Food Manufacture and IFST follow PlanEat’s journey on the road to Europe

Earlier this year, judges descended upon Sainsbury’s HQ in London to select a UK team to represent Britain in the Ecotrophelia European finals.

The UK part of the competition is jointly organised by the Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST) and Campden BRI and is open to student teams studying for a degree in food and drink.

This year, a team of students from the University of Nottingham took home the grand prize with their mealworm-based protein snack.

Ecotrophelia asks students to create a sustainable product from concept to finished product, with full food safety plans and marketing strategies considered.

PlanEat – the UK winners for 2023​​ – impressed the judges (including Food Manufacture) with their product, fighting off fierce competition. Presented with a £2,000 cheque as a prize for their hard work, the team are ready to head off for the finals which take place at Anuga in Cologne next week (8-9 October).

The finals aim to promote entrepreneurship and competitiveness within the European food industry, inviting students to present their fully formed ideas to another panel of judges, following a summer of prep work.

Established in France in 2000, Ecotrophelia expanded to a European scale in 2008, and today is organised by the EEIG ECOTROPHELIA EUROPE, a European Economic Interest Group made of trade unions from seven European countries representing the interests of national food companies.

Together with IFST, Food Manufacture followed the journey of PlanEat team as they prepared for the next stage. Watch above.

Food Manufacture would like to give thanks to Isabel Parks, Jessica Kerr, Hannah Stodart and Jessica Limb of PlanEat, alongside the IFST team for working together to produce this video.