Ecotrophelia UK 2019 offers £2,000 to winners

The event promotes innovation, creativity and sustainability to students pursuing a future career in the food sector.

Ecotrophelia UK, which is now in its seventh year, is open to teams of undergraduate or postgraduate students, including teams from different universities on industrial placements. 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.

IFST operations director Andrew Gardner said: “IFST supports Ecotrophelia because it sparks ideas, ignite careers, and develops the next generation of innovative and talented leaders. Personally, I can’t wait to find out what brilliant ideas and innovative products the teams will submit this year.”​

Past creations​

Past creations have included a sustainable and indulgent non-dairy alternative to traditional ice cream made from algal protein; orange and cocoa flavour hemp-milk shakes; and a tasty and nutritious snack made from extruded apple pomace and maize. 

Shortlisted students will be invited to pitch on 11 June 2019 to the ‘dragons’, a distinguished panel of top food industry specialists to be in with a chance of winning the top prize of £2,000. Judges include representatives from PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Marks & Spencer, Mondelēz, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Unilever, Warburtons and Food Manufacture​.

Winners will be announced the following day and will represent the UK at the European final, which will take place during the Anuga trade show in Cologne, Germany in October 2019.

UK takes bronze and silver​

“In 2016 and 2017, teams from Nottingham Trent University and University of Reading went on to secure bronze and silver,"​ said Bertrand Emond, head of membership and training at Campden BRI. "​We’re hoping for further success and would like to see many more students take part.”​

The deadline for UK entries is 12 noon on 29 March 2019. For more information, please visit the Ecotrophelia website​​.

Last year's UK winner was a team dubbed Rich Pickings, from the University of Nottingham​​. To find out their reaction to their win, click here​​.