River Falls, Wis.-based Fiberstar Inc., the U.S.-based manufacturer of Citri-Fi, presented three 2012 Citri-Fi Innovation Awards during its three-day Citri-Fi Research and Development Seminar in Spain in November.

The global network of food technologists working with Citri-Fi were invited to submit applications to this year’s competition. To qualify, applications had to demonstrate a new and unique use of Citri-Fi that has been successfully applied in a commercial food product. The winning applications use Citri-Fi to address current industry challenges for which solutions are being sought.

A panel of judges comprised of food-trade publication editors reviewed the applications and selected the winners. The applications were judged on their inventiveness and the scale of the potential market impact. The judges also considered the quality of the research and data supporting the project and the clarity of the presentation materials.

Joao Marcelo M. Teles of Hela Ingredientes in Brazil received the first-place award and a grand prize of $25,000. Teles used Citri-Fi as the key ingredient in a reduced-fat snack cake for children.

Second-place winner Hermawan Widartha of P.T. Grand Kemindo Pratama in Indonesia received the second-place award and $12,500 prize for adding Citri-Fi to instant noodles to improve eating quality and yield, while reducing ingredient cost by 1.5%.

Annekathrin Segger of IMCD Deutschland GmbH in Germany received the third-place award and $6,250 prize for using Citri-Fi as a guar gum replacement in a German bread roll.

Citri-Fi is a natural, fiber-based, functional food ingredient derived from orange pulp. It is used in foods for moisture management, partial oil, fat, egg and meat replacement, and emulsion stabilization and thickening.