Shape and appearance.

A nice good colour, and obviously good flavour, too.

And what do people eat them with?

They like cream with the fruit, that's the number one seller,

but also ice cream goes quite well, too.

'Good question, Bismah.'

My top tip to all you traders

is you can add value to a product,

like putting strawberries together with cream,

and that can allow you to charge more money for the item,

which in turn can increase your profits.

Is there any way you can buy them in bulk, that would make it cheaper?

Oh, yes. We might negotiate.

Josh wants to buy in bulk, to make that £75 go further,

while Sonali is thinking about her stomach.

Are we allowed to taste a strawberry?

Of course you are, yes. Here you are.

Come on, there's one each for everybody.

-They're really, really juicy.

-Really nice.

Armed with inside information about their customers

and what sells best, Sapphire and Friendlee Traders

must now decide what fruit to buy.

The main fruit would be blueberries, strawberries and raspberries.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-So there's a pick and mix of three things?

-No, then we have red berries...

-OK, that's cool, yeah.

So we have strawberries, raspberries, blueberries.

-Whipping cream?

-I think two of those.

No, they're small, they're small. Three.

Team Sapphire, what's your strategy for your stall tomorrow?

We've got a pick-and-mix fruit and desserts stand.

In this we're going to allow the customer

to choose what they would like, and price it up per pot.

That's how we're going to please the customer and make profit.

OK. Have you picked a specific fruit,

or are you going for different fruits?

I think because it's a pick and mix,

the beauty of it is that there's loads of fruits,

and the customer can pick what they want.

We want at least 50-55 pick and mixes to go,

-and that's what we think our profit is going to come by.

-OK.

-Well, good luck.

-Thank you.

'Ah, so Sapphire's plan is to sell lots of different fruit,

'and let customers pick and mix their combination.

'But I worry that this could be a risky strategy,

'because people may not want to pick and mix.'

Over with Friendlee Traders,

Arthur seems to have an idea about the best fruit for their stall.

Mainly strawberries. We've tasted the raspberries,

and I don't think they're nice. They're a bit bitty.

We definitely need the meringue,

-that's really important.

-Definitely, yep.

But we need to negotiate that, because six packets of 12,

that's got to be negotiated.

Because we're buying loads.

What's your strategy?

Well, mainly buying strawberries. And we're also buying raspberries,

but we're just staying with those two fruits.

And, in terms of your ideas,

what ideas are you generating at the moment?

We're going to buy lots of mini-meringues,

clotted cream on top,

and have a selection of raspberries and strawberries on top.

And hopefully they'll be very popular.

'Combining strawberries and cream with meringues is a good idea,

'as you can charge more.

'But Friendlee Traders have another plan up their sleeve.'

We have our secret weapon, our hamper that we're going to make,

which we're spending about a quarter of our money on.

Wow! So you're thinking of a hamper?

And what's this hamper going to contain?

We're going to have jams, toffees and chocolate in it,

and all the kind of things you'd find

in a hamper that you would get as a gift or something.

And that's what we're going to hope to make about £50-£60 on.

'Wow. Friendlee Traders are relying on taking the most money

'from selling one giant hamper.

'That's a risky strategy.'

My top tip to all you traders

is don't put all your eggs in one expensive basket.

Try and sell a variety of products at different prices,

because then you've got more chance of attracting different customers.

Right, now it's time for both teams to pick the fruit for their stalls.

They've got just 15 minutes.

Oh, my gosh, these are so red.

The more they pick, the more they can sell.

Oh! There are a couple here.

Sapphire have got to hurry.

They have to pick six different types of berries if their

pick-and-mix idea is going to work.

I want to fill up the whole kilogram.

Friendlee Traders are only picking strawberries and raspberries,

so they're taking their time,

and focusing on getting the best quality.

One whole box, not each, in total.

Oh, great, I dropped it.

Great! I dropped it.

Careful, Somali, Bismah will be after you!

We need a few more. If someone wants to run and go and get some.

Shall I go?

Be careful when you run.

Time's up on picking.

Now they've got to negotiate with John.

Remember, they've got £75 to spend on fruit desserts for their stalls.

They need to haggle for good prices,

so they can take the most money when they sell tomorrow.

Friendlee Traders are up first.

Ah, some more pickers.

Hi.

They should be £3.99 per kilo.

So we'll do these for, say, £3.69, OK?

-I would prefer better.

-Yeah.

Well, we'll do £3.60, OK?

-I can't go any lower than that. £3.60 per kilo.

-£3.50.

