Students at the University of Guelph are cooking up a range of new food products sure to tickle tastebuds.
From “scallooms” – plant-based scallops made from mushroom stems – to lactose-free probiotic frozen yogurt bites, the creative cuisine gives students a taste of what the food production industry is like.
“In the food industry, a food scientist is not just working with other food scientists,” said Lisa Duizer, a professor in the food science department. “They’re working with marketing, they may be working with nutrition departments, they will be working with quality departments, and we want them to experience what it’s like to work in multidisciplinary teams.”
The year-long capstone project has been a collaboration between the food science department and the marketing and consumer studies program. Students are assigned a challenge: make a product that adheres to either a dietary trend, allergy restriction, fusion, or flavour flip. Then, they’re divided into teams and must research, pitch, create, and package the product.
“They come up with a development plan and then they go back into the lab several times to really work on those prototypes to get them through until a finalized product,” said sessional lecturer, Stephanie Wong.
Hours of trial-and-error help bring the ideas to life, but students say hard work is the recipe for success.
“This taught me more about myself working cross-functionally, and really, my love for food and the industry,” said marketing management student, Adina Dagan.
“I feel like this gave us a very good base industry knowledge because we had to do everything,” said food industry management student, Jada Bowen.
While the products haven’t hit grocery stores yet, instructors are optimistic.
“(The students) are heading into the food industry to use the skills that they’ve acquired here, in order to be able to develop products that you will see on the supermarket shelves,” said Duizer.
