Winning the Global Pulse Confederation's Love Pulses Virtual Competition with Blooming Food's Lupin Crisps

My final year at University has easily been the most stressful, yet happiest times of my life. As part of my final year, students are required to undertake an Honours Research Project. At first a lecturer prompted me to write about counterfeit food, but as much as I am fascinated by food fraud and the ingenious way fraudsters adulterate our food, I had already exhausted that area of work. It was when my favourite lecturer Lorna White, a very matter of fact and straight talking woman, told me about the InternationalYear of Pulses something just clicked. 

The  68th United Nations General Assembly have declared 2016 the ‘International Year of Pulses’, which aims to heighten public awareness about the important role of pulses as a sustainable part of food production as well as their nutritional benefits (FAO, 2015). In developing countries, the average diet contains around 75 percent pulses, compared to 25 percent in the diets of industrialised countries (FAO, 2015). They are an important crop for smallholder farmers and through innovation in crop genetics, selective breeding and sustainable intensive farming, pulse crops are becoming more resilient in the wake of extreme climate change. Yet despite their nutritional and sustainable credentials, consumption is declining as a result of a shift towards meat-centric diets (FAO, 2015). With an increasing global population expected to rise to 9 billion by 2050 and an increased worldwide demand for proteins, food sustainability and security has become a topical issue. Increasing the dietary intake of legumes could help mitigate the threat of future food security and environmental concerns surrounding agricultural practices in higher-economy countries (Multari et al., 2015).

Aside from future food security, dietary plant proteins have gained popularity among nutritionists for their nutrient role as well for their beneficial effects exerted on human health; these include anti-carcinogenic, anti-obesity and inhibition of endogenous hydrolytic enzymes (Duranti et al., 2008).

Among grain legumes the interest in the use of lupins is continuously growing; the main impetus being the numerous studies displaying their health benefits and its flexibility in food preparation. Lupins use in the global food industry is not entirely novel, yet their limited use within the UK demonstrated an untapped opportunity for innovation.

So, combining the IYP initiative, current UK market trends for plant based foods along with my own personal interest in sustainability and love for new product development, I decided to explore the use of lupins as a food ingredient and from it created Blooming Food’s lupin crisps. 

Boy am I glad I followed my nose on this one! Mid writing up my dissertation I discovered the Mission ImPULSEible food innovation competition, launched by Pulse Canada. Unfortunately it was only open Canadian residents, but the lovely Christina directed me in the direction of the Global Pulse Confederations Love Pulses competition. I was eligible for the virtual stream, open to the countries that weren’t hosting a domestic competition. This meant that 193 countries were entitled to enter with an innovative product that was healthy, nutritious, and convenient to eat. The winners of the competition would be invited to the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meetingand Food Exhibition in Chicago, with the chance to profile the product on major industry websites as well as connect with international food processors (GPC, 2016).

I noticed the recommendation on who should be on a team, for example a nutritionist etc., so I wasn’t hopeful of getting placed as a lone student who hadn’t even graduated. Luckily for me I was urged to enter the competition by Lorna. So I submitted my entry with a three minute video that showcased the product. The video itself was planned and produced within 24 hours on a budget of £0 with a heavy reliance on good friends and a creative mind, proving that you can achieve almost anything when you put your mind to it. 

Unbelievably the global judging panel chaired by Dr. Mahmoud Solh, Director General of the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Area (ICARDA), recognised the potential in Blooming Food and I received first prize.  However, the email announcing my win went straight to my spam folder, so I only discovered the success indirectly when I was invited to give a talk at a Food Matters Live event on Innovationand New Product Development Incorporating Pulses. 

What a wonderful whirlwind it has been since winning the competition. Since, I have given a talk at the Canadian High Commission forFood Matters Live and been flown out to the Global Pulse Convention in Cesme, Turkey. This was a fascinating oversight of the pulse Industry with interesting talks by key industry speakers such as Murad Al-Katib (CEO of AGT), Andrew Jacobs and Robynne Anderson. Robynne in particular is such an inspirational and intelligent woman whose confidence I aspire to. Themes covered varied from specific focusses on global pulse outlooks, to talks more up my street including ‘New Foods & New Markets Powered by Pulses’ and ‘Leading in pulses processing through technology innovation – A Buhler Event’. I made such great contacts and friends from this weekend and received great awareness of the product on a global scale. Australia, who are the largest exporters of lupins, have shown the greatest interest in the crisps, which I hope will lead to commercial opportunities. 

