Nurturing Next Generation of Innovators

There are certain events on the dairy checkoff calendar that I simply don’t want to miss. Dairy Management Inc.’s (DMI) New Product Competition is one of them.

For the last several years, I have been honored to serve as a judge of the checkoff-led competition. Each year, the experience leaves me even more optimistic about our industry’s future.

The dairy checkoff invests in many immediate opportunities, but this competition reminds me we’re also investing in tomorrow. When I watch college food science students present products they’ve spent months developing, I see creativity. More important, I see the next generation of innovators who will help shape the future of dairy.

And I can’t stress enough why that matters.

Innovation has always been essential to dairy’s success. Consumer preferences continue to evolve, and dairy must evolve with them. The products that fill grocery carts today don’t look like they did 20 years ago, and they certainly won’t look the same 20 years from now.

That’s why this competition is such an important part of our checkoff strategy.

Students are tasked with developing products that are dairy-centric, solve real consumer needs and stand up to rigorous evaluation. As judges, we look at everything from flavor and texture to nutrition, functionality, packaging and commercial potential. The process gives students a genuine taste of what lies ahead in the real world.

The theme of this year’s competition focused on dairy products supporting bone health, muscle health and weight management. Those priorities reflect conversations happening with consumers across the country. The students translated those trends into products that showcased dairy in fresh and unexpected ways.

As judges, we’re often amazed by what they create.

Several years ago, who would have predicted cottage cheese would become one of today’s hottest ingredients? Yet this year’s winning product, announced at the American Dairy Science Association’s annual meeting in June, featured a pizza crust made with approximately 85% dairy ingredients, including cottage cheese. It was delicious, nutritious and creatively developed.

That’s what makes the competition so exciting. These students consistently see dairy through a fresh set of eyes.

Product development is built on curiosity, experimentation and persistence. Every contest entry we sampled represents countless hours of testing, adjusting and trying again. Along the way, students learn firsthand how dairy ingredients perform in different applications. That’s how innovation happens, and those lessons stay with them long after the contest ends.

This competition reflects a dairy checkoff investment that doesn’t produce immediate returns. You won’t find these products on a grocery store shelf next month, but that doesn’t make the effort any less important.

Several former competitors have gone on to careers throughout the dairy and broader food industries. They carry with them a deeper understanding of dairy’s nutritional value, functionality and versatility.

These are relationships and experiences built through this competition that create value for dairy for years to come.

One of my favorite moments this year came from a team comprised of freshmen. Many competitors are graduate students with years of specialized food science experience, so seeing first-year students confidently compete alongside them was incredibly encouraging. It reminded me that we’re helping build the pipeline of talented young professionals our industry may depend on for years to come.

The energy throughout the judging process reflects that promise. Students ship samples of their products ahead of time to the DMI office and then proudly present the results of their hard work to judges during a video call. It quickly becomes clear there is no shortage of creativity among these future food scientists.

As a checkoff, we talk about protecting dairy’s future. I believe we also must create it.

Programs like the New Product Competition, led, supported and promoted by DMI’s research and development team, help us do that. It encourages bright young minds to think differently, challenge assumptions and discover new ways dairy can meet consumers where they are. It reminds students that dairy is an exciting place to build a career.

And it reinforces that our checkoff investment extends beyond today’s marketplace.

That’s why I leave this competition every year inspired, not just by the products I tasted, but by the students who created them.

To me, it’s much more than a competition.

It’s dairy’s future already getting to work.