No, that's quite a lot off. No, no. No, that's it.

£3.60.

John's a tough trader.

He wanted £3.99 a kilo,

but Friendlee Traders haggle him down to £3.60 a kilo.

They've done well,

but how much will they sell them for on their stall tomorrow?

With the strawberries bought,

they start buying extra things for that hamper.

-Would you do that for £4?

-Yeah, we'll do that for £4.

-Thanks.

-You're very lucky.

But there's a problem. They haven't actually got a hamper.

Ah! Arthur has a brainwave.

-Where have you found that one?

-It's falling apart.

-You want the potatoes?

-No, just the basket.

-You can have that one.

£1, OK?

-We're done. Thanks very much.

-Hope it goes well tomorrow.

-Thank you.

-That's all right. Nice to see you.

Friendlee Traders have spent £40 of their £75 trade fund on fruit.

Now it's Sapphire's turn to negotiate.

First up, strawberries.

Will they get a better deal than Friendlee Traders?

Right, we're expecting a great deal.

-Yes.

-You're expecting a great deal? Well, you have done well.

-That would come to £21.

-So you can give it to us for 15?

You're saying that's too expensive?

Yeah. Look, most of them aren't red anyway.

They are a little bit under-ripe, so...

-OK. We'll let you have those for 15.

-Thank you.

-That's all right.

Good haggling, Sapphire.

They've got the strawberries for £3 a kilo,

60p less than Friendlee Traders paid.

Blackberries, £2.99.

-A pound! £1.50 for that?

-Yeah, all right.

So that's £18.88, but these should be £2.50 each, these punnets.

Can you give it to us for five?

-Erm... Well, you are getting a really good deal.

-£6?

Yeah, £6. Yeah, OK.

And they won't let up.

Both of them for £2. That's a great deal. You can't do...

No, £2.50, I think.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

You're quite cheeky, you lot, aren't you?

-That's a bargain for all that.

-Yeah. Thank you. Bye.

See you.

Both teams have bought all their fruit.

Now they're at the farm shop to buy the rest of the ingredients

to make their desserts, adding value to their fruit.

One of those, and then one of these.

Friendlee Traders have almost £35 to make those meringue desserts

and fill that hamper.

That would come to £5.

-How much would this be?

-That's £2.25.

-And this?

-That's £2.75.

-OK. Thank you.

-They're teeny.

-They're small things you can sprinkle over.

That would look really nice.

Sapphire have £25 to buy toppings for their pick-and-mix desserts.

Bismah is in charge.

The packet of grated chocolate, we can grate it ourselves.

It's a lot cheaper.

So, the deals are done.

What have each team bought with their £75 trade fund?

Sapphire spent £50 on fruit

and £25 on toppings for their pick-and-mix stall.

We really, really haggled with John to get as much fruit as we can.

Getting a fruit basket for £6, it's amazing.

Friendlee Traders spent just £40 on fruit,

£15 on ingredients for their meringue desserts,

and a whopping £20 on all the goodies for their hamper.

That basket to hold it all cost just £1.

The hamper's one of the main ideas for our stall.

We managed to get it quite cheaply. It has lots of things in it.

We spent £20 of our £75 on it,

and we're hoping to sell that for at least double.

So, it's two teams with very different strategies.

Friendlee Traders with their meringue desserts and giant hamper

versus Sapphire's pick-and-mix fruit pots.

Now, it's all about who sells best.

Only one team will still be in with a chance

of trading their way to the USA

and becoming Britain's best young traders.

Let the battle commence.

It's Sunday morning at Surrey Farmers' Market.

What will people here be looking to buy?

Friendlee Traders, Sapphire, it's your big selling day today.

You're here at the farmers' market

where there are going to be potentially thousands of customers.

It's up to you to sell your desserts for as much money as you can.

Remember, the team with the most takings is the winner.

It's a big day, I look forward to tasting some of your desserts.

They'll have just three hours to sell today.

The pressure's on to get their stalls ready.

Sapphire, you are open for business.

-You can now start selling to your customers.

-OK.

Friendlee Traders, you're open for business.

You can start selling to the customers.

Sapphire are fast off the mark with their pick-and-mix stall.

They're quick to set up, and they're trying to sell immediately.

Hello, we're doing a freshly picked fruit stall here.

Basically, how we work is that we have two sizes of pot,

a small and a large, you choose the fruit you want, how much you want,

you get one free topping, and you can choose out of all of these toppings.

They're clear on their prices - £1.50 for a small pot,

£2.50 for a large, and 25p for extra toppings.

