Case Study: Fortune 500 Food and Beverage Company achieves 50% expansion of nuts and seeds while preserving shape and crunch with Wazoku

A Fortune 500 Food and Beverage Company explores new Food Production techniques

A Fortune 500 food & beverage company posed a one‑month challenge via Wazoku to find a way to “puff” whole nuts and seeds—foods higher in protein, fat and fiber—so they become crisp and crunchy while retaining their original shape, something existing expansion technologies can’t do. Solvers were asked to submit detailed, technically justified processes that met strict requirements; the challenge drew 22 submissions from 11 countries and offered a $10,000 prize.

The Seeker awarded the $10,000 prize to a retired engineer from Romania for a 10‑page theoretical proposal that claims to expand nuts and seeds by at least 50% while maintaining shape and crunch. The submission met the technical criteria and is ready to be taken into the laboratory for validation.