The 14th ECOTROPHELIA National Competition of eco-innovative food products took place on June 19th & 20th, in Athens. The Competition is organized in Greece by SEVT, since 2011.
This year, 15 groups of students reached the final phase.
The winners of this year’s competition were:
1st award for the product LegumiNutty, National Kapodistrian University of Athens / Dpt. of Chemistry. Innovative fermented chickpea spread with whey, rich in protein and fiber.
2nd award, the product Chickpeasy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki / Dpt. of Food Science and Technology & International Hellenic University school of Geosciences / Dpt. of food science and technology. Α protein-enriched, high-fiber and gluten-free pizza base mainly made with chickpeas.
3rd award, the product Crispeens, University of Ioannina & University of the Aegean. Gluten-free & vegan snack, crafted with wild edible greens, which will drive you wild.
The award for the “Best Presentation” was given to the product Mitos. Agricultural University of Athens. Ready-to-bake, frozen, healthy snack with stamnagkathi, xynomyzithra Kritis PDO and carob.
The “Best Commercial & Marketing Plan” was given to the product Peelicious, of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki / Chemical Engineering Dpt. Fruit spread, from orange, apple and lemon peels.
The winners will represent our country at the ECOTROPHELIA 2024 European Competition at SIAL in Paris, in October.
In the context of the National Competition, in order to promote healthy nutrition, SEVT organised an event related to the European Erasmus+ project EFFECT in which it participates. The project aims to develop food education for children aged 6-10 years through the training of their trainers, and thus to develop among both children and trainers, key competences using innovative approaches. From Greece, Harokopeio University is also partner of the consortium. After the presentation of the project results and progress by Dr. Alkmini Gavriil, SEVT Project Manager and Mary Yannakoulia, Professor of Harokopio University, an interesting discussion took place to highlight the connection between nutrition and innovation, "Innovation & Education: tools for the formation of healthy food choices".
It was a good opportunity to point out the contribution of nutrition and innovation towards balanced nutritional habits, the need for citizens' information and education on nutrition issues, as well as the role of the Food and Drink Industry in this direction. The panel was moderated by Prof. Mary Yannakoulia, with the participation of Irini Agapidaki, Deputy Minister of Health, and Grigoris Antoniadis, Vice President of SEVT.
You may see the products catalogue, a video with the products and photos of the event.
