Ecotrophelia UK 2024: A chat with the BoozyBalls team

If you read this magazine regularly, you might be quite familiar with Ecotrophelia, the British leg of the Europe-wide Dragons’ Den-style competition, now in its 12th year. Ecotrophelia challenges students across Europe to develop a sustainable and innovative food product from concept to market, promoting environmentally and socially sustainable design. The competition aims to inspire future generations of entrepreneurs to create groundbreaking products. From idea generation to the final packaged product, participants gain hands-on experience in bringing an eco-friendly food or drink product to market.

Ecotrophelia UK, this yeas was won by a team from the University of Surrey, BoozyBalls. This unique creation, which impressed the judges with its approach to making alcoholic boba from food waste, will now represent the UK in the European finals in Paris in October 2024. In this article, Hannah Al-Memar and Tom Goble, the two members of the winning team, reflect on their experience.

BoozyBalls are not just another new product; they represent a pioneering effort in addressing food waste while delivering a fun and unique consumer experience. BoozyBalls are ecofriendly alcoholic boba made from surplus fruits, vegetables, and bakery items like stale bread and buns. This innovative approach significantly reduces food waste in the UK.

Hannah describes BoozyBalls as the first of their kind, emphasising their novelty and environmental impact. The product leverages food waste to create an alcoholic spirit, which is then flavoured with wonky fruit and waste fruit peels. The boba formation involves a chemical reaction using sodium alginate extracted from seaweed and calcium lactate, resulting in delightful, alcoholic pearls.

Tom elaborates on the creation process, highlighting its sustainability. ‘Using stale bread, buns, and crumpets, we create a spirit flavoured with wonky fruit and waste fruit peels. Through a cool reaction involving sodium alginate extracted from seaweed and calcium lactate, we create our BoozyBalls. These can be enjoyed in bubble tea, cocktails, desserts, or even on their own.’

The journey to create BoozyBalls was filled with challenges. Initially, the team aimed to produce a sustainable spirit but found the market saturated. This led to the innovative shift towards developing boba from scratch, a process that presented numerous technical difficulties.

Hannah recounts the setbacks faced in recipe development and spherification techniques. ‘We faced a lot of setbacks in finding the optimal quantities of ingredients, but through extensive testing and trials, we finally produced boba we were really happy with.’

Both Hannah and Tom recognise Ecotrophelia as a pivotal platform for fostering innovation and sustainable solutions in the food industry. Hannah appreciates the competition for enhancing her understanding of global food waste and providing invaluable business insights. ‘Ecotrophelia opens up many opportunities and has helped us get our foot in the door of the food industry.’

Tom views Ecotrophelia as a crucial motivator for integrating sustainability into new product development (NPD): ‘By bringing sustainability to the forefront of NPD, we can progress towards a sustainable food chain,’ he asserts, emphasising the role of food scientists in revolutionising food manufacturing.

Winning the UK finals brought the BoozyBalls team into contact with industry experts and mentors who provided invaluable feedback. Hannah reflects: ‘We were bombarded by the dragons and industry experts after being announced as the winner, which has made us think we could actually launch this!’ Tom adds, ‘The dragons’ enthusiasm and offers of advice will be invaluable as we refine our product for the European finals.’

Both Hannah and Tom encourage students and professionals to engage with Ecotrophelia, emphasising the learning opportunities and personal growth the competition offers. Hannah urges, ‘Do it! The process gives you the freedom to develop a product exactly how you want while learning new skills and techniques. It's hard work but incredibly rewarding.’

Despite the serious challenges, moments of humour and learning spiced-up the journey. Hannah shares a story from their pitch, where she mistakenly talked about the wrong slide but still led her team to victory. Tom recounts early trials where boba pearls stuck together, forming a massive gelatinous blob, and another instance where a giant boba formed overnight due to the interaction of the ingredients, especially those responsible for gelation.

These anecdotes highlight a crucial point: setbacks and failures are part of the process, and embracing them can lead to unexpected successes. ‘You have to realise that you will have setbacks and failures; try to learn what you can from them,’ advises Tom.

The journey of BoozyBalls in the Ecotrophelia competition exemplifies the intersection of innovation, sustainability, and perseverance. Hannah and Tom's experiences offer valuable insights for aspiring food scientists and professionals, demonstrating that with creativity, dedication, and a commitment to sustainability, groundbreaking products can emerge. As BoozyBalls continue to evolve, they stand as a testament to what can be achieved when passion meets purpose in the world of food innovation.