Food Marketing and Business Economics
UCAS Code: D670
Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
Cambridge International Pre-U Certificate - Principal
Extended Project
In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification provides to students for University study, we now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer. Eligible applicants would receive two offers, our usual offer plus an alternative offer of a B in the EPQ and one grade lower in their A level subjects
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE Maths B (or 6), English Language or English Literature C (or 4).
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Higher
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
If you are interested in a commercial career with a connection to food, then this BSc Food Marketing and Business Economics is the degree for you.
It develops skills in business management, marketing and economics designed to address key food industry challenges. You will have the chance to apply these skills to live food business problems. Working as part of a team, you will develop a research proposal to address a real food business brief, carry out the research and present your findings to the company. If you're thinking of starting your own food business, this course also offers opportunities to gain entrepreneurial skills and insight.
An exciting part of the course is a marketing research project, which enables you to work as a consultant for a real food business. Working as part of a team, you will develop a research proposal to address the client’s brief, carry out the research and present your findings to the company. Past projects have included a review of the pre-packed chilled deserts category for Waitrose and fairtrade awareness for the Day Chocolate Company. Other clients have included Sainsbury's, Hotel Chocolat, Procter & Gamble, Mars and United Biscuits.
During your final year, you will complete a dissertation on a food-related topic that covers at least one of the three major disciplines of the course (business management, marketing and economics). In the past, these have covered topics as varied as food insecurity in The Gambia and the importance of corporate ownership in consumer choice.
You have the option of studying this degree over four years with a placement year in industry or study abroad.
**Careers**
As a graduate of this course you will leave with a range of specialist and transferable skills, including tools for market and business analysis, qualitative and quantitative research enquiry, and an understanding of consumer behaviour and marketing and business strategy.
You will be well-placed to move into a range of key business roles within the food industry and other sectors. These can include marketing, brand management, category management, retail management, supply chain management, sales, buying, policy analysis and production development. Previous students have gone on to work for a wide range of companies, both big and small, including Mars, Sainsbury's, Kellogg's, Unilever, and Heineken.
Alternatively, you may choose to move into other careers, such as banking, accountancy or teaching. This degree is also an ideal stepping-stone for postgraduate study.
Modules
Sample modules may include:
* Introduction to marketing
* Economics 1 and 2
* Introduction to management
* Applied project
* The UK food chain
* Qualitative research methods
* Quantitative methods 1
Check our website for more details of the course structure.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
The Uni
University of Reading
School of Agriculture, Policy and Development

Calculate your living costs
See how much you'll need to live on at your chosen university, with our student budget calculator.
See your living costsWhat students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Business and management
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Marketing
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Business and management
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
What do graduate employment figures really tell you?As only a small number of students take courses in this subject area, there isn't much information on what graduates do when they finish, so bear that in mind when you review any stats. Management, finance and business roles are common, but it's a good idea to ask tutors what previous graduates taking specific courses went on to do when you're at an open day.
Marketing
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
What do graduate employment figures really tell you?Want to join a fast-moving, diverse industry that's at the cutting edge of tech? Try marketing! A lot of the jobs are in London, but graduates don't just go to work in advertising agencies — all sorts of industries do their own marketing these days, and with the rise of digital and mobile technology, a lot of marketing is done in quite innovative ways using a wide range of methods. Common industries (apart from advertising and PR) include recruitment, online retail, higher education, banking and IT. A lot of jobs in this industry are handled through recruitment agencies, so if you get in touch with them early, that might give you a headstart for some of the jobs available. But be careful — unpaid working is not the norm in the marketing industry, but it is more common than in most sectors.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
Food marketing
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£23k
£25k
£28k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Explore these similar courses...



This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
We calculate a mean rating of all responses to indicate whether this is high, medium or low compared to the same subject area at other universities.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here