Ecotrophelia UK finalist on healthy tart NPD concept

In this exclusive video podcast, Elisheba Anderson, representative of the three-strong Betta Indulgence team explains more about the ideas behind their Betta Banoffee NPD entry.

Anderson describes it as "a reinvented banoffee pie" designed to be low in fat and sugar, to give consumers one of their recommended five-a-day portions of fruit and vegetables per serving and containing cholesterol-lowering beta-glucan.

Describing how the team came up with the packaging proposition, Anderson says: "We had a look at desserts and other products on the market and how they are packaged at the moment and general luxurious products and brands had quite dark packaging." This, in tandem with the nature of the product, suggested dark caramel tones, she says. "We got in touch with a local graphic designer to make it look good."

Anderson goes on to explain how the team worked on lowering the fat, saturated fat and sugar content of the product and what she learned through the entry process.

Re-Dessert, the finalist team from University of Nottingham, won Gold in the competition for a concept using bread waste based on traditional Indian dessert gulab jamun​​. Plant-Up, the finalist team from University of West London, won Silver for proposing a range of plant-based pastas​​. The Eco-Dive team – also from University of Nottingham – won Bronze for its Coco-Waffle concept​​, a Dutch-inspired waffle sandwich with a coconut caramel filling. The results were revealed on the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) website​​ on 10 June.

Shortlist of finalists​

Teams from learning providers across the UK enter Ecotrophelia UK, which is now in its eighth year and is jointly organised by Campden BRI in conjunction with the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST). After an initial screening process, a shortlist of finalists​​ is drawn up. These teams must prepare a dossier and present their idea to a Dragons’ Den​-style judging panel. Prizes are offered to teams coming first, second and third.

Judging took place remotely because of current COVID-19 guidelines on 2 June. The ‘dragons’ are senior food experts from across industry including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Food Manufacture​, Marks & Spencer, Mondelēz, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Unilever, Warburtons, Nestlé, IFST and Campden BRI. Diageo head of quality Tim Holmes shared his thoughts on the contest in another Food Man Talks video​​.

The IFST has also posted videos covering Re-Dessert's concept​​, as well as entries from Plant Up​​ and Eco-Dive​​ on YouTube.

This year’s shortlisted teams​

In addition to the top three teams and Betta Indulgence, this year's Ecotrophelia UK entries​​ also included teams from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool Hope University, Leeds University and Cardiff Metropolitan University.

As Ecotrophelia UK Gold winner, Re-Dessert claims £2,000, a year’s free IFST membership and an invitation to become an IFST ambassador. They will go on to represent the UK in the European finals of the competition, which this year will be held at trade show Sial in Paris. They also get one day to be spent with one or several dragons, who will mentor and support the team in preparation for the finals.

The Silver team gets £1,000 and a year’s free IFST membership and the Bronze team gets £500 and a year’s free IFST membership.

Entrants were required to address all aspects of the product development process, including production, ingredients, nutrition, food science and food safety, marketing, sales and commercial viability.