Enthusiastic innovation dominates at Food Science Product Launch
Visitors at the Student Product Launch, for the Diploma of Food Science and Technology, were delighted by the range of flavour profiles and nutritious offerings, including hot honey butter, strawberry popsicles and a turmeric based drink.
The judges, Halcyon Proteins Business Manager Martin Eagle and Director Great Food Creations Pillar Oyarzun were very impressed by the level of enthusiasm and variety of student-developed products.
June 2024 Winners
- First Place: Rama Vaddiraju for an Instant Butter Masala gravy mix, winning the Gelita Award for Most Outstanding Product Development.
- Second Place: Andrew Llamado for Broth of the Bull stock powder, receiving a William Angliss Institute Short Courses voucher.
- Third Place: Carol Kovacs, with a Hungarian Style Farm Cheese, awarded a Club Chef voucher.
Rama was delighted at winning, saying, "It was a great learning experience at William Angliss Institute, and I am grateful to my family and all the teachers for their unwavering support and encouragement throughout my studies."
Gaining extensive knowledge in various aspects of food processing was a key highlight for Rama. She acknowledged the support from her Angliss Food Science and Technology teacher, Suresh, who guided students through every stage of their product development.
"This course is a game changer for anyone pursuing a career in the food industry. It covers food processing and preservation techniques, as well as packaging technologies. Additionally, we learned about sensory attributes of products, which are essential for refining and ensuring the quality of food products," Rama explained.
Working at DNATA Flight Catering in the production department provided valuable experience, but Rama decided to pursue the Diploma of Food Science and Technology to shift her career to food safety. "My goal is to create products tailored to the Australian market, including continuing to develop my current product, ensuring that it is innovative, vegan, and nut-free," she added.
Encouragement Award
Apartsanan (Sai) Akaraboonsawat, was recognised for dedication and effort in developing vegan eggless poached eggs called Eggsperiment, winning a one-year membership to the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology.
Andrew Llamado's Broth of the Bull stood out for using real beef bone extract instead of flavour enhancement ingredients such as wheat, yeast, or mushrooms. "It does not include any preservatives or additives and has low sodium content and can be used as a substitute for low-sodium chip seasoning," he explained.
Andrew also learned that product development may need months or even years of research and development. "I won't ever look at Heinz ketchup just as ketchup anymore."
Carol was motivated to create Hungarian Farm Cheese (turó) as it is not available in Australia. Like cottage cheese or quark, turó is unique to Hungary as a most popular cheese and essential to many traditional dishes.
After completing the Angliss Certificate III in Commercial Cookery in 2019, Carol lost her job due to the Covid pandemic. She then transitioned to a Quality Assurance (QA) role in chocolate manufacturing, which highlighted gaps in her knowledge and led her to study food science at the Institute.
"The course content was reflective of the knowledge required to work in industry and proved especially useful both in my product development project and in my workplace. Now that I have graduated, I am looking forward to using my skills in a full time QA role with the aim to work my way up to Research and Development," said Carol.
Recognising the excellent progress made by students, Suresh added, "The judges commented on several products being market ready and suggested that you take your products to farmer's markets and small retailers. A huge achievement!"
Learn more about studying Food Science and Technology, email enquiry@angliss.edu.au or call on +613 8595 5334 for more information.
