PepsiCo students take gold at Ecotrophelia UK
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, was awarded the prize for 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 Institute of Food Science & Technology (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 Campden BRI in conjunction with the IFST. 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.
The Trinity team from Leeds Trinity University was awarded the silver prize and £1,000 for its 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 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.
