Competition hots up for student food innovation competition

Interest in the UK's student food innovation competition – Ecotrophelia - has soared with the greatest number of entries ever received this year. From idea generation through to the final packaged product, the teams get a hands-on experience of what it takes to bring an eco-friendly food or drink to market.

Bertrand Emond, Head of Membership and Training at Campden BRI said, "It's very encouraging to see interest in Ecotrophelia UK growing year-on-year. A record nineteen teams from across the UK have entered the competition this year and the standard has been exceptionally high. We are delighted to have so many big names supporting Ecotrophelia to help attract the brightest and the best young talent to the food and drink industry."

After much deliberation, a panel of new product development experts has selected the five finalist teams:

• El Nacho: Slow cooked pulled turkey in a hot enchilada sauce with chunky nachos for dipping - The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise
• Apeel: A premium snack bar with whole nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetable peels drizzled with dark chocolate - London Metropolitan University
• Fran Borjan: Vegan, low fat iced dessert made with algal protein - Nottingham Trent University
• Hemptations: Hemp milkshakes in a range of flavours - Nottingham Trent University
• Spent N' Gain: Extruded flavoured snack product made from brewer's spent grain - The University of Nottingham

The shortlisted teams will pitch their ideas to the 'dragons' — a distinguished panel of food experts from Marks & Spencer, Coca-Cola, Mondelez, PepsiCo, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Warburtons, as well as representatives from BBSRC, Food Manufacture and Innovate UK — for the chance to win a share of £3,500. The winners will be announced at Campden BRI Day on 8th June and will go on to represent the UK at Ecotrophelia Europe at SIAL in Paris in October.

This year's entries included teams from The College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Coventry University, Harper Adams University, The University of Leeds, London Metropolitan University, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham Trent University and The University of Reading.

The UK heat of this Europe-wide competition was organised by UK food and drink research organisation, Campden BRI, in conjunction with the Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST), the independent qualifying body for food professionals in Europe.

http://www.ifst.org/ecotrophelia