But there's a problem with Friendlee Traders.

They're not ready yet.

This isn't working with the tissue paper.

-Is there scissors in there?

-Yes, I've got them.

Those meringues may look great, but, Anna, time is money.

What they should be focusing on right now

is getting the product out, putting a price on it and selling.

What they shouldn't be doing is faffing around

trying to make the stall look good.

Over with Sapphire, Bismah's trying hard to sell.

There's two different sizes you can purchase. A large and small.

But the customers aren't going for their pick and mix.

-I'll take a circle and come back.

-OK.

I'm worried about Sapphire.

I think customers just want to see a product and buy it.

I don't think they want to be standing there,

choosing what to put in a pot. Oooh!

Friendlee Traders are finally open for business.

The stall looks great,

with ready-made strawberries and cream at 50p

and meringues for 75p. The customers can't keep away.

-There we go.

-Don't drop it. Thank you.

-Thank you.

We had a lady come over and buy three meringues for £2.25.

But they've also got to sell the hamper.

It cost them £20 to fill.

Their big idea is to sell it to the highest bidder.

But so far there's no interest.

Over on Sapphire's stall, things are starting to go well.

-Hello, sir, we have a pick-and-mix fruit stall here.

-Wow.

-Shall we have some strawberries?

-Strawberries?

-Yes, in a big pot?

Yes, a big pot.

There's double cream, whipping cream and single cream.

-A little bit of single cream.

-OK.

-And which berry would you like?

-The blackberries.

-Sure.

-Thank you very much. Thank you.

-Cheers.

We've done well. We've got three or four customers,

and they were all really pleased.

And I think it's because we have so much selection and variety,

that customers are really pleased to buy from us.

Hello, sir, we have a pick-and-mix fruit stall.

Over at Friendlee Traders, there's now some interest in the hamper.

They've set a starting price of £15, but want at least £40 for it.

-Is this the current bid?

-That is the starting price.

-That's the starting price?

-There's lots in there.

-Make us an offer.

-Make you an offer?

-Yes.

-I will say 15 quid, then.

Yeah, we've had someone bid £15 on our hamper now.

We're hoping to get a little bit more than that over time.

But he's coming back in half an hour,

and if no-one has done a higher bid, then he will win it.

But Anna has seen a problem with the man's £15 offer.

We need to get a higher bid than £15.

Because we spent more than that on it.

That's right. The hamper cost them £20,

so they need to sell it for more than £15.

Yes. Oh, dear.

We need to think it through a bit more.

It's not quite gone to plan, maybe. Darn.

Rather than waiting for the customers to come to their stall,

Sapphire take their pick and mix to the customers -

a good trading idea.

Hello, sir. Would you like some fruit pick and mix?

-Do you want some?

-I will go for...

Marshmallows, yeah? That's £3.

That's £3 for two small pick-and-mix pots.

-Goodbye!

-Goodbye!

-How's it going?

-Really, really well.

-Yeah?

And why are you carrying all your stuff on a tray?

Because we feel that some people don't know where our stall is.

The shopkeepers don't know where we are, they're not able to get up,

so we thought we could bring it to them and make it at the spot.

-Well, it looks fantastic. See you later.

-See you later.

-Bye.

Komal and Sonali are on a roll with their mobile fruit trade.

They're even selling to the other stallholders.

What would you like? Strawberries? Large or small?

Just a small, thanks.

Top tip for being a great seller is the more customers you meet,

the more chance you've got of selling to them.

You've got to be energetic, passionate,

and sell your product with enthusiasm.

-Hello!

-Would you like some pick-and-mix fruit dessert?

Come on, sir, come on! Give us a yes!

I think the bigger one, yes, all right.

When you're trading, it's important to keep an eye on your competition.

Arthur and Anna decide to take their meringues on the road too.

-I'll take two meringues. Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

Would you like some meringues?

Pavlova or some strawberries and cream. 75p.

-Thank you very much.

-That one. OK.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

The teams are almost halfway through the challenge.

They've been selling for more than an hour. If they want to win,

they've got to sell as much of their stock as possible.

Come on, I can see in your face you want some!

Would you like to choose which one? That one?

Anyone want an Eton mess for just £1? Come along! Come along!

You can have the raspberries, blackberries, anything you want.

And two free toppings. Any of these two free toppings.

-If you want more, it's 5p extra.

-You're very good at this.

-Want some?

-There you go.

-Thank you.

-Enjoy.

Just take a spoon. Thank you.

-Sapphire!

-Hello.

-How is it going?

