Winners and runner-ups of the EFKO company group research competition among students of Novosibirsk State Technical University NETI were announced on November 30. Graduate and master's students presented their projects on reduction the of fats' caloric value, development of corporate culture, and consumer property analyses of meat substitutes. The winners received a cash prize of 30 thousand rubles for their research.
Under the agreement signed in October, the competition was the first collaboration project between EFKO and NSTU NETI. It was organized as a part of a strategic collaboration development program between agricultural universities of Siberia.
In NSTU NETI a total of eight students from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Technologies, Faculty of Aircraft Engineering, Faculty of Humanities, and Faculty of Business were announced winners. Sofia Zaporozhenko, Valeria Maslovskaya, Artem Shebaltasov, Elena Kameneva, Artem Shestakov, Anna Khandarova, Andrey Skvortsov and Yaroslavna Levkina were awarded individual cash prizes.
One of the winners, Artem Shestakov, is studying the properties of composite materials at the University, but after learning about the competition, he became interested in the food technologies improvement. He estimated the cost and possible payback period of the fats' caloric value reduction pilot facility. To do this, the student delved into the technology of vegetable oils production and the prospect of reducing their caloric value. He even made inquiry calls to key equipment suppliers.
"We find a lot of in-demand skills for our company in the regions, more than in large cities. This idea was the beginning of our special project to find applicants in Siberia. Our great expectations certainly are connected with graduates of Novosibirsk Universities", said Natalya Yashkoldina, HR Director of EFKO.
A special nomination was focused on "food of the future" and analysis of vegetarian meat consumer properties. Students carried out research projects about the impact of classical animal breeding on the environment. During the process, they found that the production of vegetarian chops prevents the formation of the greenhouse effect, helps to save electricity, land, and water resources, and the consumption of vegetable analogs instead of meat has a beneficial effect on the human body. It reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and has a positive effect on digestion.
"One of my main motivations for participating in the contest is to get a new experience. But, to be honest, I did not expect to get a job offer from the company and win a cash prize. Of course, I am impressed that the company has come to the question of creating vegetable chops with meat flavor. I agree that we need to look for some alternatives in order to have further economy development even when the economical situation in the world is unstable. That is why I got so involved into the research," said Elena Kameneva, a fourth-year student of the Faculty of Humanities Education.
The representatives of EFKO company say that for a long time it was next to impossible to actually recreate the taste of a meat chop, but finally they managed to solve this problem. Vegetable chop "hiburger" is an innovational EFKO product, which, according to the customers, has no difference with a homemade chop. Guests of the ceremony were able to see this for themselves, as right after the award ceremony, Sergey Borodin, a chef, held SMAK tournament. Students of different faculties of NSTU NETI created their very own dishes: salads, desserts, and vegetable hiburgers.
Reference
EFKO company is known for such brand names as Sloboda and Altero. In 2020, EFKO started implementing a new investment project for the production of vegetable meat and has already introduced the first products of the new line of vegetable nutrition "Hi!" (from the English "healthy innovations").