Cereals & Grains Association Student Product Development Competition

The Student Association Product Development Competition (PDC) is organized by students and sponsored by Cereals & Grains Association corporate member organizations. The PDC provides a great opportunity for students to apply knowledge and skills learned in the classroom to create food products for the real world. The competition encourages innovative thinking and promotes the connection between academic research and industrial production.
Students work individually or in teams to develop a novel plant-based alternative for cereal-based food products containing at least one underutilized cereal/legume ingredient and one upcycled ingredient from NETZRO^​®. 

Protecting our agronomic future is critical for ensuring that we can continue to meet the growing global demand for grains and legumes. Cereal chemistry is a vital aspect of this effort, as it impacts every stage of the value stream, from breeding and cultivation to processing and nutrition. As cereal scientists, it is our responsibility to deepen our understanding of how changes made anywhere along this value stream can affect the functionality of grains and legumes. This complex and evolving system requires us to broaden our knowledge of the environmental and economic factors that impact grain quality and functionality. By doing so, we can help to create a more stable system for our staple foods, which provide more than 75% of the world's diet. From field to families, we must work together to protect our agronomic future and ensure that everyone has access to the nourishing foods they need to thrive.