Cap Protéines Challenge: a 3rd edition rich in agri-food projects

15 Dec 2023

On Thursday 14 December, the projects of the teams shortlisted for the Cap Protéines Challenge 3 were presented. Here are the 5 finalists who attracted the particular interest of the jury and who will be taking part in the final on 14 May at the ESA in Angers.

Here we go again! This is the 3rd edition of the Cap Protéines Challenge, co-organised by Terres Inovia, and it's still going strong! This year, 15 applications with detailed projects were submitted after the webinar on 21 September. 8 of them passed the first selection stage. There are now 5 competitors in the running, whose ideas in the agri-food sector won over a panel of experts on 14 December.

These finalist teams will be supported by 7 experts to help them mature their ideas and consolidate their pitch, which they will unveil at the final on 14 May at the Ecole supérieure des agricultures (ESA) in Angers.

Here's an overview of the key players in this ideation competition.

Vitabar

Four students on a master's degree in food production engineering at the University of Avignon are developing bars based on legumes and vegetables with a Provençal flavour that are healthy and environmentally friendly. The legumes chosen for the recipe are chickpeas and lupins, and the vegetables used are downgraded products.

Pulse Pastry

Four 2nd year Bachelor Culinary Arts students at the Institut Lyfe (formerly the Institut Paul Bocuse) have come up with Pulse Pastry. Pulse Pastry brings together pastry-making and pulses. The participants have chosen to use the properties of these products to make vegan pastry kits that are delicious and better for the planet and our health. Their aim is to make it easier for consumers to eat legumes and oilseeds on a daily basis.

Pulses&Seed

Pulse&Seed, a team of four students from the Lyfe Institute, has set itself the goal of bringing pulses and oilseeds back into fashion by offering a range of homemade ice creams made from beans, chickpeas, linseed, etc. The "familiar taste + oilseeds/legumes" formula will both attract customers and give them confidence before they buy. The team wants to source its raw materials locally and work with producers who have already been identified in order to launch their product.

Arsène

Three agri-food engineers who graduated from the Oniris school have created Arsène, an alternative to coffee made from French lupin that retains the taste and use of a real coffee. The product is made from 100% roasted lupins, in the form of biodegradable Nespresso-compatible capsules. The team is currently reworking R&D to optimise the recipe with a blend of lupin and roasted cereals, and would also like to offer other formats (ground for percolator and filter machines).

Lupille

Eight students in their fifth year of the agri-food engineering course at ESA in Angers are working on the Lupille project. The project involves making granola from fermented legumes, in particular green lentils and white lupins. It's a totally innovative project, since no granola of this type is currently on the market. What's more, in general, legumes are rarely used in the manufacture of breakfast products.

Contact : M. Malkoun, m.malkoun@terresinovia.fr