Rules and regulations

Ecotrophelia has the ambition to promote entrepreneurship and competitiveness within the European food industry by implementing a training network of excellence in food innovation and the organization of national and European food innovation competitions "The Student Awards of Food Innovation” a real eyeopener for the food industry. Ecotrophelia achieves the goal of bringing together students, teachers, researchers and professionals of the food sector in a network to think about tomorrow’s eco-innovative food products. Ecotrophelia Europe constitutes a life-size innovation laboratory for universities and students and a pedagogical model recognized by the European Commission. The competition offers a ground for fruitful exchanges between education and research sectors and the business world. For professionals from the food industries, Ecotrophelia is a great pool of talent, skill-sets and innovation.

The Dutch competion
TKI Agri&Food organizes annually the Ecotrophelia competition. This competition is open to student teams from scientific or commercial higher education, located in the Netherlands. The main goal of the competition is the creation of an eco-innovative food product prototype. Prototypes should be innovative and cannot resemble prototypes presented in earlier editions. The products should be attractive to large groups of consumers. The Ecotrophelia competition is organized in two phases:

Phase 1: The national final Ecotrophelia Netherlands. First price is € 1000, second price is € 400 and the third price is € 200. All team members will be provided with a certificate of participation.
Phase 2: the European final, Ecotrophelia Europe. First price is € 6000, second € 4000 and third € 2000.

Target group
All students nutrition at MBO, HBO or university level. Participation is only possible through the educational institution. Each educational institution may form a maximum of three teams that may come from different studies or locations.

Course of the competion

Each educational institution is allowed to submit a maximum of three dossiers (= three new products). Each file must consist of three parts:

a brief content
a description of the innovative or new product
a media text of max. 150 words, a team photo and a product photo as a jpeg file in high resolution (minimum 1200 * 800 pixels)

All files are screened by TKI Agri & Food for compliance with the competition rules. TKI Agri & Food has the final decision about which teams can participate. After acceptance, the participating teams will be invited through their educational institution to present their file. The products can be prepared in advance or on site and presented with their packaging to the jury. The jury must be able to taste the products. The supervisors of the team may attend the oral presentation provided that they do not intervene in any way and do not distract the students. The jury reserves the right to deviate from this possibility. The jury appoints the winning team to be delegated to the European final on behalf of the Netherlands.

Registration and submission of the dossier

The team needs to register via the registration module. After receiving this registration, TKI Agri & Food will send a confirmation email within two working days.

the complete dossier must be submitted via the registration module.

Number of registrations per educational institution

Each educational institution can allow a maximum of 3 teams with each one file to participate. A team consists of a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 8 students. The teams can be composed of:

Students from one field of study or
Students from different field of studies within the educational institution.

TKI Agri & Food wants to contribute to the multidisciplinary collaboration of students from different fields or different disciplines.

Additional conditions
Participation is only valid under the following conditions:

The educational institution is responsible for the insurance of the students during their participation in the competition.
Each school community checks in advance whether the files meet the objectives of the competition.
Participants should be students and not older than thirty years.

Registration data to be completed per team:

Address educational institution
Contact details contact person for this competition
Participating field(s)of study
Name and position of supervisor(s)
Team name
Names of the students of the team (2 to a maximum of 8)
Email addresses

Details of participation and contents of the dossier

The dossier consists of:

Technical description: Short technical description (1 A4) according to the template. This includes: team name, short project presentation; product name, category (snack, dish, dessert, drink etc), composition, process, packaging and storage; the innovative aspect.

Product description: Consists of presenting a new food product: recipe, method of preparation, technology, packaging, taste, odor and appearance. It will be indicated why the product is innovative. Attention is also paid to the possibility of industrial production and / or market potential. The packaging is described with attention to environmental aspects. A proposal for labeling is made.

Media file: This consists of two photos, namely the product and the team (in standard format. JPEG and in high resolution, max. 1200 * 800 pixels, high resolution 300pi) and an informative and attractive text with a maximum of 150 words. These photos with text will be included in a brochure intended for the public. It is therefore advisable to be careful with the information that is released.

