{"id":107242,"date":"2026-03-26T12:50:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T11:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unisg.it\/unisg-teams-claim-the-podium-at-the-eit-food-solutions-challenge-in-brussels\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T12:50:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T11:50:19","slug":"unisg-teams-claim-the-podium-at-the-eit-food-solutions-challenge-in-brussels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unisg.it\/en\/unisg-teams-claim-the-podium-at-the-eit-food-solutions-challenge-in-brussels\/","title":{"rendered":"UNISG Teams Claim the Podium at the EIT Food Solutions Challenge in Brussels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On Wednesday, November 5, in Brussels, the awards for the 2025 Food Solutions \u2013 Full Protein Challenge<\/strong> were held. This educational and innovation program is promoted by EIT Food<\/strong> (European Institute of Innovation & Technology \u2013 Food) and involves students in developing concrete solutions to real-world challenges in the food system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the third consecutive year, UNISG participated and claimed a podium position at the EIT Food Solutions Challenge, achieving an extraordinary result this year: a triple victory, securing first, second, and third place!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s challenge focused on the theme Full Protein<\/strong>, where students were invited to develop alternative protein solutions (complete proteins) that are neither meat nor dairy, aimed particularly at young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winning teams and their respective projects are as follows:
EarthPulse<\/strong>  claimed 1st place with three ready-to-eat, culturally rooted legume and pulse recipes.
Protake9<\/strong> earned 2nd place with ingiro, a 100% Italian onigiri wrapped in upcycled tomato leather.
Spoontino<\/strong> took 3rd place with Break-Flash, a wholesome millet\u2013oat breakfast bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A heartfelt thank you goes to the mentors of the Pollenzo Food Lab<\/strong> \u2014 Nahuel Buracco<\/em>, Kiva Victoria T<\/em>., and Jo\u00eblle Nijsten<\/em> \u2014 whose guidance was essential throughout the process.
In total, 25 UNISG students<\/strong> from different degree programs spent the past 8 months developing innovative, full-amino-acid, plant-based convenience products aimed at Gen Z consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their creativity and commitment brought four remarkable projects<\/strong> to the European stage:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EarthPulse<\/strong>
Three culturally inspired, ready-to-enjoy legume dishes: chakalaka (South Africa), hogao (Colombia), and khichari (India).
Team: Vinayak Agrawal, Alaa Alrefiee, Chloe Leigh Harty, Hannah Lanthaler, Pablo Enrique Merizalde, Maleballo Mokhathi, Gabriele Valenzano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protake9<\/strong> \u2013 inGiro
<\/strong>A 100% Italian reinterpretation of onigiri, featuring legumes, mushrooms, seeds, and spices wrapped in a tomato film made from repurposed skins and seeds.
Team: Sam Willem Herman Aerts, Astrid Fern\u00e1ndez, Lara Frisoni, Erica Garbellini, Valerio Lozzi, Rebecca Rosso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spoontino<\/strong> - Break Flash<\/strong>
A nutritious breakfast bar made with millet and oats \u2014 lactose-free, gluten-free, and vegan.
Team: Karen Alberti, Nicola Silipo Cali\u00f2, Seungbin Eun, Viola Ghitti, Maximilian Sebastian Koch, Joseph Chibueze Ofoegbu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Funky studio \u2013 numen<\/strong>
A bold, soy-free miso crafted from peas (\u201cpiso\u201d) and lion\u2019s mane mushrooms, offering new culinary possibilities.
Team: Giovanni Accardi, Iza Busz, Gabriele Cressotti, Margaux Hefti, Julia Hoffmann, Kolja Gabin Richter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On Wednesday, November 5, in Brussels, the awards for the 2025 Food Solutions \u2013 Full Protein Challenge were held. This educational and innovation program is promoted by EIT Food (European Institute of Innovation & Technology \u2013 Food) and involves students in developing concrete solutions to real-world challenges in the food system. For the third consecutive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"728","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","show_related_posts":true,"relatore_articolo_journal":"","autore_articolo_journal":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[728],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-office-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisg.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisg.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisg.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisg.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisg.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisg.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unisg.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisg.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unisg.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}