Food innovation takes spotlight at Angliss
This year's Student Product Development Showcase for Diploma of Food Science and Technology students at William Angliss Institute featured a cross-section of innovative foods and beverages, including vegan jerky and a non-alcoholic glitter mocktail.
All final year students from the Diploma of Food Science and Technology participated in the student product development showcase which is a major assessment piece, and assessed by industry experts Martin Eagle, Business Manager at Halcyon Proteins and Allan Poynton, Director at Poynton Associates.
The showcase included a Thai-inspired spicy seafood sauce and vegan taco kit contrasting ice-cream made from spinach.
Three jerky products also featured including vegan, kangaroo South-African style biltong and tom yum flavoured fruit.
The overall winner, sponsored by the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST), was Francisco Castro Aravena with his 'ready to bake' sourdough loaf.
"I made this product with the marbled cocoa for a unique taste and it is made from 100 per cent natural ingredients with no added preservatives offering an innovative product that gives the customer the experience of baking a sourdough loaf at home and paying a fair price for it," Francisco said.
Runner up was Mai Lam Vicky with her tom yum flavoured fruit jerky. The unique product was available in a mild spice and medium spice made from mangoes and apple as the base fruit.
A delicious South African curry sauce was awarded third prize for its carefully balanced curry flavour and shelf-ready delivery, made by Thevan Padayachee.
Thevan was one of two food science students who were particularly thrilled to have this final assessment behind them as they have now completed their part-time studies while working full-time in the food industry.
Kimberly Bonnici and Thevan Padayachee are now set to graduate with the Diploma of Food Science and Technology after three years studying part-time.
Food processing coordinator Kathy Majstorovic said she was very impressed with the students' hard work and results.
"Especially with this disrupted year, the students have still stepped up and developed these industry-ready products to such a high standard across a wide spectrum of foods and beverages," Kathy said.
Students displayed their products, offered samples and talked about the process of developing their product from idea through to final delivery.
They were assessed based on the entire scope of the project, including whether the product had the potential to succeed in the marketplace if they had delivered sufficient description of the manufacturing equipment, completing a shelf-life test, a cost analysis and a mock-up of the package with labelling requirements to meet FSANZ standards.
During the launch event, industry judges also assessed the products on innovation, sensory acceptability, market potential, presentation and packaging.
