A superfood start-up yesterday won the “My Favorite Start-up Award” with its signature tiger nut ice cream in the Start-up Express, organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Meat the Next, founded in 2020, uses patented enzymatic and fermentation technology as the key pillars of innovation in its business.

It uses different plants as raw materials – including tiger nuts, odorless soybeans and oats – to create a unique formula which enhances the protein level, richness and smoothness of its dairy-free ice cream.

The company said its signature products – tiger nut ice cream and tiger nut oat milk – are dairy-free and vegan, with no added sugar. It also has a higher protein content than most other plant-based milk products.

The superfood technology company said it specializes in a new generation of food that provides delicious, nutritionally balanced and affordable smart protein product solutions.

The company’s chief operating officer and co-founder, Edmund Chan Ka-ming, told a five-member judging panel that the start-up is “the next generation food enabler” at the in-person final pitching held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.

The company was among 10 start-ups that stood out in this year’s Start-up Express – a competition organized by the HKTDC since 2018.

Rocket Academy was one of the 10 winners. Founded in 2020, it is a live online coding boot camp with local meetups and was presented by founder Neo Kai Yuan.

The Singapore-founded start-up teaches adults coding and helps them get jobs as software engineers, with direction by local experts. It has trained over 150 software engineers working at companies such as DBS, Zendesk, Foodpanda and Decathlon. The competition saw 20 finalists coming from a wide variety of sectors – including education technology, financial technology, property technology, health technology, metaverse, Web 3.0, smart city, human resources technology and food technology.

Other winning teams include Big Bang Academy, Neuropix, DimOrder, Negawatt Technology Limited, Kodifly Limited, Syngular Technology Limited, Haofood and Moongate.

These teams will continue to participate in a series of local and international events to develop their businesses by building connections, exploring markets, seeking partners and enhancing brand awareness.

The winning teams will also benefit from the HKTDC arranging a series of exposure opportunities through which they can interact with buyers and investors.