Pearcheese, Il Cafferino and Meditè:
the 3 UniversityLab products at Ipack-Ima 2022
Research, development and production: this is the synthesis of the UniversityLab experience, a unique training project that is committed, in each of its editions, to bringing future technologists closer to the world of industry. The protagonists are 15 students, who were selected last year from among the many candidates of the Master’s Degree Course in Food Science and Technology, and who have been guided during these months through each phase of the project – research and development, engineering, economic sustainability, communication and packaging study – by our food technologists Claudia Bonardi, Alessandra Perolari, Annalisa Santoro, by Unimi’s reference for the project, dr. Carola Cappa, and by the specialists who have collaborated throughout the project.
Thus Pearcheese, Il Cafferino and Meditè were born, the result of significant teamwork, characterised by a first study and research phase and subsequent verification in terms of industrialisation, thanks also to the know-how and technical and technological support by our represented companies involved in the project.
The products
How to take a break, breaking the rules? Pearcheese, the gourmet snack with traditional Italian products that create a perfect harmony of sweet and savoury flavours, takes care of that: the Parmesan cream finds its exaltation in the encounter with candied pears and the crunchiness of toasted hazelnuts, inside a crumbly salty wafer, a product designed as a snack to break the hunger or as an accompaniment to the meal or, why not, at aperitif time.
Innovative use of coffee in the product Il Cafferino, a bar created from the combination of puffed and caramelised noble grains, millet and amaranth, combined with the crunchy feeling of corn flakes. The coffee comes in a jelly form, separated from the cereal base by a light layer of coffee-flavoured cocoa butter. All covered in dark chocolate. The result: a crunchy and energising break, a product that is also suitable for vegan consumers, as it is free of ingredients of animal origin, and is ‘tastier’ than the traditional espresso.
Nothing to add except: “All you need is coffee Cafferino!”.
Test “Il Cafferino” presso l’azienda Sollich
Innovativo sponge cake salato alle verdure farcito da una gustosa crema al formaggio: parliamo di Meditè, lo snack salato caratterizzato da un pan di spagna alle verdure – melanzane, zucchine e peperoni – farcito per l’appunto da una crema al formaggio arricchita da granelli di pepe. Il pan di spagna salato apre una nuova divisione industriale nel mondo degli sponge cake e il nome Meditè vuole richiamare la mediterraneità degli ingredienti caratterizzanti.
Innovative savoury vegetable sponge cake filled with a tasty cheese cream: we are talking about Meditè, the savoury snack characterised by a vegetable sponge cake – eggplant, zucchini and peppers – filled with a cheese cream enriched with peppercorns. The savoury sponge cake opens up a new industrial division in the world of sponge cakes and the name Meditè is intended to recall the Mediterranean nature of the characterising ingredients.
UniversityLab aims to develop innovative products in line with the evolution of the market, not only in the choice of ingredients, but also in terms of packaging. For this reason, the 3 working groups also undertook an accurate study of packaging, to search for the best solutions in terms of product preservation and sustainability requirements, favouring for example the use of paper and reducing plastic.
And, of course, this year too we gave space to creativity: here are the ADV of the 3 products
Curiosity and appreciation – even tasting! – from the companies that visited the students at Ipack-Ima 2022, in the OpessiLab laboratory area, where the products were officially presented.
