We are excited to share the results of the 2024 Food Science, New Product Development (NPD) presentations. This event has become a highlight on the food industry’s calendar, and for good reason. The quality of work, depth of scientific knowledge communicated, and overall standard are consistently impressive. The 2024 presentations, held on 17 October, were no exception.
Dr Debora van der Merwe, after several years working in the food industry, joined the Food Science Department in mid-2023, making 2024 her first full year of involvement from start to finish. The inspiration for this year's theme came from a talk by Miles Kubheka, which highlighted the significant need and gap in the market.
This year’s brief challenged students to develop an innovative and exciting new product, or to improve an existing favourite, specifically for the spaza shop market in South Africa. The following criteria were taken into consideration:
- Addressing non-communicable diseases or a health issue relevant to the target market
- Nutritional improvements compared to products currently available in this market
- Target market analysis
- Current food trends
- Benchmark testing against existing market products
- Costing considerations
- ompliance with South African legislation
- Food safety aspects and shelf-life at ambient temperature
- Nutritional information
- Consumer research
- Suitable packaging solutions
- ChedSpread: Cheddar cheese-flavoured vegetable spread
- Ama-Phuthu: Amasi-flavoured, quick-cook Phuthu porridge
- Monsta Noodles: Instant noodles made with a carrot base, accompanied by a spice sachet with authentic South African flavours
- >Maak-Gou: A banana mageu-inspired energy chew with a maize meal and sugar bean base
- Bob’s: A smokey BBQ-flavoured, fermented soybean spread
- Ama-zin Stix: A sorghum-based, cheese and atchar-flavoured extruded snack
We were privileged to have a highly skilled and reputable panel of judges:
- Miles Kubheka: Keynote speaker, author, celebrity chef, entrepreneur, cooking show TV host, and philanthropist
- Linka Cameron: Former Group Managing Director of Elgin Free Range Chickens Holdings, founder and business coach at &Collab
- Tanya Rabie: Category Head of Prepared Food division at In2Food
- Dr Tertius Cilliers: CEO of Synercore
Photo from left to right: Mieke Laubser, Cherien van Zyl, Zanie Oosthuizen, Kayla Swanepoel, Syntiche Kabuya, Alexander Brody
Photo from left to right: Niel van Heerden, Carine Vermeulen, Elzaan Louw, Joy Machabi, Marli Kotze, Cara Smit
Photo from left to right: Anelisa Hoboyi, Lindsay Heyns, Fallon Matthews, Jenna Egberink, Zoë Hendricks, Lieneke Eigenhuis
Photo from left to right: Nicola Goosen, Emily Teanby, Georgia Nock, Kgotlello Madisha, Marianne Barry, Jana-Mari Steyn
Photo from left to right: Kholiwe Biyela, Paige Wardle, Carli Lourens, Suzan Wentzel, Lumé van Eck, Anné Potgieter
Photo from left to right: Mia Groenewald, Taylor Carnie, Nombali Hlambisa, Jeanelle Baard, Helene-Marie van Niekerk, Tammy Kumm
Prize winners:
Prize winners for best product and presentation: Sponsored by Synercore and InnovUS
Gold (to the value of R20 000 per group)– Monsta Noodles
Silver (to the value of R10 000 per group) – Ama-Phuthu
Bronze The combined third prize for the four teams—ChedSpread, Maak-Gou, Bob’s, and Ama-zin Stix—is a bronze award valued at R5,000 per group. The scores of these teams were closely grouped, leading the judges to determine that all four were deserving of this recognition. Additionally, Synercore contributed R15,000 to support the sharing of this prize.
Miles Kobeka prize for a 6-month Coaching Opportunity, once a month with him, went to ChedSpread
FACTS prize for best complying with SA Food Regulations, to the value of R10 000 per group and a virtual workshop per person, went to Ama-Phuthu
The NSF prize for the best HACCP plan, a two-day training course to the value of R4300/pp went to Ama-Phuthu
Student Gold Pack prize for the best packaging solution: The Institute of Packaging SA
Gold (R1400/member) Bob’s
Silver(R700/member) Ama-Phuthu
Microchem prize for the product best like by the audience to the value of R10 000 per group, went to the Ama-zin Sticks group
To quote Miles Kubeka, one of our judges, from his Instagram post: “Because it turns out that if you want a better and brighter future, not only do you have to create it, but you also need to help shape future world-changers.” He mentioned that he was inspired by the deep talent pool we have in South Africa. After joining the Food Science team at the beginning of 2024 to guide and inspire the group, he was pleasantly surprised by how they interpreted the challenge of developing innovative and appealing foods suitable for sale in South African townships. After tasting the products, he believes they are mostly ready to be launched and will do well in the market. Furthermore, he emphasizes that the time has come for us to cultivate food scientists who value impact over profit; those who would rather address the massive need for healthy yet affordable food products instead of producing empty-calorie items.
“We need food scientists who will develop human- and climate-positive foods!”
Well-done to the class of 2024, you did it!