When Guillaume Thébault and Brieuc-William Migeon began their adventure into the Health and Nutrition industry, they could never have envisioned that their invention – Full'iz, would’ve won the silver award at the EEIG ECOTROPHELIA EUROPE 2024 competition in Paris – the world’s largest food trade fair organized by SIAL Paris (Global Food Marketplace), earlier this October.
Guillaume, an agricultural engineer, and Brieuc–William, a dietician, met at the University of Liège – Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, while both studying for a master’s degree in Innovation Management and Food Design.
The dynamic duo were able to combine their expertise, creating a healthy and sustainable product called Full’iz, placing all the nutrition you’d get from a full breakfast inside a bottle.
This innovative idea was brought to fruition thanks to the support of the Smart Gastronomy Lab. This Walloon living lab focuses on both the research & innovation department of the agricultural and food sector, while actively supporting entrepreneurs in testing their products during all stages of development.
Encapsulating Full’iz – What was the idea behind it?
Full’iz is a fruit-based drink designed to provide between 20-25% of the daily nutritional intake. It provides an easy on-the-go breakfast with a base of natural fruit, milk proteins and chia seeds – an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and powerful antioxidants.
The product itself has gone through extensive testing and follows all French Health Council’s recommendations, as Guillaume explains, “Full’iz is half as sweet as fruit juice, and in terms of sugars, it’s the equivalent of a plain yogurt – it also has a Nutriscore A rating”.
“The idea is obviously not to replace breakfast as a meal eaten at the table, but life as it is now means that it’s not possible for everyone to take the time to sit down every morning and eat a balanced meal,” says Brieuc–William.
“Full’iz is more an alternative to allow everyone, from the salesman on the road, to the students on strike or waking up early, to the mother who is late dropping the children off at school, to be able to eat something other than a pain au chocolat purchased in a hurry, which is both expensive and very bad for your health. And in reality, we now know that 20% of people skip breakfast altogether”.
“It tastes of fruit, rather like a smoothie,” Guillaume and Brieuc–William explain. “During the market research we carried out as part of our final year’s work, the majority of respondents gave taste as the number 1 criterion, and we wanted to take this into account by offering a tasty product in two flavours: raspberry & banana and mango & passion fruit”.
Understanding the market and regaining its trust
Winning a silver award at the Ecotrophelia Europe competition is no mean feat. The Walloon pair knew they had to thoroughly research the competition to use it to their advantage.
Before Full’iz entered the market, Belgium offered no products such as theirs. However, while other European nations like France, Germany and the UK all had products of a similar nature, many of these lacked sound nutritional values, containing protein-enriched milk/water, added thickeners, additives and flavourings.
“Competitors’ products quickly become very artificial, and we wanted to be transparent in our labelling, where nutritional values and ingredients are clearly indicated. This means more constraints for us, but we think it’s important,” comments Brieuc–William.
Following a string of recent scandals which severely damaged both the reputation and stature of the agri-food sector, it was vital to Guillaume and Brieuc–William that Full’iz followed all ethical regulations and excelled in consumer clarity.
“The agri-food sector has suffered from a poor image in recent years, with repeated scandals such as the horsemeat in lasagne, and we wanted to contribute to a positive change by showing that we can also offer quality products, both sensory and nutritionally-speaking”, says Guillaume.
Find out more about Full’iz and their story on their Instagram and Facebook – you shall most definitely be impressed!
Original piece: wallonia.be
Image credit: foodatwork.be and Smart Gastronomy Lab
