Once inside, the children began their investigation in the fruit and vegetable aisles, examining packaging and searching for country‑of‑origin labels. They were amazed to discover just how far our food travels before reaching our plates. Did you know sweetcorn can come all the way from Senegal? Or that we found three packets of blueberries, each from a completely different country? It was a brilliant real‑life example of global food imports and sparked lots of thoughtful discussion.

We then explored the rest of the store, looking at a range of everyday items and continuing our detective work. Of course, we couldn’t resist a stop down the chocolate aisle, where the children investigated whether different brands were Fairtrade or not. They were shocked to learn that many well‑known companies still don’t use Fairtrade cocoa — especially when the UK chocolate industry is worth £4 billion a year, yet farmers in the Ivory Coast may earn as little as 80p a day. Diamond Class are already talking about writing some persuasive letters to encourage fairer treatment for farmers.

After a brilliant Q&A session with Tesco staff, the children were delighted to receive some goodies to take home — a very kind gesture that rounded off the trip perfectly.

Overall, Diamond Class had a fantastic time and can’t wait to continue their learning back in the classroom. Their curiosity, enthusiasm and thoughtful questions made us incredibly proud.

Thank you to our parent volunteers for helping on the trip.