Very well. We know what we're doing. We have our own roles,

we're not bumping into each other, messing stuff up.

We're confident. People are buying from everyone, so it's really good.

Something dramatic is happening over at Friendlee Traders.

This man is considering buying in bulk.

-Can I have eight, please.

-Eight?

-To take away.

He's buying eight desserts.

OK, would you like a big pot to put them in?

Friendlee Traders have made their biggest sale so far.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, sweetheart. Cheers.

-Thank you.

Wow, guys, you've just had a massive sale, how was that?!

-We sold eight strawberries and cream there.

-Eight?!

All in one go! And how much money did you make?

-We made £6.

-Fantastic! The hamper is still there. How is that going?

The price has been raised, and we got some carrots to make it look nicer.

-Did you buy the carrots?

-No, they gave them to us for free.

So the carrots are for decoration.

Yes, but they also come with the hamper.

We still have £18.50 for the hamper, the man is coming back.

-He keeps coming back to check he's still the highest bidder.

-OK.

When the man comes back, those extra carrots do their job

and bump up the price.

OK, if you add that extra, I'll give you 20 quid.

OK. Thank you very much.

The hamper has finally sold for £20.

No profit, but at least they didn't lose money,

and they could still win with meringue sales.

-Thank you very much.

-That's really good. Thank you.

-Thank you.

It's crunch time.

Sonali, just to let you know,

-you now have less than ten minutes to get rid of all your stock.

-OK.

It's sell, sell, sell. Every penny counts.

Sonali is even trying to sell leftover cream.

It's just opened today. We bought it today. Please.

It was for our strawberries, but everything's been sold.

-Now, that's what I call selling.

-Thank you.

-20p for cash.

-All right.

Thank you very much.

And Friendlee Traders are really going for it.

-It's a frantic last few minutes.

-£5.50.

-How much is a punnet?

-About £5.50.

-Oh, no, no, no, far too much.

-I have to sell a few more roses before I can buy strawberries.

-OK.

Sapphire have dropped the prices.

Come on, just £2.50.

-OK, how much do you want to pay for it?

-£2. Yes!

And Sonali doesn't stop until everything sells.

Come on, glitzy glam.

-Go on, then.

-Thank you.

Yes! We sold everything!

-Yay!

-Well done!

Friendlee Traders are determined

to sell the last of their ready-made meringues.

All right. £3.50, then.

£3.50. All right.

Sold for £3.50.

-How about some toppings?

-THEY LAUGH

It's a race to the finish.

We are sold out.

Their selling time is over.

'Sapphire and Friendlee Traders have sold out,

'but which team has taken the most money?'

The winners today could get through to the big New York final,

where they'll compete against another team

to be named Britain's best young traders.

Sapphire, Friendlee Traders, you've both done very well.

Sapphire, what were your highlights?

I think bargaining and haggling down to really low prices

with the fruit initially,

and selling it for a lot more than we paid.

OK, and Friendlee Traders?

Probably when we sold eight things in one go to one guy.

We were really pleased with that.

And also selling the hamper was a big relief,

because that was a big part of our stall.

And when we actually managed to sell it, that was good.

It's time to reveal the team with the most takings.

Sapphire, you took...

£136.30.

Friendlee Traders, you took...

-£94.05.

-Oh, my God!

Well done.

Both teams, fantastic trading, excellent customer service,

brilliant buying, fantastic haggling,

you should both be proud.

-We put everything into it, and that has paid off.

-It is really exciting.

I am over the moon. I can't believe it.

I don't know what to say, I'm speechless.

We made such good friends with Friendlee Traders.

Just to see them be so upset, it's kind of hard.

Josh, has it been a good experience?

Definitely, and I think it will benefit us later on in life

when we come to do this sort of thing for real.

-Has it put you off trading?

-No.

-Not at all.

Fantastic. That's exactly what it's all about. Well done.

Sapphire, high-five. Well done, you.

So, Sapphire win.

From their £75 trade fund they've taken £136.30.

That's £61.30 profit.

Let's look at the leaderboard.

Sapphire go into first place in front of Impulse and the OAPs.

Only the four winning teams who take the most money

get through to the semifinals.

And the two best teams will go on to compete

in the grand final in New York.

But only one team will be named Britain's best young traders.

Next time on Trade Your Way To The USA,

there's cake to be sold.

Come and buy some award-winning Victoria sponge!

And everyone's in fancy dress...

So go for it! 'As two teams of traders battle it out...'

We're trying to beat the boys.

..at an Alice In Wonderland tea party.

Very nice. Oh, lovely.

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