COLUMN: Learn by Doing
Wondering what the next great products at retail will be? The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) has a pretty good idea.
The Chicago-based organization’s student association (IFTSA) holds three product development competitions annually:
- Developing Solutions for Developing Countries, sponsored by Feeding Tomorrow Fund,
- IFTSA & Mars Product Development Competition, sponsored by Mars Wrigley, and
- Smart Snack for Kids Product Development Competition.
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Each contest has a written-proposal component and after initial judging, six finalist teams per competition do oral presentations of their products at the IFT FIRST event in Chicago in July. The Smart Snacks for Kids and IFTSA & Mars Product Development competitions’ finals also have a tasting component in which judges actually get to sample the products.
According to Christina Ginardi, IFT’s director of academic engagement: “Our product development competitions can see anywhere from 15-30 preliminary written proposal submissions for each competition. There is an initial judging stage where professional members of IFT serve as judges to evaluate each product on a rubric according to the criteria outlined in each competition.”
Those criteria vary according to the competition. “Developing Solutions for Developing Countries requires teams to come up with a product and packaging that is native and locally sourced to a developing country and outline the way this product will address the needs of that specific country,” explains Ginardi, while “Smart Snacks for Kids requires teams to create a product aligned with the USDA’s ‘Guide to Smart Snacks in Schools’ recommendations and market said product to kids and their parents.”
She notes that winning products are highlighted by IFTSA’s marketing and PR teams, adding that “IFT offers a monetary award for first, second and third place that could be used for startup costs, and teams own the intellectual property of their products, allowing them to decide on the next steps.”
Asked about previous competition winners that have rolled out at retail, Ginardi replies: “One example is Jack and Friends Jerky — a vegan jerky made from jackfruit and a hydrated-pea protein base — which was invented by Cornell students and won first place in the 2017 IFTSA & Mars Product Development Competition. The product is now sold across stores in the New England region.”
Given her vantage point at IFT, Ginardi has been able to track the most enduring trends in food products, and how they’re being applied by student teams.
“Sustainability, alternative protein sources, and natural flavors and colorings are three trends we’ve seen in our product development competitions as well as student attitudes in our Academic Knowledge Base Research reporting,” she notes.
“One prime example of the alternative-protein trend is the winning product of last year’s Developing Solutions for Developing Countries competition, HopEnergy, created by students at the University of Costa Rica. HopEnergy is an instant powdered drink designed to provide proteins and vitamins for migrants passing through Costa Rica," she continues. "The drink is made from panela [unrefined whole cane sugar], milk, grains and seeds. We’ve also seen products that cater to individuals with dietary restrictions: Chapman University’s SOL – Spice of Life (winner of last year’s IFTSA & Mars Product Development Competition) accommodated lactose-intolerant consumers, while McGill’s Magic Mud Pot (winner of last year’s Smart Snacks for Kids competition) was both gluten- and nut-free.”
With the creative minds of these food technology students hard at work devising innovative products, don’t be surprised to see some of them end up on your own shelves.
