In this exclusive video interview, filmed at Campden BRI open day, Keesh team member Rebecca Law explained the rationale behind creating their award-winning entry.
“With veganism on the rise and more people becoming gluten-free – and also the demand for convenient foods – we felt we really identified a gap in the market [for Keesh],” said Law.
‘Good selling point’
“A typical quiche has high saturated fat, animal-based ingredients and, the way it’s going at the moment, the population want more plant-based options and low-fat [products] as well, so that’s a really good selling point for us.”
Keesh was one of five teams that made it to the UK finals of this year’s Ecotrophelia competition, along with fellow University of Reading team and gold prize winner Venergy and silver prize winner Caruffle from Nottingham Trent University.
‘Very rewarding’
Commenting on her team’s involvement in the competition, Law said: “I think the whole process of developing a product from scratch and getting involved in every process [of production] has been very rewarding and being here today has been fantastic – to be able to network with real professionals in the industry.”
Now in its seventh year, Ecotrophelia UK is a Dragons’ Den-style competition that challenges teams of UK students to develop an innovative, eco-friendly food and drink product.
From idea generation through to the final packaged product, the teams get a hands-on experience of what it takes to bring an eco-friendly food or drink product to market. The finalists pitched their products on 11 June to 11 judges – or dragons – including Food Manufacture editor Rod Addy. For the full list of dragons, click here.
