MSU’s Food Development Product team snagged second place at a national conference in Chicago last week with Minus-the-Moo!, an all-natural, nondairy, almond milk-based, sugar-free dessert, taking home a sweet reward of $2,000.
From July 13-16, MSU took their food product inventions to the national IFT Student Association & Mars Product Development Competition located at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago, Ill. There, a panel of six judges graded their food items on product and process description, technical problem-solving, safety and shelf life, originality, profitability and marketing.
This year, MSU’s five-member team won second place amongst five other finalist teams, with 20 other schools originally competing. Cornell University’s 10-member squad took first place with Squashetti, a frozen chicken entree containing spaghetti squash in place of wheat-based noodles.
This year was team member and food science senior Edward Szczygiel’s first time participating in the event. He started working with the team after taking MSU’s food product development 470 course.
“It’s a big commitment being a part of the team,” Szczygiel said. “We work long days and late nights. We all took time out of our lives to work on this, and I’m really happy with second place. I would be happier with first, but it’s second in the nation.”
Since its beginnings in 1975, the main purpose of the competition is to give students a chance to apply the skills and knowledge learned in school to real-world situations and to give food industry representatives the opportunity to seek talented students for potential employment.
MSU’s team adviser, Janice Harte, advised the first MSU team in 1991 that took second place in the national competition. Bill Haines then took over in the mid 90s, and he also led the team to the finals before Harte returned in 1998.
“They have been finalist 10 times with four second-place (finishes), counting this year’s, and three first-place (finishes) — 2007, 2008 (and) 2011,” Harte said.
According to Mara Laurain, this year’s team captain and recent MSU grad, Minus-the-Moo! is marketed to consumers who are seeking dairy-free alternatives. The product is low calorie with all natural ingredients, high soluble fiber and high antioxidant content that contains servings of fruits and vegetables. After the product is developed, the team travels and competes.
“After you submit a preliminary 22-page paper to get your team to the finals, judges grade your product on an oral presentation with a question section, your display poster and a tasting session,” Laurain said.
Each year, the competition rotates from New Orleans, Chicago and Las Vegas. The 2014 competition will be held on June 21-24 in New Orleans.
“Our goal is to make a new product that’s actually needed in the market,” Szczygiel said.
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