IFST and Campden BRI are pleased to announce the finalists of Ecotrophelia UK 2022. Student teams from the University of Nottingham, University of Surrey, Nottingham Trent University, Manchester Metropolitan University, and the University of Leeds will go on to compete at Ecotrophelia UK.
This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the UK Ecotrophelia competition. This dragons den style competition has seen many participants showing products that would later be sold in supermarket shelves by different companies showing the great initiative and ability of those participating to envision the future of the food market.
The competition this year has shown a breadth of products both marketable and nutritionally functional, following market trends and popular requirements. The perspective of getting a slice of the £3,500 prize fund has led to a year of very complete and competitive product dossiers making it very difficult to shortlist just 5 teams for the finals on 7 June 2022.
Patricia Florit, Education Coordinator at IFST said: “It has been great to see more amazing entries this year and I’m looking forward to seeing who will represent us in the European finals! 10 years of competition and you can still feel the excitement every year by everyone who participates in coordinating this event!”
The panel of experts chosen to judge the first round all agree that there have been great entries this year. After much deliberation, the five finalist teams’ products are:
- Crack(er)ed it (University of Nottingham): Fruit and oat-based artisan crackers made using excess fruit pomace from fruit vinegar production.
- Avena Grains (Nottingham Trent University): Granola Infusions is a crispy granola pot served with oat drink, freeze-dried berries, roasted nuts, and a dried oat powder dusting that is combined with a berry powder to boost vitamin C content.
- Fortifibre (Manchester Metropolitan University): FiBAR is resurrecting the forgotten fruit pulp of yesterday, turning it into high fibre cereal bars.
- Pea.zza (University of Surrey): A reformulated gluten-free, high protein and sustainable frozen pizza dough made from a blend of buckwheat flour and pea protein.
- Crumble Up (University of Leeds): The first-ever ‘upcycled’ fruit crumble made using okara, a by-product of soymilk production and ‘wonky’ apples.
The finalists will pitch their products to the dragons on 7 June 2022, winner will be announced at the evening event held at Tesco Heart Building where participants will be able to enjoy some socialising and meeting other industry professionals and Ecotrophelia sponsors from across the industry including PepsiCo, Unilever, Mondelez, CocaCola, Warburtons, Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer, Food Manufacture, Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) and Campden BRI.
Bertrand Emond, Membership Ambassador, Professional Development and Culture Excellence Lead at Campden BRI, added: “The food industry faces fundamental challenges including reducing our environmental impact, meeting growing global demand for food, producing more from less as pressure increases on resources, and reformulating and creating new products to meet diet and health requirements. Using science and innovation effectively will be critical to survival and competitive advantage. We must support efforts to unlock, nurture and drive innovation in the industry that helps us to meet these challenges.”
Ecotrophelia is a fantastic platform and source of innovation and inspiration for the industry capitalising on the creativity and energy of our brightest and most enterprising food students supported by the best academic institutions.”
Winners will go on to represent the UK at the European final which will take place in Paris, France in October 2022.
The UK heat of this Europe-wide competition is organised by UK food and drink research organisation Campden BRI, in conjunction with the Institute of Food Science & Technology, the independent qualifying body for food professionals in Europe.
For more information, please visit www.ecotrophelia-uk.org and www.eu.ecotrophelia.org.