ECOTROPHELIA Europe Competition - Award Ceremony

ECOTROPHELIA EUROPE is a food innovation competition for students in higher education. On the principle of a food innovation “Champions League” each European country organizes its own national competition to select the most innovative food project that will then be presented at ECOTROPHELIA Europe. Each country selection is coordinated by its national food federation. The teams are composed of 2 to 10 students from either public or private higher education European establishments, scientific or commercial.

Established in France in 2000, ECOTROPHELIA expanded to a European scale in 2008. The ECOTROPHELIA Europe contest is organized by the EEIG ECOTROPHELIA EUROPE, composed by 7 national food federations, FOOD DRINK EUROPE and EIT FOOD.

The competition is a major catalyst:

• offering students full-scale learning and training, by confronting them with real situations, the rules and laws of an uncompromising market in a state of perpetual evolution.

• developing a culture of curriculum innovation, by making changes to teaching methods, particularly through project-based learning, in direct contact with professionals in the sector.

Beyond the competitions, ECOTROPHELIA has become a network of training excellence in food innovation that mobilises higher education institutions and national federations of food industries in Europe. Thus, the ECOTROPHELIA network, a reference educational model supported by the European Union, plays an organisational role in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship among students.