Author: christineblogportfolio

Welcome to my portfolio
Portfolio

RCA Competition

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With the support of Edwardo Cortez, Choco Chai, Chelsea Le, Gerry Pedro, Viral Shukla, and Dr. Davidov-Pardo the development of a new sustainable instant noodle was created. I really enjoyed collaborating with my fellow students who all share a similar interest in innovation. During this project, I learned how to analyze the food industry market by paying attention to food trends and how to formulate a new food product through trial and error.

Evolution of Food Waste

Each year, the Research Chef’s Association offers a competition. This year’s prompt (2018 – 2019) was to innovate a product that could utilize ingredients that are heavily regarded as waste. With that said, we decided that our main ingredients will be brewer’s spent grain (BSG) and lobster flavoring. These ingredients were chosen for their abundance of waste contribution.

Brewer’s spent grain is what is left after the production of beer, most of this leftover grain is usually thrown out after each batch of alcohol is brewed. This creates a problem in the brewing industry because disposing of this waste can also be costly. Lobster shells also pile up in the landfill which contributes to a total of 6 – 8 million tons of crustacean shells. Our team came up with a solution. Instant Lobster BSG noodles.

Let me present to you: Hayaku Noods! How does instant lobster flavored noodles sound to you? A snack you can bring anywhere! Affordable, portable, and enjoyable. A meal for everyone.

Hayaku Noods

What makes Hayaku Noods different from all the other brands of instant noodles in the market? Environmental sustainability. Creating a line of products by utilizing ingredients from waste products should be encouraged amongst the food industry.

To our wonderful team from Cal Poly!

Edwardo cortez
Choco Chai
Chelsea Le
Gerry Pedro
Viral Shukla
Christine Ruangsangthai

Our amazing Professor/Advisor

Gabriel Davidov-Pardo
Go Broncos!
Projects

Country Kitchen

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A minimalistic meal kit that is sustainable, savory, and convienet

In 2019, I presented my prototypical startup company to a panel of investors. Country Kitchen is a company that offers a more convenient way to prepare food for those who enjoy backpacking. We carry a vegetarian freeze-dried meal kit. Each Kit containing breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and each meal labeling every ingredient. Each ingredient is non-processed, making our product a wholesome one.

What sets Country Kitchen apart is our high-protein vegetarian diet. Our competitors such as Mountain House and Packit Gourmet offer vegetarian options as well. However, the only vegetarian dishes they carry are sweetened meals usually eaten as breakfast or dessert. It was difficult to find vegetarian freeze-dried meals that accompanied a savory main course.

As a backpacker myself, I always found that the most frustrating part about planning a long trip was preparing the food. If you think about it, it’s a lot to plan.

What do you like to eat when you go on long trips? Are the things you enjoy to eat easy to carry on your back for days? Are you able to manage the weight of your backpack lugging on your shoulders while climbing up a mountain? According to REI, the average backpack worn on your shoulders is approximately 20% of you’re weight. If you are 150 pounds, you only have 30 pounds to work around with.

Managing his weight is a difficult task keeping in mind that you need to make room for a sleeping bag, a tent, some cookware, and water.

I brought this idea of mine to a startup competition hosted at Cal Poly Pomona called iStartup Academy. I am proud to achieve and accept 1st place. And I am grateful for everything I learned on the way.

Unfortunately, due to the timing of my studies, and other projects I have set on my plate, I decided to put my business plans on a pause and hope to return when the time is right. I will never forget how creating this company has allowed me to grow. It gave me the ability to look at a company from a different perspective. Through training, I am a Food Science and Technologist. I studied to research food, to understand the chemistry behind it all.

Building this company gave me a completely different set of skills that complement the skills I already had.

I learned what creating a pitch deck was and how to pitch to investors. I learned how to create a business plan and to identify my target market. This was an experience that I would never have encountered if I only stuck to just my academic studies. I am so proud of myself for venturing out of my comfort zone and for exploring the entrepreneurial side that I have always been curious about.

Projects

Honey Graham Crackers, a high plant-based protein snack.

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Our Final Product

“A fresh new take on baked snack foods that combines the versatile crunchiness of a toasted honey graham cracker with the sweet flavor of baked cookies, topped with a drizzle of delicious milk chocolate.”

Crafting a product that consists of “5 grams of protein per serving” was a difficult one. But with the help of my teammates, we made it happen. Our main protein sources came from plant-based protein ingredients such as faba bean protein isolate and pumpkin seed protein powder.

Alternative plant-based protein foods are on the rise as our community strives to create sustainable and healthy products. It’s time to find a better way of eating. Due to our support for this cause, our team was able to craft this delicious high protein snack.

Thank you to:

Jonathan Kim, Micheal Fetanat, Tyler Blohm

A special thanks to Gabriel Davidov, our professor, advisor, and mentor who helped us throughout our ideation phase, all the way to the finished product. The development of this product furthered my growth. It gave me a well-rounded insight into what it takes to turn an idea into a real product.