The Applied Researcher is a three-part skills course that allows undergraduate students at University College Venlo to design and execute a research project. By framing a question, creating a suitable study design, collecting data, analysing data and finally writing a report, students experience conducting research for the first time in their academic careers. From March to July 2021, I mentored a group of five enthusiastic students who want to improve the nutritional quality of food bank parcels. Under my supervision, the students successfully designed and executed an empirical research project that examined the feasibility of utilising safe surplus fish that is currently discarded in Dutch food bank parcels. The project concluded with a report that suggested ways for the various stakeholders to make this innovative idea a reality in the future.