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Cereals & Grains Association Student Product Development Competition

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​​The Student Association Product Development Competition will take place at the 2021 Virtual Meeting: Cereals & Grains 21! 

Overview:

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 novel food products containing at least one major cereal/legume ingredient.​

Theme: Value Added Products from Food Waste

Food waste can come from any type of food. The goal of the PDC this year is to make the biggest and most sustainable environmental impact. Therefore, you would have to state how you make the most of the food waste stream you have selected.​

Product Development Competition contact information:

Jayani Maddakandage Dona, North Dakota State University, PDC.cerealsngrains@gmail.com​

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Icon Description automatically generated  SCHEDULE

  • ​By JULY 30 - Complete and submit the Intent to Enter form​
  • By SEPTEMBER 30 - Submit Product Report (criteria below)​
  • NOVEMBER 18 - Winners are notified and recognized at Cereals & Grains Association Annual Meeting


Icon Description automatically generated REPORT SUBMISSION


​The report must be 20 pages or less (not including the cover page, references list, and appendix pages for photographs of the product. The report must be in a word file with a 12- point font size, single-spaced with 1" margins (top, bottom, left, and right). The cover page should contain the product and team information (product name, school name, team members’ names, and Cereals & Grains Association membership ID numbers). The report should contain the following aspects:​

a. Introduction/justification

b. Product description:

  • Ingredients
  • Formulation
  • Nutritional values/health benefits
c. Process/packaging procedures
d. Results of sensory analysis, safety, shelf life
e. Market
  • Target market
  • Marketing potential/plan
f. References

A picture of the product can be attached to an additional page.

Cereals & Grains Association and the Student Association reserve the right to share the following information with the sponsors:

  1. ​​Introduction/justification​
  2. Product description
  3. Contact information of the student teams

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CRITERIA




​​​VIDEO SUBMISSION CRITERIA (click to expand)

1. Videos should be approximately three minutes

2. Videos should be concise and should be related to the food waste theme

3. Students are encouraged to use avenues such as presenting: cartoons, skits, or other creative means.

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JUDGING CRITERIA (click to expand)
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1. Judges (four to seven) will be representatives from the food industry who are members of Cereals & Grains Association.

2. The total points granted by the judges will determine the winners.

3. In case of a tie, judges will be asked to provide a final decision.​

4. The reports will be scored using a 100 - point scale

​2021 Product Development Competition Evaluation Criteria

​​Judges will award points for both the report and video, as listed below.

Category Criteria Marks
 
Video		 
Content: background information, justification, originality, product processing, final product, results of sensory analysis, marketing plan/potential, safety, and shelf life		 
40
  
Comprehension: explanation of technical material, clear and logical sequence of the video		 
20
  
Engagement and communication: time spent on each section; interest generated   		 
20
  
Creativity and production quality: Clarity, audio, and visual quality		 
20
 
Report		 
Originality 		 
10
 Technical feasibility  10
 Product description and process description/flow chart20
 Results from sensory analysis30
 Marketing plan/potential 10
 Safety/shelf life 10
 The flow of the report/organization10
Total points  200


​DOWNLOAD JUDGING CRITERIA PDF​​​

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ELIGIBILITY



  1. All participating team members must be current student members of Cereals & Grains Association.
  2. Each participant must be enrolled at a four-year accredited college or a graduate student during the current year's spring semester.
  3. A team can consist of one or four (4) members who all attend the same school. 
  4. More than one team per school can participate. 
  5. Each team must designate a team leader as the main contact. 
  6. Each product must be based on an original idea from the student(s). Professors may be consultants but not major contributors. 
  7. Teams must have a faculty advisor to testify to the originality of the product and verify students' status. 
  8. The originally developed product must contain at least one major ingredient from cereal or legume (e.g., barley, corn, oat, rice, rye, sorghum, wheat, oilseeds, pulse, etc.). 

Finalists will need to be Cereals & Grains Association members. All applicants are encouraged to join Cereals & Grains Association. ​You can join online at cerealsgrains.org/join​. 
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Icon Description automatically generated AWARDS


  1. The winners will be announced during Cereals & Grains 21 Meeting. 
  2. A total of three (3) prizes will be awarded: first place ($2,000); second place ($1,500) and third place ($850)
  3. No team can win more than one prize.​
  4. All participants will receive an electronic certificate of participation. 
  5. Winning and featured videos will be featured in publicity campaigns for the Cereals & Grains Association with full acknowledgment of the submitting author.​​​
  6. All product formulations remain property of entering individuals and/or teams or universities, according to the schools' regulations.