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Ecotrophelia UK winner announced

8 Jun 2015

A team of PepsiCo placement students has been awarded the gold prize at the 2015 Ecotrophelia UK competition. The Medeina team, made up of representatives from five UK universities, won with its Medeina Bites – cocoa, coconut, raisin and seed bites, rolled in freeze-dried fruit and desiccated coconut. Along with a £2,000 cash prize, the […]

Ecotrophelia UK winner announced

gold-trophy-cup-12948540A team of PepsiCo placement students has been awarded the gold prize at the 2015 Ecotrophelia UK competition.

The Medeina team, made up of representatives from five UK universities, won with its Medeina Bites – cocoa, coconut, raisin and seed bites, rolled in freeze-dried fruit and desiccated coconut. Along with a £2,000 cash prize, the team will be invited to become IFST Young Ambassadors, and will receive a one-year IFST membership and a number of Elsevier food science publications.

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. The competition challenges students interested in a career in the food industry to design an eco-friendly, innovative food or beverage product with commercial potential. This year, a record eleven UK universities were represented in the final.

The Trinity team from Leeds Trinity University was awarded the silver prize and £1,000 for their cauliflower style rice – 100% cauliflower, shredded and packed into a recycled pot. The bronze prize and £500 was awarded to the Duffleatiers team from University of Nottingham for Duffles, an eco-friendly, healthy alternative to chocolate truffles which can be consumed both cold and warm.

The awards were introduced by the competition’s Chief Judge and Executive Director of Warburtons, Brett Warburton, and presented by Sue Bell, Head of Food Technology at Marks and Spencer, at Campden BRI’s annual open day for the food and drink industry at its headquarters in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire.

After listening to the team pitches and tasting the products, “the dragons” – a panel of top food industry experts – carefully considered each entry for its industrial feasibility, taste, eco-innovation, originality, creativity and innovation, and market credibility.

The competition has attracted sponsorship from big industry names including M&S, Defra, BBSRC, Sainsbury’s, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Tesco, Food Matters Live, Elsevier, and Warburtons, as well as the Farncombe Cotswold Conference Centre.

The Medeina team is made up of students from University of Sheffield, Swansea University, University of Leeds, Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Reading, who are currently undertaking a placement year at PepsiCo.

They will go on to compete against the gold-winning national teams from across the whole of Europe for the chance to win up to €8,000 in the Ecotrophelia Europe competition, which will be held in October at the Universal Expo in Milan.