University of Nottingham student products scoop top prizes at national competition
Two groups of student food entrepreneurs from the University of Nottingham have scooped the top two prizes at the UK final of a national competition for food innovation.
Taking gold at Ecotrophelia UK was the PlanEat team for their breaded snacking product that has insect protein as a main ingredient. Hey Pesto! took silver with their super seed pesto products that were designed as a versatile product that can be used as a dip, spread, sauces or marinade.
The Nottingham teams beat off competition from five other UK finalists in the 11th edition of the Ecotrophelia UK Competition, which is organised jointly by the Institute of Food Science & Technology and Campden BRI.
Hey Pesto! developed a seed mix pesto that was optimised to be highly nutritious and avoids the allergen issues that pestos with nuts would pose. PlanEat focused on the idea that insects can be used as a more sustainable alternative protein source to conventional meats, and the team worked hard to create snacks in a format that was tasty and convenient, even using a 3D printer to make their own moulds to shape the products in.
Ecotrophelia UK is a ‘Dragons Den’ style competition that challenges teams of UK students to develop an innovative, eco-friendly food and drink product. 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 product to market.
Alongside producing the actual product, the team had to devise a business and marketing plan and design the packaging. Experts at the university’s Food Innovation Centre signposted the two student teams to local companies who could support them in developing their product ideas. Nottingham-based Origin Kitchen, which produces plant-based sweet and savoury pots and spreads out of a unit at Southglade Food Park, advised Hey Pesto! And food ingredients, blends and raw materials company, Healy Group, based near Coalville in Leicestershire, helped PlanEat.
Jess Stinton from the PlanEat team and said: “A few days on, and we still can’t quite believe we’ve actually won, and are going to the European Finals in Germany! We took a huge risk using a really novel protein source, but we have been so excited about our product throughout the development process, since the conception of the idea in December 2022. There have been many challenges, both technically and from a consumer acceptance point of view, but we have remained determined to execute a brilliant product, and it’s such a delight to see all that hard work rewarded, and people enjoying tasting insects for the first time! “
Cat Child from Hey Pesto! Added: “We are so happy that all our hard work paid off and we came home with second prize. The competition was so exciting to be part of and it was great to also network with other universities and industry experts! We hope our products will be launched in the future by an industry partner so watch this space!
Each member of the gold-winning team took home a share of £2,000 and an invitation to become an IFST Young Ambassador.
I am incredibly proud of both of the teams who won at this prestigious competition. They have all worked extremely hard and utilised the skills they have learned during their degree to produce tasty and marketable products – congratulations to them all!
Gleb Yakubov, Associate Professor in Food Physics at the University of Nottingham