Brief business plan : A concise business plan that includes the following points:

team name
short presentation project and name of the product
cost price calculation, including: labor costs, costs for ingredients, packaging costs, costs for PR and marketing, costs for distribution and optional energy costs, maintenance costs
pricing, at what price do you want to sell your product?
market positioning, which competing products are currently on the market?
definition of the target group , who will buy your product?
marketing and promotion of the product
success factors and limitations of the product.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Submissions
Ecotrophelia acknowledges the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in innovation and creative development. To ensure transparency, academic integrity, and fairness, the following rules apply:
1. Permitted Use of AI
AI tools may be used for: Image generation (concept visuals, product renderings, diagrams)
Text generation (abstracts, reports, marketing materials)

2. Mandatory Disclosure of AI Use
All AI use must be clearly declared in the technical dossier.
The declaration must include: The specific tools used (e.g., ChatGPT, DALL·E)
The purpose for which each tool was used
A description of how the tool was applied (prompts, editing process, integration)

3. Technical Content Verification
If AI was used for technical content (e.g., scientific claims, HACCP analysis, data interpretation), independent verification is required: References to peer-reviewed literature
Expert validation
Citation of authoritative sources

Failure to declare AI use or provide adequate corroboration for technical content may result in point deductions or disqualification.

Judging
The files are assessed on content and presentation (oral and written). The organization determines the evaluation criteria. You will find the evaluation criteria on the evaluation form for jury members. The jury will consist of a maximum of 8 people. The jury members assess the files on the basis of the imposed criteria and the presentation of the students.The members of the jury are representatives of business, science, communication and education. The jury members will sign a confidentiality clause. In case of force majeure (in case a jury member is absent for a certain presentation, for example) the average score of the other jury members will be taken for the absent member. The individual score sheets that the jury members have entered are confidential. The results of the jury members are processed on the spot, are binding and are not up for discussion.

Practical arrangements
Upon arrival at the location, the team reports to the registration desk. The teams must ensure that they bring enough to allow each member of the jury to taste the product.The participants take their presentation with them on a USB stick.
The presentations may take a maximum of 15 minutes: 10 minutes for the presentation and 5 minutes for presenting the samples for the jury and answering the questions of the jury.

Other provisions

Presentations can be given in English or Dutch.
The organization is not responsible for damage caused by participants, costs for this are charged to the educational institution to which the participating students belong.
Educational institutions will take the necessary measures to protect intellectual property rights. TKI Agri & Food itself will respect the intellectual property rights.
Travel costs and other costs are borne by the educational institutions and cannot be claimed from TKI Agri & Food, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Participants and supervisors will be photographed and / or filmed during the preparation of the proposed products. This material can be used by the competition organization in the future. Students who participate in the competition accept that photographs and / or film material can be made of themselves and their products and that these documents can be used by TKI Agri & Food unless otherwise stipulated in a timely manner by written agreement.
Participation in the competition automatically means full acceptance of the conditions of these regulations by the students and by the educational institution.

Find here the regulations of the European competition

History

Established in France in 2000, Ecotrophelia expanded to a European scale in 2008, Ecotrophelia Europe is organized by the European Technology Platform "Food for Life", ANIA (National Association of Food Industries) and CCI Vaucluse. FOODDRINK Europe, the structure which groups together food federations, is also involved in the organization. On the principle of a food innovation “Champions League” each European country organizes its own national competition to select the most innovative food project that will then be presented at Ecotrophelia Europe. The selections are coordinated by the national food federations. The teams are composed of 2 to 10 students from either public or private higher education European establishments, scientific or commercial.

Since 2011 Ecotrophelia Europe has motivated the organization of 90 national competitions, mobilized more than 550 universities and nearly 3,000 European students and the development of more than 350 products! Of these products more than 40 have been developed and marketed in European distribution channels.

It is in this context that a dozen national federations and the European Federation FoodDrinkEurope decided, around the Chamber of Commerce of Vaucluse, to create a European Economic Interest Grouping to now carry these initiatives: EEIG Ecotrophelia Europe.

The European Economic Interest Group aims to promote entrepreneurship and competitiveness in the European food industry through the implementation and development of innovative programs in the food industry and cooperation and exchange between SMEs with universities, research institutes, public and private agencies involved in food innovation.