Cooking up a storm with recreated seafood

Not long after emerging first in the local track in NUS’ FoodTech Challenge (2023) for their adaptogenic mushroom coffee, a team of College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS) students has scored another feather in their cap by winning the top prize in the APAC Food Innovation Challenge in January 2024. The team edged out 384 teams comprising over 1,000 students from 23 countries to seize the honour.

The interdisciplinary team – Elisabeth KAY (Year 4, Life Sciences), Duangporn SIRIKULWATTANANON (Tong) (Year 3, Data Science and Economics) and KORK Ling Hui (Year 4, Food Science and Technology) – impressed the judges with their allergen-free plant-based shrimp product, which was developed for Unilever’s The Vegetarian Butcher (TVB) brand. 

Their product, Keepin’ it Shrimple, will not only address impending seafood shortages from overfishing and the negative environmental impacts from seafood production, which destroys marine habitats. Its innovation could also competitively position TVB in the nascent plant-based seafood market.  

Keepin’ it Shrimple uses novel ingredients, such as texturised pea protein, an allergen-free protein source, and lion’s mane mushroom which has high protein and fibre content, as well as flavours and seasonings from leading flavour houses.  

The result – a product which emulates the texture of shrimp and its savoury taste, while packing in more nutritional value at the same time.  The production process will leverage TVB’s extrusion technology for plant-based products.

Team lead Elisabeth says, “The experience offered valuable learning experiences, including the refinement of market analysis and consumer research skills to identify demands and gaps in the plant-based meats industry. Overcoming challenges in creating a plant-based shrimp product also deepened our insights into product development intricacies, such as balancing texture, taste and nutritional content.”

Tong adds, “My entrepreneurial interests revolve around health and nutrition, sustainability and food technology.” Keepin’ it Shrimple is part of her vision to create innovative solutions that not only solve individuals’ and society’s pain points but also positively impact the environment.  

Moving ahead, the team will conduct further research and trials to validate the product’s texture and taste profile. In anticipation of rolling out the product to diverse markets, they will  also be studying the need for region-specific marinades and flavours, which are customised for consumers in different geographical areas.

The annual  APAC Food Innovation Challenge brings together students from across Asia to formulate climate-friendly food and nutrition solutions.