BSc Food Business and Marketing with Placement Year

Compulsory modules   

The Economic Environment

Explore key microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts and the relevance they have to some of the most critical challenges facing individuals, businesses, and societies across the globe.  

The Food Business

Study the food chain from a business perspective as you examine the different types of business that make up the food chain and the main trends and drivers that influence them. You’ll focus on changes in consumer preferences, technologies, policies and trade as you look at emerging changes.  

The Fundamentals of Management and Marketing 

Explore key concepts of marketing and management as you critically relate them to contemporary practice. You’ll study contemporary and traditional approaches to marketing and management, alongside issues that arise in practice.  

Global Sustainability: Challenges and Prospects 

Examine ecological crises including climate change, biodiversity loss and soil erosion. You’ll consider the drivers of these challenges and their relationship to other social and economic issues, alongside potential responses.  

Research and Professional Skills for Business and Marketing

Discover the main research and professional skills used by consumer researchers, applied economists, and business managers, and develop them in a practical research project. You’ll be introduced to professional qualitative and quantitative research methods and underlying theoretical frameworks in consumer research and applied economics.  

Optional modules

Agricultural Production Systems

Explore the exciting and complex process of primary food production. Familiarise yourself with key biological principles in crop and livestock science along with an international perspective on crop and livestock production. 

Consumer Psychology

Explore basic concepts, methods, and theories in psychology and psychological processes pertinent to the consumption of goods and services by different consumer groups. You'll draw on traditional areas of psychology, learn about the key perspectives in the psychology of marketing, discuss examples of how psychological research has been used in marketing, and gain experience in conducting and reporting consumer psychology research studies. 

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/2025 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods. 

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading. 

Compulsory modules      

Applied Marketing and Management

Gain a key understanding of the concepts of marketing and management and how their functional activities are essential to a successful marketing manager. You’ll learn how organisations respond to the marketing environment and how strategies are developed and implemented.  

Research Methods and Data Analysis

Explore research processes with an emphasis on conclusive research design, techniques for primary data collection, and tools for exploratory data analysis. You’ll learn to use statistical software as you gain knowledge on statistical techniques and their applications in consumer and market research environments.  

Practice of  Entrepreneurship

Explore the key concepts of business start-ups such as entrepreneurial management, design thinking, business model creation, entrepreneurial finance, and marketing. You'll understand the basic entrepreneurial skills required to start and manage a new venture and learn and apply standard business practices such as organising meetings, business planning, opportunity evaluation, marketing and finance.

Food Choice

Learn about different factors that influence the food choices of individuals and populations. You'll be equipped with the knowledge to understand and interpret current issues in food choice behaviour and study socio-demographic, psychological, sensory factors and food ethics that impact food choices.

Optional modules

Consumer Attitudes and Behaviour

Explore the theoretical perspectives and psychological factors that influence consumer demand for goods and services. You’ll explore the relevance of understanding consumer attitudes and behaviours in terms of achieving business objectives. 

Digital Marketing

Study the insights and competencies that enable companies to get the most out of digital media and achieve marketing goals. You’ll explore the role and place of digital marketing within the traditional marketing framework and learn to analyse the online environment to achieve competitive advantage. 

Branding Theory and Practice

Gain an in-depth understanding of theories and business practice concerning the management of brands and the process of building strong brands. You’ll acquire skills and expertise necessary for you to apply this learning within real world scenarios.

Intercultural Competence and Communication

Develop your intercultural competence and communication skills to live, study, and work in an interconnected world. You’ll develop skills and competencies by using theories and models of cultural analysis that will allow you to communicate effectively in intercultural situations. 

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/2025 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods. 

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading. 

Professional Placement Year

Compulsory modules         

Marketing Strategy

Develop a sophisticated understanding of the increasingly ‘glocal’ context within which businesses operate. You’ll diagnose marketing problems and create effective marketing strategies as you’re exposed to the theoretical frameworks and practical considerations driving effective strategic marketing decision making. 

Food Policy and Supply Chain Management

Gain a comprehensive understanding of the principles of food policy and supply chain management, raising awareness of how regulations and policy instruments can shape the governance of the food industry and supply chains. You'll learn about the rationale for government interventions, understand how interventions occur, and critically appraise them to address food market failures in specific contexts such as unhealthy diets, food safety, food quality, food sustainability, and animal welfare.

Plus at least one of: 

Independent Research Project

Build on you’re the skills, knowledge and experience you’ve gained throughout your studies as you embark on your own research project. You’ll identify a suitable topic, develop a hypothesis, and conduct your project using your critical skillset. 

Applied Marketing Project

Discover the role of marketing consultants and entrepreneurs as you apply knowledge and skills relevant to addressing real-world marketing problems. You’ll develop your own marketing solution that addresses consumer engagement using  digital and offline marketing strategies.  

Optional modules

Contemporary Issues and Policy in Consumer Behaviour and Marketing

Consider the concepts of ethics, globalisation and consumerism and how they’ve shaped the new regulatory state in the UK. You’ll develop an awareness of how changes in the theory and practice of regulation affect consumer markets, as well as how consumers are empowered and protected in different sectors.  

International Human Resource Management

Learn the key concepts for understanding international human resource management. You'll explore the practice of managing human resources in international businesses and consider variations in the practice of managing human resources in different countries and cultures.

Digital Entrepreneurship

Understand how digital entrepreneurial ventures make use of the tensions and opportunities arising from current technological change. You'll learn about different approaches, methods and strategies employed by digital companies in validating and developing products, gaining market and customer traction, and competing for scale in hyper-competitive markets. Additionally, you'll be introduced to entrepreneurial marketing methods and data-driven decision-making processes.

These are the modules that we currently offer for 2024/2025 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods. 

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them. 

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.