World Food Day: "everything has a place in the future of food", from vegetables to insects
A plant-based alternative to chicken eggs, NotEggo is the creation of Beatriz Costa, Ema Camacho and Lígia Cruz, students from Católica. MealBalls, vegetable meatballs "incorporating around 25% insects", were developed by André Roseiro, António Pedro Sousa, Beatriz Maria Gonçalves, Fernanda Barros and Sónia Marques. The Comendador Arménio Miranda Programme awarded the insect meatballs with the first place and the vegetable egg with the second prize. Ecotrophelia Portugal awarded second prize to NotEggo and third prize to MealBalls.
The ideas were born within the scope of "new products development", a subject taught by Conceição Hogg in the Faculty of Biotechnology (ESB), where students "are challenged to think of a product that is missing in the market, and then have that task of developing the concept of the product, the formulation, the production process, choose the packaging, and identify the price", explains the professor.
Beatriz and her colleagues set themselves the goal of "recreating a fried egg", and making sure one could "pop the yolk". They named it NotEggo, after the words egg and ego. With this, the team "intends to alert people to the importance of raising awareness and letting go of ego, which is important, and which is all around this issue of sustainability", Ema explains.
Meanwhile, André and his team opted for insect flour, as it is a "more sustainable production than meat". And stresses: "our project had to be eco-innovative, so we thought why not include protein from another source other than vegetable, or the so-called conventional meat?"
That's how MealBalls came about, but it wasn't easy, "because the insect has a characteristic flavour", and the team wanted to "create a product that is nutritionally good, but equally pleasing to the palate of all customers."
To take the projects forward they had the support of "Professor Margarida and Professor Conceição Hogg". The courses in the Master's Degree in Food Engineering also contributed to the creation as "they all had a practical part", says André. Emma shares this opinion, highlighting the possibility of "experimenting with how things are done".
The lecturer agrees and, between laughs, explains that at UCP "food engineering has always been a degree that forces you to get hands-on, because you are not taught to develop products, you develop products." Proud of her students, she shares, "they develop a food product and I develop a food engineer. My product is the students."
Besides having the support of the professor, the students benefit from the school's specialised facilities: the Kitchen Lab, "an experimental kitchen", the sensory analysis lab, and the packaging lab. This is why, since 2017, ESB students have participated in competitions in the agri-food sector, such as Ecotrophelia, with products that combine sustainability and innovation. And although the market launch is not easy, "it is important to come up with these new options in a world that seems increasingly unsustainable", explains Ema.
As for the future of food, Beatriz says that problems like obesity and climate change "will force people to change their lifestyles". Even because, according to Conceição Hogg, "everything has a place in the future of food," but "with balance". For now, André expects a "gradual introduction" of products incorporating insects, and believes that this will require the consumer to allow himself "the stimulus, to understand that it's not a 'seven-headed monster'.
On the other hand, Lígia's group believes that "the future is the eggs of plants," and hopes that "public awareness" and alternative products can "really change something, for the better." In one aspect they all agree: "the future of food is about a balanced choice of foods to consume". Without " falling into excesses", adds the professor.