MAKEATHON:

Valorising food by-products

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8 SEPTEMBER 2020

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To simulate entrepreneurship and innovation in the food sector, Generation Food organized a Makeathon. Contemporary challenges in food chains are presented to young innovators. During two days of intensive collaboration, they look for innovative solutions with a convincing business case.

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The assignment for the participants – students of nutrition and dietetics,

marketing, business management and computer science – was clear: find

solutions for by-products that are not fully valorised today

turn into. Specifically, it was about the apple pulp of a beverage producer

Konings NV in Zonhoven and asparagus butts from Aspergehoeve Lavrijsen in

Herk-de-Stad. Two side streams that now end up on the compost heap or

be used as animal feed.

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The intention of this Makeathon was to facilitate the processing of this

to have secondary flows score higher on the Moerman ladder (see

image), and thus reintroduce these nutritionally valuable raw materials

to be used as food for humans.

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After two days of brainstorming, hacking, iterating, intensive collaboration and

making prototypes in the kitchen, six groups presented their business case

proposals for a professional jury. These were the six companies:

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• A(s)péro : No more boring carrots and cauliflower with cocktail sauce. With A(s)péro you get a culinary trio of appetizers based on asparagus mousse. A restaurant feeling at home.

• Royal bread : The fiber intake of the Belgian is too low and your children don't want to eat brown bread? Koningsbrood has the solution, by using dried apple pulp they sell a delicious, fiber-rich and white bread.

• Breakola : Granola is healthy, but now also sustainable. By using dried apple pulp, this Breakola contains extra fiber and protein, and we need less raw materials to produce the granola.

• EaTwise : Delicious falafel with dried apple pulp as a binding agent. As a sustainable, plant-based meal for the catering industry.

• Spring bulb : The Spring bulb is a luxury product that demonstrates the versatility of asparagus. This praline with asparagus mousse is a unique culinary experience.

• Rep-eat : Looking for an innovative, experimental baker? Look no further, Re-eat experiments with by-products for the products they sell. Every pastry, bread or butter cake contains a by-product.

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In the end, the jury chose Breakola, the fiber and protein-rich granola based on

dried apple pulp. Mainly the simplicity of the concept, the

ease of implementation, the potential scalability and the amount of

residual current used per portion charmed the jury.

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Today Breakola has grown into the start-up Délicé : they sell several

types of granola that use a cranberry

side stream.  

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In short: the Makeathon was a great success! Do you want to reminisce about the i

innovative atmosphere? Check out the photos below.

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