Three ESIROI Agri-Food engineering students, Tatiana, Sixtine and Eglantine, won the “Our Students Have Crush” prize at the 2025 edition of the Ecotrophelia France competition, the final phase of which took place in Bordeaux from June 24 to 26.

Their project? An eco-designed, edible, and crunchy straw made from upcycled by-products. An innovative aperitif using rice and Patagonian toothfish by-products, it's fully aligned with the challenges of sustainability, promoting local resources, and reducing waste.

After a year of work, their project was selected for the final phase of the eco-innovation competition. They traveled to Bordeaux this week to present their product over three days to a jury of professional experts from the agri-food sector, competing against 22 other teams from 16 engineering schools.
By winning the “Our students have guts” award presented by the Carnot AgriFood Transition Institute, the students leave with the sum of €1 rewarding bold work that offers an off-the-beaten-track avenue for promoting an emblematic product of Réunion fisheries, carried out in partnership with SAPMER.

ESIROI would like to warmly thank the Réunion Region for its support, which helped finance the tickets for the three students as well as their competition registration fees.

Team testimony:
Participating in Ecotrophelia was an adventure that was as crazy as it was enriching. We're three first-year food engineering students, and we're not going to lie: it was intense... and exhausting! We learned a lot on the job, between tests, failures, self-questioning, and hours of starting over. But that's also what made this experience so unique.

It all started with a slightly crazy idea: to create an edible straw made from fish and rice by-products. We wanted an original, eco-responsible product that made sense. And today, we can say we're proud of it, truly. This project has helped us grow, on every level.

The final in Bordeaux was a highlight. We had the chance to present our product to industry professionals, but also to interact with other passionate teams. Seeing that our concept was well received by both professionals and other students gave us incredible energy. We realized that our idea had real potential.

None of this would have been possible without the support of our tutors, who supported us throughout the year. And we would especially like to thank Mr. Alioune Diop, who always believed in us, even when we had doubts. He knew how to remotivate us when we needed it, and he played a vital role in our journey, without ever imposing, always listening and showing kindness.
This project will remain a lasting memory of our training. A wonderful human adventure, full of challenges, discoveries, and pride.