New Zealand red meat industry’s first Dragon’s Den winner announced

An innovative idea for transforming mechanically deboned meat (MDM) into a meat flake for seasoning has taken top honours in the Meat Industry Association’s (MIA) first-ever Dragon’s Den competition.

Renyu Zhang, a senior scientist with AgResearch, has been named the winner of the inaugural contest, which challenged Kiwis to develop ground-breaking ideas to advance New Zealand’s red meat processing industry.

A total of 42 entries were received, with Zhang beating four other finalists to secure a prize of up to $10,000 to develop a business case and progress the idea into a research project.

Zhang’s Umamification of mechanically-deboned meat (MDM) proposal outlined a novel process to transform lower-value MDM into a meat flake with high umami — savoury flavour — which would be stable at room temperature and have uses as a protein enhancer and snack food.

Sirma Karapeeva, chief executive of the Meat Industry Association, said the high calibre of entries made selecting the five finalists and ultimately the winner a challenging task.

“The competition recognised that many people have transformative ideas but may lack the resources to bring them to life.

“We sought bold, innovative concepts in meat industry research and development that align with the Government’s ambitious goal of doubling export value.

“All the finalists deserved credit, however, Renyu Zhang’s idea stood out both for the innovative process proposed and the opportunities for global interest in such a product.”

Zhang said he was pleased to win the competition and get an opportunity to take the project to the next stage.

“I’m honoured to win this inaugural Dragon’s Den event, and grateful to MIA for this opportunity,” he said.

“We have exciting opportunities to turn low-value streams from the meat industry into high-value, uniquely Kiwi products that can strengthen our global presence and add to our unique Kiwi taste profile. I look forward to working with industry partners to bring this vision to life.”

The Dragon’s Den final took place at the joint AgResearch-MIA Meat Innovation Workshop in Palmerston North on 11 March. Contestants each had five minutes to pitch their ideas to the judging panel, followed by five minutes of Q&A with the judges and audience.

The judging panel featured industry leaders, Sirma Karapeeva, Andrew Clark, Investment Manager, Ministry for Primary Industries’ Sustainable Food and Fibre Team, Steve Cartwright, Business Manager, Healthcare, ANZCO Foods and Bruce Fyfe, General Manager, Commercial, Auckland Meat Processors.

The finalists were:

Spray Chill Optimisation

Using machine learning to train spray chillers and optimize automated processing of carcasses

Led by Frank Phillips from Fulcrum NZ Ltd and supported by his colleagues Kev O’Reilly and Paul Nalder.

Umamification of MDM

Novel process to transform MDM into a meat flake for seasoning. The flake would have high umami, be room temperature stable and have uses as a protein enhancer and snack food

Led by Renyu Zhang from AgResearch Limited

Nutrient Enriched Meat

Mixing meat and organs to produce foods for the elderly, athletes and women into consumer friendly formats

Led by Carolina Realini from AgResearch Limited

Mycellium enhanced Hybrid Meat

Mixing meat with mushroom mycelium, using dairy byproducts to produce a hybrid product rich in dietary fibre and with reduced fat and cholesterol

Led by Maya Tangestani from Mara Bio

AI Mapping of Organ Meats

Using AI to design novel nutritional products, high in nutrients and low in production costs. Based on hyperspec mapping of organs

Led by Christine Tash and Yash Dixit of AgResearch Limited

For MIA media enquiries, please contact:

Sam Halstead

027 474 6065

sam@latitudesc.co.nz

For an interview with the winner, please contact:

Jarrod Booker

External Communications Manager

AgResearch

021 832 351

Jarrod.Booker@agresearch.co.nz