The first French and European competition for food innovation, the National Food Innovation Competition ECOTROPHELIA France took place in June in Nancy. A total of 22 projects were presented by 149 students from 22 French higher education institutions. The aim? To offer "healthy, enjoyable, affordable and environmentally responsible food".
The ECOTROPHELIA competition is a genuine reflection on the environmental impact of products and packaging, and it is the reconciliation of the love of food, environmental balance and nutritional balance that has driven the ECOTROPHELIA competition for 23 years now. This year was no exception to the rule and IAE Metz was represented by 5 students in the Marketing and Sales Master's programme, who were able to use their knowledge of marketing to help complete the process of developing and marketing an innovative product. Pasta sauces that can be adapted to each season, cooking aids based on legumes, spreads with 92% of French origin... these are the proposals that the participants submitted to the competition jury on June 24th.
Our students were able to present 3 projects to the jury, in collaboration with ENSAIA-UL, ENSAD, and FMA-UHA: "Crock'Stick" cereal sticks for breakfast made from vegetables and legumes, to be crunched or dipped in milk, "Potes & Patons" a healthy bread to be shared (or not) as an aperitif, as well as "Ptigloo", a biscuit rich in calcium and vitamin D that encourages children to consume milk while promoting the dairy industry.
The "Pote & Patons" project won the ECOTROPHELIA France Innovation French Fishing Products (€4,000) supported by France Filière Pêche. In the end, the "Sauce Papillon" project, proposed by the Institut Agro Montpellier, won the ECOTROPHELIA France d'Or award for their healthy, seasonal homemade sauce with 0% plastic packaging that can be recycled ad infinitum.
We congratulate our students and all the participants for their creativity during this great competition!
