SIX schools and colleges from the York area competed in the first York Chocolate Challenge. The event, hosted by York Cocoa Works, was held in conjunction with Global Entrepreneurship Week.

The challenge, run by local business Time2Resources, saw six teams competing to reimagine the chocolate product of the future.

Throughout the day students gained an insight into the global chocolate industry, from bean to bar.

Sophie Jewett, owner of York Cocoa Works, shared her passion for all things chocolate as students experienced the manufacturing process and looked behind the scenes of this global industry.

Having gained a wealth of knowledge in the morning, students were challenged to put this to the test in the afternoon.

Business acumen, quantitative skills, creativity and presentation skills were judged by industry experts.

The teams, who each gave a three minute presentation on their concepts for a new product, were judged by Sophie and Emily Katsarelis, a brand designer from York brand design agency, Lazenby Brown.

The winning team, Woldgate School from Pocklington, designed a range of chocolate products based on animals from around the world.

They will now have the opportunity to work with Sophie and her team to fine tune their idea before putting it to the test and are spending a full day developing their winning entry on today.

They will manufacture, package and brand their product to see if it has what it takes to make it into a commercial product.

Sophie was so impressed by the quality of the presentations that she has also invited two more teams to develop their product.

All Saints RC School came up with the Yorkshire Crunch, a chocolate and caramel based product that made innovative use of QR codes to celebrate the origin of the ingredients from farmers around the world, raising awareness of the countries where the cocoa is grown.

The Mount School paired chocolate with fruits synonymous with that country, such as Indian Mango chocolate.

Both schools have spent an additional day at the Cocoa Works.

Judge Emily Katsarelis said: "It was tremendous to see the innovative ideas each team came up with; the future certainly looks bright for this group of young people."

Time2Resources, run by entrepreneurs Helen Coupland-Smith and Carlo Mencattelli, is a one stop shop for teachers and students of products for business and economics education.