How Wrapmaster® helps Loughborough College train students to become confident, safe and sustainable chefs.
Loughborough College runs one of the most ambitious hospitality programmes in the East Midlands. Nearly 150 students pass through its kitchens each year, many with diverse accessibility needs, all working towards a future in the industry. Darren Creed, curriculum head for Hospitality, Travel and Aviation and current Craft Guild Chef Lecturer of the Year, has been at the heart of that training for more than a decade – Wrapmaster® has been with him every step of the way.
Running a teaching kitchen is a different kind of challenge. Not only are you managing efficiency and output, you’re also responsible for the safety and development of students who are still learning the fundamentals of professional kitchen life, some of whom may have physical or cognitive accessibility requirements.
Before Wrapmaster®, kitchens were faced with tired, flimsy cardboard cutter boxes with exposed blades. As Darren experienced, these came with a whole host of difficulties and time-wasting challenges, including tangled and torn film and foil, testing the patience of even experienced chefs. For students still finding their feet, it was a daily frustration that had nothing to do with their skills in the kitchen.
“Loose cling film, we all know gives chefs bad tempers,” Darren says. “It gets tangled and stuck.” More seriously, the exposed blades on traditional cutter boxes created a genuine hazard, particularly for students with accessibility needs – something had to change.
“Wrapmaster®’s hidden blade has been revolutionary,” Darren explains. “On the cardboard cutter boxes, the blade used to be exposed, so that element has now been taken away. So, for any student or chef with accessibility needs, that’s fantastic. It’s reduced or actually eliminated the risk of cutting themselves.”
Today, the Loughborough College kitchens benefit from three types of Wrapmaster® models: the 3000, the 4500 and the Duo, with units positioned across every bench and section. Film, foil and parchment are all dispensed cleanly, safely and quickly, in line with the college’s food safety policies.
What the Students Say
The students at Loughborough College are clear about what makes Wrapmaster® work for them. The feedback from the next generation of chefs, touches on three key benefits – accessibility, speed and sustainability.
Nathan, a Level 3 student chef, explained that using Wrapmaster® has been “a lot easier for me with my one hand. It’s just a lot easier to pull [food wrap] out and cut it off.”
While Amy, also a Level 3 student chef, applauded its efficiency – “it is easy and accessible for when I’m doing my competitions, and it is amazing for reducing waste.”
“It’s really quick and easy to use to keep my section clean. And then I also use it in my part-time job as well, and it makes everything a lot easier” shared Kelsie, a Level 3 student chef, having used Wrapmaster® dispensers in college and taking it with her to her place of work.
An experience the ultimate chef wrap system has seen many times – once a chef has used Wrapmaster®, they don’t go back to cardboard cutter boxes. Chefs are known for carrying their kit with them as they move through their careers, and Wrapmaster® is no different. When students like Kelsie are choosing to use Wrapmaster® in their part-time roles, it’s become part of how they work in a kitchen – a habit that benefits the whole hospitality and foodservice industry.
Less Waste, Lower Costs, Better Kitchens
Sustainability is embedded in how Loughborough College operates, and Wrapmaster® supports that directly. As the dispensers deliver clean, controlled amounts of film, foil and parchment with each use, waste has dropped significantly compared to loose rolls – Darren is direct about the difference.
“With the Wrapmaster® systems, we are using a lot less film than what we used to. It feeds into our sustainability policy and that’s good for the environment and everybody involved.”
Reduced consumption means reduced cost too, for a college running a commercial-standard kitchen at scale, small savings add up. And the dispensers’ dishwasher-safe design keeps cleaning simple during service, which matters when you have multiple sections running at once.
Ten Years On, and Still Recommending It
Loughborough College has been using Wrapmaster® for just over ten years, a proud partnership that highlights how products that deliver do not get replaced. Darren is now an active advocate.
“I already recommend Wrapmaster® to other chefs in the industry and in the education world as well,” he says. “It has been fantastic for us. It’s really good, a really good product.”
For other colleges and training kitchens looking to improve safety, reduce waste and give students the tools they will actually use in professional kitchens, Darren’s message is simple: Wrapmaster® works.
“With the Wrapmaster® systems, we are using a lot less film than what we used to. It feeds into our sustainability policy and that’s good for the environment and everybody involved.”
Darren Creed