What do frozen yogurt, bubble tea, and powder foundation makeup all have in common? They can all be made from Ontario-grown soybeans.
What initially started as an inspired idea over a couple of pints at Shakespeare Arms celebrated its 20th anniversary this past Friday, March 18, 2016. Project Soybean Opportunities for Youth (SOY, for short), began in 1996 as a way to increase awareness for the soybean industry in Ontario. Since then, it’s evolved into an annual multi-disciplinary student competition. Students from the University of Guelph are challenged to design new, innovative products that can be made from soybeans and market those products to a panel of judges.
This year, 13 different products were entered in the competition—two in the diploma category, nine in the undergraduate category, and two in the graduate category.
Elizabeth Aerts, the project coordinator for 2016, was thrilled to see the students’ visions and ideas come to life after months of hard work.
“Seeing how excited the participants are, and how determined they have been over the course of the competition has been really motivating,” shared Aerts.
Alaina Osborne and Anna Wasserman, students and innovators behind the product Juneys, can attest to the hard work and determination required to bring a product to life. Coming from art and english and biology backgrounds, Osborne and Wasserman were in unfamiliar territory when they decided to make a peanut-free chocolate as their entry for the competition.
“Peanut allergies have tripled since 1997,” noted Aliana. “As someone who suffers from peanut allergies myself, I wanted to make a safe alternative to the most popular chocolate snack, Reese’s.”
Osborne and Wasserman modified current recipes, substituting soy butter for peanut butter, making six different batches before they managed to get the taste just right.
“We wanted to try something challenging, and this definitely took us out of our comfort zone,” the duo confessed.
Other entries included Fuschiasoy and Soyaseal, soy protein coatings for biodegradable cups; Soybe, a soybean-based frozen yogurt; and So-Ya Baggin, natural and biodegradable soy fibre teabags.
Agriculture and animal biology students Tamika Bishop, Bianca Taillefer, Huilin Hong, and Sophia Kim designed their product Soyuble Plant Pots as a solution to unsustainable horticulture practices.
“We all volunteer in a greenhouse,” explained Bianca. “All of the plants that come in are potted in plastic, and we wanted to make a sustainable alternative.”
Using soybean meal, water, corn starch, and vegetable oil, the group behind Soyuble developed a durable and biodegradable alternative plant pot. They plan to test Soyuable Plant Pots in the greenhouse this spring, and are hopeful that their design will one day be adopted by the horticulture industry.
Owen Roberts, co-founder of Project SOY, was excited to see the entries in this year’s’ competition and is looking forward to the coming years.
“It’s been great to see the competition evolve alongside the soybean industry as a whole,” noted Roberts.
Forty-years-ago, soybeans were not a popular crop in Ontario. That is, not until Peter Hannam, the second co-founder of Project SOY, set out to develop new soybean varieties that could grow and prosper in Ontario.
Under Hannam’s leadership, soybean production has grown to cover approximately 2.9 million acres of land in Ontario—the most land of any field crop grown in Ontario, according to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
The opportunities as the industry continues to grow are limitless.
“When this competition started, it was mainly food innovations,” explained Owen. “Now we are venturing into soybean technology and engineering and all of the products that we are seeing are becoming more intricate.”
The competition’s results are listed below.
YoSoYummy, the winner in the undergraduate category, is a drinkable yogurt and a preventive measure for breast cancer. The isoflavones found in soybeans help to balance estrogen in a maturing woman’s body, contributing to a lower risk of breast cancer development.
Nutritional and nutraceutical sciences students Christine Chung, Christine Pelchat, Emma Thompson, and Aly Kotwa developed YoSo Yummy out of their passion for nutrition. The group said that the experience was a great learning opportunity for each of them.
“We love nutrition, but didn’t have a lot of business experience” noted Chung. “We had to become business students, and that was definitely a learning curve for all of us.”
Going into the finale, they were anxious, shares Chung.
“We were intimidated by our competition, but didn’t let it overtake us,” said Chung. “We’re very proud that our hard work has finally paid off.”
Though not everyone could take home the $2500 first-place prize, University of Guelph President Franco Vaccarino encouraged all contestants to continue to pursue their passions.
“This project is a fantastic example of bringing innovation to life,” explained President Vaccarino. “Combining excellence and passion creates amazing outcomes.”
Graduate:
1st place: Bharat Regmi; Torrified Pellets—soybean pellets as an alternative fuel
2nd place: Eamonn McGuinty; Soy Haven—gardening tool
Undergraduate:
1st place: Christine Chung, Christine Pelchat, Emma Thompson, and Aly Kotwa; YoSoYummy—drinkable yogurt
2nd place: Joelle Wong, Richard Park, and Olivia Giaccobi; Soy Pearls—alternative toppings for bubble tea
3rd place: Geoffrey Beamish, Joyce Cheng and Michael Biancaniello; SoyaSeal—lining for paper cups
Diploma:
1st place: Greg Ronney, Ian Seifried, and Matthew Baute; SoyPure Rolling Papers—alternative rolling papers
2nd place: Jessica Leclair; Soy Naturalle—natural makeup product