Students roll out new ideas for oats

25 students in their second year of the Bachelor of Culinary Arts were given a tour of Dunedin-based company Harraways Oats (the country's sole remaining oat mill) to kickstart their thinking.

They were tasked with changing perceptions of traditional oats and coming up with transformational products which add value, while tapping into the positive aspects of the wholegrain which is packed with fibre, protein, and essential vitamins and minerals.

“Everyone knows oats as something they have to porridge in the morning,” says Tim Lynch, senior lecturer in Culinary Arts.

“But how can we reimagine what oats are used for and where they sit in people's lifestyle?”

“We look at the entire supply chain going all the way back to the farmers," says Tim.

"Because expanding the market helps it becomes worthwhile for farmers to continue to grow oats, rather than doing dairy conversions or something else that’s much harder on the land.”

The project is an annual one for year two of the bachelor programme, which has previously partnered with South Island producers Heartland Potato Chips (resulting in 2025’s ‘Mud’ potato ice cream), Emerson’s Brewery, and Whitestone Cheese.

Henry Hawkins, CEO of Harraways Oats, says he was excited be part of this year’s collaboration.

“Knowing Otago Polytechnice and the great way that they go about things, it was a no-brainer for us to join up and see where it could lead to.”

“Trying to target the next generation users of oats is very important to us as a business, and this was a great opportunity to hear from new voices,” says Henry.

The class was given a few weeks to develop their food products using oats donated by Harraways, before offering them for sale to the public at the Otago Farmers Market, where they got real-world feedback on their creations and the chance to refine them.

The Products:

'The Grain Swap' Sausage rolls

Jayrell Cupcupin’s group created a range of sausage rolls using oats in the filling as a ‘plant meat’.

“We were trying to eliminate the meat in the traditional sausage roll”, says Jayrell.

“It took several attempts to get the right flavour, but we chose to make flexitarian and vegetarian options using an oat mix with tofu.”

The students took feedback from their first Farmers Market stall onboard in adjusting the portion sizes and creating a lighter vegan-friendly pastry to wrap around their oat-based filling.

‘Protein Pops’ Oat popsicles

Benji Inglis worked solo to create popsicles containing about 20% oats, blended into the icy filling and mixed into the chocolate coating.

“I know protein is a big thing in supermarkets and with young people at the moment,” says Benji.

“So I decided to push protein but do it in a new way of ice blocks. I've never seen a protein ice block before, let alone a vegan one.”

Benji mixed oats with strawberries for the berry-flavoured popsicles, and pushed them as a dessert or afternoon treat product.  Feedback from the public prompted a name change from the original ‘Brekkie Bars’ to make them more understandable for customers.

Oats nachos and Cheezy Munch (oat “cheetos")

Dinodh Perara, Bishal Bhandari, and Harjeet Sandhu are big fans of the popular corn-cheese snack Cheetos and used that inspiration to create their own oats-based version.

“Our recipe is a blend of oats, cheese, and butter,” says Dinodh.

“They’re quick to bake and we were pleased with how they held together and had that great crunch.”

The group also made oat-based nachos along with a dipping sauce.

They initially packaged the nachos and Cheezy Munch snacks together, but after feedback from customers at their first Farmers Market, they decided to separate them as two distinctively separate products.

Oatera cream cheese stack

Justin Qiu and Joe Li created a layered rolled oats stack with a creamy strawberry or blueberry cream cheese filling.

The group also tapped into the popularity of ‘Dubai chocolate’, replacing the usual costly pistachio cream with their own blend of matcha, kataifi (shredded pastry), and white chocolate.

“It is a dessert treat, but with the oats we think it could be a really good post-workout grab and go snack to give you energy and make you feel full,” says Joe.

“We enjoyed generating ideas to show people that oats is not a boring food, it can be used in trendy products too.”

Oat Bagels

Hao Wang’s group produced an oat bagel sandwich with a stacked filling of fresh vegetables with a fried egg and vege fritter.

“Our bagels contain 20% oats with cheddar cheese, flour, and a light mix of herbs and spices”.

“We tried testing with a 30% oat mixture, but it was a quite sticky dough and it was hard to make the right shape.”

Hao says the oat bagels got good feedback from customers and the group quickly sold out of their entire stock at both markets.

Oatful Otago Ice cream and Peanut Butter Bliss bars

Ella MacLeod’s group decided to create two products - a refined sugar-free, dairy-free oat-based ice cream in two flavours, plus peanut butter slices.

“Our aim with these products was to get younger people interested in eating oats.”

“We used oat milk from a company that Harraways supplies, and we used oats as a thickener in the ice cream,” says Ella.

“It’s also the main ingredient in our peanut butter slice {bliss bar} that's also cut up inside the ice cream.”

“It was more difficult than we thought, because it was a lot more sciencey with balancing the right amount of sugar and fat content to ensure the ice cream didn’t freeze too solid or not freeze at all.”

=====

Following the two Farmers Market session, the students had to present their final products to a panel including Harraways Oats CEO Henry Hawkins, Sarah Gell (Economic Development Coordinator at Enterprise Dunedin) and Michele Driscoll (Manager of the Otago Farmers Market).

Henry says he was impressed with the range of ideas and the quality of the products.

"I think they've done a lot of research. They've obviously put a lot of energy and effort into it and I think they took the brief very well."

He was especially interested in some of the products that could have appeal to Asian customers.

"The Southeast Asian market in particular is on our radar," says Henry.

"And we definitely had a bit of an eye-opening with some of the products that the students came up with.

"So a lot to think about and I'm excited to show my team and see where we can take things."