Inside Engagement Session 3: Inspiring Insights on Product Development and Innovation

We had the much-awaited third engagement session of the European Food Projects Case Competition on 2nd October 2025. The discussion brought together a diverse panel: Stefan Cappelle, Group Fermentation Director (Puratos); Jeriel Philip, Project Manager (Giebels Meat Products); Rudi Dieleman, Director & Co-founder (PectCof B.V.); Aisling Bradley, European Product Developer & Technical Project Leader (Mars); and Rui Chao Li, R&D Fruit Analyst, Innovation (Puratos).

Product Development Timelines and Approaches

The first part of the conversation focused on the product development process and how approaches differ across organisations. Aisling explained how large corporations such as Mars follow a stage-gate process to ensure structured development. In contrast, Rudi highlighted how startups can adopt shorter, more practical processes, allowing them to move from idea generation to launch more quickly, sometimes in six months, but in other cases, the process can take years depending on the maturity of the R&D stage.

When asked whether consumer input shapes R&D, Rudi explained that having basic recipes as benchmarks is important. From there, researchers can demonstrate how innovative ingredients impact the final product and refine the formulation to align with consumer preferences.

Alternative Proteins and Industry Trends

The discussion also explored the growing domain of alternative proteins. Stefan shared how Puratos is actively working with different kinds of fermentation to develop alternatives not just for meat, dairy, and eggs, but also in entirely new areas such as cocoa-free chocolate. Jeriel pointed out the challenge of avoiding ultra-processed methods in plant-based meat production, noting the importance of developing clean-label solutions that align with consumer expectations.

Sustainability and Scale-up Challenges

Sustainability emerged as another central theme. Rudi described PectCof’s approach of transforming coffee waste into functional ingredients, explaining that 10 kg of biomass can yield 1 kg of functional ingredient along with 9 kg of additional products. This built-in circularity demonstrates how sidestream valorisation can drive sustainable innovation.

However, Rudi also acknowledged the challenges of scaling up. Coffee pulp, for example, is not readily available at scale. Extracting it, characterising it, and meeting specification and regulatory requirements is a stage-wise process that demands time and resources. Despite these hurdles, there is growing interest from companies, particularly those targeting B2C markets, to adopt clean-label, sustainable ingredients.

Strategy and Market Adaptation

Rui highlighted how business units play a vital role in strategy development. Once strategies are designed, they must be adapted to different markets, taking into account local laws, consumer demands, and taste preferences. This alignment is especially important when scaling up, as coordination across production, marketing, business, and logistics teams becomes essential for success.

The Role of New Tools

The panel also touched on the potential of new tools in R&D. While AI can support product development, its effectiveness depends on the quality and organisation of the dataset being used. Ultimately, AI can provide valuable insights at the early stage, but human expertise remains central to decision-making.

Advice for Future Food Innovators

Toward the end of the session, the panellists offered advice for students and young professionals entering the food industry. They stressed the importance of not only technical expertise but also adaptability, flexibility, resilience, and problem-solving skills. In product development, setbacks are inevitable, but the ability to learn and move forward is invaluable.

They also encouraged participants to remain open-minded. Fresh graduates may lack experience but bring creativity and a fresh perspective, which can greatly benefit organisations.

Rui added a candid perspective on current market conditions. He noted that companies are becoming more cautious about investing in young talent without hands-on experience, even when candidates display intelligence, passion, and emotional intelligence. While these personal competencies remain valuable, companies increasingly prioritise candidates who can contribute from day one.

His advice for students was to be intentional and proactive about shaping your career path. Identify the vertical track you want to pursue, and gain as much internship or project experience in that field as possible. This, he stressed, can give graduates a significant advantage when applying for roles and help them stand out in a competitive job market.

Closing Thoughts

Engagement Session 3 provided participants with a comprehensive look at the intersection of product development, business strategy, sustainability, and innovation. From timelines and consumer input to scaling challenges and market adaptation, the session offered practical insights into how the food industry operates and evolves. It was an inspiring reminder that successful product development is not only about science but also about creativity, resilience, and collaboration.

Recap: Engagement Session 2 Exploring Functional Ingredients with ProteinDistillery

On 30th September 2025, the second engagement session of the European Food Projects Case Competition took place, featuring an insightful presentation by Laura Herz, R&D Food Scientist at ProteinDistillery.

ProteinDistillery is a pioneering company that transforms industrial sidestreams into valuable food ingredients such as proteins, fats, and egg replacers by leveraging different fractions of yeast cells. Laura began the session by introducing the company’s vision and walked participants through their innovative product portfolio, which includes Prewtein, Prewfat, Prewmix Egg-like, Prewvital, and Prewculture.

The discussion placed a particular emphasis on Prewtein, ProteinDistillery’s protein ingredient, and the role functional properties of proteins play in determining their potential applications. Participants explored how these functional qualities such as solubility, gelling, and foaming shape product development, particularly in plant-based alternatives.

A key takeaway from Laura’s talk was that developing plant-based products is not simply a matter of replacing animal-based ingredients one to one. Instead, it requires reimagining formulations from the ground up. She illustrated this with an example from baked goods: in a cake, different reactions such as starch gelatinisation, protein denaturation, and baking powder activation occur at different temperatures. A successful product must be formulated in a way that aligns all these conditions to achieve the desired outcome.

The session concluded with an engaging Q&A. Questions from participants touched on challenges of standardisation and blending, given the variability of raw materials across batches, as well as the potential of combining different proteins to unlock new functionalities within a single product.

Overall, the session was both interactive and thought provoking, giving participants a deeper understanding of the complexities of formulation in the food industry. It also provided valuable insights into how to think like a product developer, considering not just ingredients in isolation but the entire product matrix and the science behind its performance.

The Heat Is On: European Food Projects Case Competition 2025 Has Begun!

The European Food Projects (EFP) Case Competition 2025 officially kicked off with an engaging online session hosted in collaboration with Primavika, our partner for this year’s challenge.

What happened during the Kick-off?

The session began with Pawel Orlik, Acting Managing Director and Sylwia Marszałkiewicz, Chief Technologist from Primavika team, introducing their company and vision for the competition. They shared insights into their work, their expectations from participants, and how this project ties into their commitment to innovative, plant-based, and gluten-free products.

Following this, Tim from European Food Projects guided participants through the competition rules, key dates, submission guidelines, and prize details.

A lively Q&A session followed, where participants raised thoughtful questions:

• New vs. existing products: Should participants innovate from scratch or adapt Primavika’s existing recipes? The preference is for entirely new recipes and concepts.

• Allergen considerations: Participants should focus on gluten-free products and avoid nuts.

• Product concept: The main emphasis should be on the idea and concept of the product.
  

What’s next?

Participants now have the opportunity to submit their innovative food prototypes that align with Primavika’s mission and competition guidelines. This is an exciting chance for students, recent graduates, and aspiring food technologists to showcase their creativity and potentially see their ideas come to life.

Submission Deadline: 19 October 2025

We’re thrilled to see what you create — let the innovation begin!