Major donation for DIT from Musgrave MarketPlace

Musgrave MarketPlace, a longstanding and highly valued partner of the School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology is investing in a key teaching space in DIT’s new campus in Grangegorman. The company has pledged €250,000 support for the Musgrave MarketPlace Training Restaurant in the Central Quad, due to open in September 2019.

Musgrave MarketPlace is part of the Musgrave Group and is Ireland’s largest wholesale brand and food services operation, serving more than 45,000 hotels, restaurants and hospitality businesses. The Musgrave Group is a highly successful Irish family business with a turnover of €4.4 billion. Together with their retail partners, Musgrave group employ over 45,000 people – 35,000 in Ireland alone, making them the largest private sector employer in Ireland.

The Central Quad at Granegorman opening in 2019 will be home to the Musgrave MarketPlace Restaurant

The Musgrave MarketPlace Restaurant will be a key teaching space located in the heart of the new DIT campus at Grangegorman. Specifically it will provide training facilities for over 800 students from 11 different full and part-time programmes in the DIT School of Culinary Arts & Food Technology, as well as the wider student population in hospitality and tourism studies.

Commenting on the announcement of the company’s investment in DIT, Michelle Fennell, Musgrave Wholesale Partners Marketing Director said “the pace of change in the food sector is immense. To stay competitive, there is a constant need to innovate and to anticipate trends. DIT has always provided excellent support and expertise to the food sector in Ireland and I believe this new training restaurant, based in the School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology will become a hub for educational opportunities and industry outreach programmes.”

The President of DIT, Professor Brian Norton, thanked Musgrave Market Place for its generosity in supporting the new DIT Campus and the scholarship fund. He said “this generous commitment by a leading Irish food company represents a real contribution to Irish higher education and will assist DIT in delivering on its campus development. We have no doubt that the Musgrave MarketPlace Training Restaurant will become a key teaching space, establishing a strong focus on skills and innovation for the food sector. In addition to this the Musgrave Scholarships in Culinary Arts will be of great benefit to DIT students and recognising excellence and commitment in the field of culinary arts.”

Musgrave Scholarships in Culinary Arts 2016 Awardees

To complement this important pledge to the capital development of the new DIT campus at Grangegorman, the Musgrave MarketPlace has also invested in a new scholarship fund. The Musgrave Scholarships in Culinary Arts support eight high achieving DIT students with scholarships to the value of €3,000 each. These scholarships will be funded on an annual basis as part of the company’s commitment to food leadership and investment in the future of the Irish food sector.

The first eight recipients of the Musgrave Scholarships in Culinary Arts were announced at a special ceremony on 4th November 2016 at DIT Cathal Brugha Street. The winners were the top performing students in each of the four years of the Bachelor of Culinary Arts honours degree and each of the four years of the Bachelor of Culinary Entrepreneurship honours degree.

In addition to the scholarship, the winning DIT scholars are eligible to apply for internships with Musgrave MarketPlace. This will provide an opportunity for the scholars to apply the knowledge and concepts acquired in the first three years of their studies to the practical demands of the workplace.