RL 1411124-141201 Beta (better) concept

Last post of the year! and I didn't even realise how much I've done throughout this semester. Tasks came one after another, leaving us no time for a breath. I know I've been complaining a lot this semester, maybe that's my way to get motivated, but what I wanted to say was I learnt a lot, and I felt that I am now closer to what I want to do.  

Lesson 6: No more lessons! duh, I need a rest.. =P

The final task of the semester was to decide two beta concepts. Beta as in beta software, refers to the last test version before launching of the product. That said, our beta concept shall also be the final concept for our product before we decided to work on it and launch into the market. Hence, we must really make sure that the product meets the needs of the target market, can be produced, and most importantly can fulfill the aim of this project that is creating a healthy meal with functional ingredients to curb childhood obesity. 

So, we first reviewed all our findings since the first study, listed out all the requirements we deduced. Then, we match the requirements with the 5 alpha concepts we have now and check which of the ideas fulfilled most of the criteria. That narrowed us down to the final three products: beetroot and pumpkin burger, mini crispy spring roll, and pizza roll. 

Beta-concept 1: Beetroot and pumpkin burger

Beetroot and pumpkin burger was the most attainable product since burger has always been popular among children and the nutritional value of the product could easily be modified into a balanced diet. Hence, it became the first beta-concept. The patty was decided to be sous-vide instead of steamed to retain the phytochemicals in the vegetables as the nutrients can normally loss under high heat treatment. 

We had a tough time deciding which remaining product shall become the 2nd beta-concept since we thought both had equal potential. After a good 30 minutes of debate, we finally decided to forfeit pizza roll because the carbohydrate content was hard to play around, and the product seemed a bit too normal. However, we merged the spiral idea with the spring roll to get our 2nd beta concept, spiral spring roll. 

Beta-concept 2: spiral spring roll

This spiral spring roll will not be baked but steamed since parent prefer their children to eat steamed food. So the outer popiah skin was removed so that the colourful vegetable layer can attract the students more. The skin has yet to be decided whether it will be in the form of vegetable leather or a carbohydrate based skin,but since this spring roll doesn't have carbohydrate component anymore, chances are the skin being made with starches and vegetables. The chicken/prawn/fish mousse was also changed into minced chicken with sweet and sour flavour, which was another feature in the pizza roll. This was because the children had mentioned that they like sweet and sour, and at the same time, the parents did not want overly processed food product. Finally, another layer of vegetables consisting carrot and turnip is added. This is to create visual appeal by creating a spiral texture, while at the same time add more fibre and vegetables to the product (one children mentioned he wanted more carrots). We found that  children accepts eating vegetables even though if it's not hidden when it is in a popiah form.

So that's the two beta concepts we decided and brought to the final presentation. We prepared the slides as usual thinking that we finally finished another assignment. But guess what? Since this was our final presentation, we had two external judges! I was dumbfounded, tbh. I didn't expect Dr. Wendy and Dr. Nima there to assess our final presentation. Nervousness kicked in me and we did not manage the presentation well. Too long an introduction and due to time limit, we did not have the time to properly present the second alpha concept. However, we managed the Q&A fairly well, at least the judges were not as snarky to us as they were to other groups. Guessed maybe other group's performance were really unorganised that they save us a life. LOL! Anyway, both judges chose beetroot burger in the end.

So that marks the end of food product development (don't remind me of the thesis! shhhhh) We have yet to decide which beta concept to go with as for now, since we equally liked the idea, but we have three months to think through.. so yeah, stay tuned for my update and I shall see you next year!

Dong signing out!