CHESTER — October is National Manufacturing Month, when manufacturers across the country showcase the importance of manufacturing through a series of events. Manufacturing jobs are an extremely important part of the economy and impact everyone, every day in numerous ways.
Inspired by the success of various celebrity cereals it has manufactured, Gilster-Mary Lee launched the Create A Crunch contest in 2022 to reach out to new creators and makers – local high school students in Illinois and Missouri. Previous years winners created Musketeer Cinnamon Crunch (Red Bud High School, Red Bud, IL) and Bulldog Bites (Notre Dame High School, Cape Girardeau, MO).
Participating students will answer a very timely question about sustainability in food manufacturing and consumer behavior.
They will be asked to “Pick a food product that you enjoy. Think about the food itself, the packaging it comes in, and how you usually eat or drink it. What can the manufacturer that makes it do to reduce the food waste and food packaging waste related to that product? What can you do yourself to reduce food waste and food packaging waste when you buy and consume that product?”.
As a new addition to the contest this year, the winning student can either create their own breakfast cereal or macaroni & cheese dinner featuring their high school. The student will pick the type of cereal or macaroni and cheese, create the packaging, and learn about all that goes into manufacturing food products today. 2,500 boxes of the unique cereal or 5,000 boxes of the macaroni & cheese dinner will be produced and given to their school. The contest will run through October 31st, 2024.
Gilster-Mary Lee is excited to make Create A Crunch or Make A Mac a part of National Manufacturing Month and through it help inspire the manufacturers of tomorrow.
Gilster-Mary Lee is a store brand and food service manufacturer with plants in Chester, Steeleville, Centralia, and Momence, Illinois and Perryville, McBride, Joplin, and Jasper Missouri.