Six students studying for a Master's Degree at the Haute École Charlemagne, in the province of Liège, presented PRONUTS, their project which involves producing a vegetable "cheese" called V-Cheese!

This year, the PRONUTS project, presented by a team of six students from the Haute École Charlemagne, won the national Ecotrophelia contest, for agronomy students. PRONUTS represents a real innovation and, therefore, it is not surprising that, thanks to their extremely original product, the six students were invited to represent our country's dish at the European Contest which will be held at the French pavilion of the World Expo in Milan, Italy, on 6 October.

According to PRONUTS’ promoters, the vegetable cheese, called V-Cheese, is not an actual cheese but more a fermented vegetable speciality which is guaranteed to be 100% natural. It comprises three main ingredients: barley, cashew nuts and water. One of the specific features of the manufacturing process for this vegetable "cheese" is that it does not include lactose, a substance which many people are allergic to or intolerant of.

The other strong point highlighted by the students behind V-Cheese is the recycling of the waste generated during its manufacturing process. Indeed, since barley cannot be found in the finished product, it is used - once germinated - to produce a beer, La Charlhutoise. Supported by PLUG-R, Liège's creative hub, accompanied by AWEX, the PRONUTS team are hoping to be able to market their star product.

The students will soon be presenting their product at the European Contest to win a prize of €15,000. No doubt, this money could help them to achieve the first step in their project.