Meeting Singapore’s Sustainability Goals Through Meatless Innovations
September 12, 2022
Meet and Greet the Winners
At the grand finale of the Meatless Meat Challenge (MMC) on 31 August 2022, we saw 10 competing teams pitch their products and design ideas to a panel of judges comprising representatives from Enterprise Singapore and food industry partners at Singapore Polytechnic’s (SP) auditorium.
The final products were evaluated based on Innovation (30%), Taste & Nutrition (30%), Design & Marketing (30%) and Feasibility to Launch (10%) and guests were treated to sample the tasty creations at the adjoining walk-about exhibition.
It was finally a sweet taste of victory as our newly-minted winners were unveiled, along with their proven recipes. Up for grabs is a cool S$1,200/- cash prize for the winning student team.
Grand Winner – AINT Crab Bites x WTH Foods Pte Ltd
As there aren’t many seafood plant-based options in the market, the students took to creating a sweet and succulent crab cake inspired by our local signature chili crab dish. This is in line with the philosophy of Worth the Health (WTH) Foods, a alternative proteins start-up that uses local and sustainable ingredients to produce plant-based variations of Southeast Asian cuisine. The company is very pleased with the results and is presently hustling to bring its award-winning crab bites to the market next year.
Product Innovation Award – SOVEG Meatless Satay x Jumain Sataysfaction Pte Ltd
Truly satisfying the palettes of our judges is our home grown hero Jumain Sataysfaction with their healthier meatless satay aptly named ‘SOVEG’. This rendition embodies both their 1910 heritage recipe with plant-based proteins.
Design Innovation Award – Mr Joy’s Plant Based Fish Paste x Joo Hwa Food Industries Pte Ltd
Through this revolutionary partnership, each participating company is equipped with a complete plant-based solution from recipe to practical branding and marketing strategies developed by the students to introduce this new product to the market.
One fine exemplary is Mr. Joy’s Plant Based Fish Paste conceptualised by our Media and Design student, Stephanie Han who came up with a fun DIY kit which can be piped into different shapes and sizes and enjoyed as a family activity. The novelty is lauded by our judge, Ms Jolin Huang, Head of Grocery at Redmart who commented that effective communication with their consumers is a challenge but key to their business so they are constantly looking at clever ways of engagement.
Citation by participating company – FX Group Pte Ltd Director, Harvey Ang:
“The meatless challenge actually provides a good platform for us to work with Singapore Polytechnic students from different disciplines coming together. In the process, it is fulfilling to provide students with our view points from industry and see how they can generate many interesting ideas and help us innovate for new meatless food products. It is especially helpful to us as this is relatively new for us and we gained lots of insights and industry knowledge. We would like to express our gratitude to both FIRC and Singapore Poly for the help and support throughout this initiative.”
Citation by participating SP student – Paul Seet:
“MMC was an extremely unique experience, and I am grateful to have been able to take part in it. I was nervous about entering MMC since my speciality is communication design, which is more advertising-based. However, MMC specializes in packaging and creating innovative user experiences for users using the food product. To help my product succeed, I incorporated advertising with user experience so my users could experience something new. This was possible thanks to MMC. As a result of MMC, I was able to break boundaries, try out new ideas and take rejections in stride to improve thus making me more versatile in the design world. MMC was one of the best experiences I had at Singapore Polytechnic and I have no regrets about joining!”
We’re heartened to be covered by our local media, Lianhe Zaobao on the success of MMC 2022 and recognition received by our food manufacturers on this innovative collaboration with FIRC and SP. It was definitely an enriching experience for our students as they gained valuable soft skills such as how to communicate with customers which they may not be able to acquire in the classroom.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction
A final thought on this intense yet inspiring chapter, we would like to convey our appreciation to each and every one of you who has put in their ‘heart’ work in making this challenge a resounding success!
We believe this innovation journey doesn’t end here and we encourage the companies to continue refining their formulas at hand to be on the track for accelerated commercialisation.
Catch the Grand Finals highlights here:
Background Information on Meatless Meat Challenge (MMC) 2022
Launched on 4 March 2022, the Meatless Meat Challenge (MMC) is a joint initiative by Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), the Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association (SFMA) and the Food Innovation & Resource Centre (FIRC) @ Singapore Polytechnic (SP) to accelerate the development of alternative protein options in Singapore and to help local food enterprises stay ahead of the curve. The challenge aims to build a pipeline of talent for the burgeoning food manufacturing sector.
From Transdisciplinary Innovation Project (TIP) to five months of curated training and workshops mentored by staff of FIRC and SP’s lecturers, MMC features synergetic collaborations between 10 food companies and 30 students from SP – School of Chemical & Life Science (CLS) and Media, Arts & Design School (MAD) to co-create innovative meatless meat products.
The participating companies are: Stemcell United, FX Group Holdings Pte Ltd, Joo Hwa Food Industries Pte Ltd, Jumain Sataysfaction Pte Ltd, WTH Foods Pte Ltd, FG Food Industries Pte Ltd, Thong Siek Food Industry Pte Ltd, Mushroom World Pte Ltd, Amazin’ Graze Pte Ltd and Hock Lian Huat Foodstuff Industry Pte Ltd.
