The oat and blueberry cereal bar contains mini bursting raspberry spheres topped with a dark chocolate drizzle.
Along with a £2,000 cash prize, the team will be invited to become Young Ambassadors of the Institute for Food Science and Technology (IFST), and 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 UK food and drink research organisation, Campden BRI, in conjunction with the IFST, the independent qualifying body for food professionals in Europe.
The competition challenges young people pursuing a career in the food industry to design an eco-friendly, innovative food or beverage product with commercial potential.
Silver prize
The team from Cardiff Metropolitan University was awarded silver prize and £1,000 for their Cwtch Circles – products with a sweet apple centre surrounded in biscuit and covered in milk chocolate.
The bronze prize and £500 was awarded to the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise team.
Their Pot Delights – a ready-to-eat savoury snack made with chicken marinated in chilli, coriander and lime and served with mango chutney – swayed the judges, who included Food Manufacture editor Rick Pendrous.
Emma Garlick, a member of the Harper Adams team, who is studying Food, Nutrition and Wellbeing said: “We are delighted to have won Ecotrophelia. All our hard work has paid off. We are now looking forward to the European finals in October.”
The awards were introduced by the competition’s chief judge and executive director of Warburtons, Brett Warburton, and presented by Dr. Mehmood Khan, European vice president and chief scientific officer of PepsiCo.
After listening to the team pitches and tasting the products, the ‘dragons’ – a panel of top food industry experts – carefully considered each entry for its industrial feasibility, taste, eco-innovation, originality, creativity and innovation, and market credibility.
‘Creativity and hard work’
Prof Margaret Patterson, IFST president and Ecotrophelia judge, said: “Once again, the judges were all impressed by the excellent standard of the entries. It was clear that a great deal of creativity and hard work went into each project. These young food scientists and technologists will be a real asset to the future of our profession.”
The competition attracted sponsorship from big industry names including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Sainsbury; Coca-Cola; Nestlé; and Tesco.
The Harper Adams team 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. That event will be held in October at the SIAL food exhibition in Paris.
Teams of students who are interested in entering a team for Ecotrophelia UK 2015 can register their interest with Jane Emery at j.Emery@ifst.org.