Next stop is the Institute of Food Technology in Chicago where I will be showcasing my product to around 23,000 attendees. Now that I will be pursuing Blooming Food as a full-time business venture, the event will provide great exposure for the product and the Blooming Food brand. I’m now also giving talks at Ladies in Agriculture, the Ludlow Food Festival and possibly the Good Food show, so if you’re at any of these events please do come and say hello.

I’m incredibly overwhelmed by the support, kindness and frenzy surrounding the lupin crisps success. What a great start I have had, let’s just hope the positivity continues.

Watch out for my forthcoming posts about starting a business, the crisps themselves and the beneficial nutritional and functional attributes lupins have to offer.

If you would like to find out more about Blooming Food’s lupin crisps, feel free to email me at bloomingfooduk@gmail.com or call +447 970270023.

Mission ImPULSEible

Did you know that the United Nations have declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses? Well you do now and rightly so! Pulses are fantastic in so many ways; they're economical to purchase and incorporate into dishes, especially on a student budget (see my easy puy-sy coconut and butternut squash bake it's delicious); they're a high quality protein alternative to meat; and they can be sustainably grown in a variety of climates that do not cost the earth.


I've become so captivated in pulses and nutritious credentials that I decided to focus my Honours Research Project in conjunction with the Global Pulse Confederations LovePulses competition. The competition required team across the world to create a healthy, nutritious, and convenient to eat; which had to showcase one or more pulses. Here's a link for more information on the competition iyp2016.org.


Perhaps it's the illusory effect that Stephen Fry spoke of on QI, but I am noticing more and more food products featuring the power of the pulse. Take a look below at some of my findings.
 

Kettle Bites Mozzarella & Pesto (rsp: £1.89 for a pack of 5 x 22g)

A recent focus group of mine (as part of my dissertation) concluded that the texture was pleasant, but the pesto was somewhat overpowering and too strong to eat a whole pack. My thoughts were similar, I also found the mozzarella hard to detect.

 

Burts Lentil Waves, Lightly Salted (rsp: £1.99 for a pack of 6 x 20g)

The focus group compared these to bite size poppadums with more substance. Their plainness lends themselves well as an accompaniment to dips or salsa. I found these completely moreish although they were slightly oily more my liking.

Lupinesse, Germany

I discovered a great website on food futurology called futurefood2050. Here you can discover an exciting array of technologies, innovations and topical issues, such as Food Fraud. One of their favourite themes is FrankenFood in the form of lab grown meat, but that is for another pulse. It’s on this website I discovered research scientist Stephanie Mittermaier, who believes protein produced from sweet blue lupine seeds has big potential as an alternative to soy. German food technologist Stephanie Mittermaier and her colleagues Peter Eisner and Katrin Petersen have developed an interesting array of new product development harnessing the excellent credentials of lupins. They believe that lupins will one day be the alternative for protein instead of conventional meat centric options. I'd love to try their lupin mayonnaise! Watch this space for my own lupin creation (hint hint)!

Easy, puy-sy! Lentil, Coconut and Butternut Squash Bake

My final year at University is demanding; the days are long with lots of required extra reading and all of this whilst writing my dissertation. So when it comes to my evening meal I want my meals nutritious, wholesome, economical (student budget and all) and quick. My auntie, months and months ago, introduced me to Honestly Healthy's recipe for Puy lentil, Coconut and Goat's Cheese Bake and it has remained a firm favourite ever since. However, I felt the recipe didn't make enough as I like to cook a large batch for a few nights dinner so I have increased the amounts slightly.

Serves 4.

Ingredients
250g Puy lentils
500g Butternut squash, diced
3 tbsp Olive oil
2 garlic Cloves
400ml Coconut milk
80g Goat's Cheddar, mature cheddar works just as well

Method
Cook the lentils according to the packets instructions. Drain and set aside. If you're like me and hate the faff of cutting up a butternut squash, buy the prepared version. Waitrose sell a prepared butternut squash in their frozen section. Place the diced butternut squash on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and bake until tender t around gas mark 5, 190°C electric, 170°C electric fan. Leave the oven switched on. Meanwhile thinly slice the garlic and sauté in a large pan until soft. Stir in the lentils and coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour into a baking dish and bake for 15 minutes. Remove, sprinkle over your grated cheese and return to the oven for another 10 minutes until everything is bubbling away nicely and the cheese and started to turn golden. Serve with whatever greens you fancy such as watercress.