A team of food science students at Oregon State University participated in the national baking challenge in February and secured third position for their original cookie.
Students participated in the baking competition, which included a stage baking event and poster presentation at the Baking Tech 2025 conference of the American Society of Baking in Orlando, Florida. Annual Product Development Competition helps Food Science students showcase their products to industry experts. Compared to this year, teams from Cornell, the University of Massachusetts Emershrest and Oregon State University were included. Teams were asked to produce honey -featured grip and outgoing products as a primary sweetener.
Picture
The Oregon State team developed the Garden Box cookies, based on the French canali pastry, but it includes the lack of honey ribbon, flowers and spices, and wax coating.
“The Garden Box Cookie Directive was a night -night test test and sudden inspiration,” said Captain Trenton Red, a master of the second year in Food Science and Technology. “Before I was settled in the final, I have gone through more than 50 versions of the guidance. The thing that makes the garden box cookie is that we are taking a classic and raising it in a new and unexpected ways.
Red has been baking since the age of 8 and sees himself as a dedicated veteran. She is also a baker in terms of profession starting during her undergraduate years. He was a natural fit for the baking team, but the competition preparation was severe.
“Most of the product development competitions give you almost a whole year of preparation. ASB is a six -month competition. So it meant that the preparation was a constant war to overcome the search and unexpected obstacles as soon as possible.
Team fellow brands also extended their boundaries during the competition. A baker from the age of 5, he joined the baking team because he aligned well with his interest and abilities. The competition is not just about making a delicious product, but it is not about learning what users need to bring food creations.
Picture
“Logically, we had to turn a proposal report, which includes market research, cookie processing process, food safety and stability diagnosis, and other things.” “We also had to change a one -minute ad, a slide show for the stage presentation and a poster for floor presentation.”
Sofia Pratt is a new man who is studying food science and thought that the competition would be a great way to join the first year as a student. He said that preparing a cookie with a long shelf life is a huge challenge.
“Since this competition was already focused around honey, it seemed excellent to include wax,” he said. “Cookie needed to live a two -week shelf life to qualify for competition, so finding something that could prevent moisture transfer, which could lead to microbial growth, was a big deal.”
The second major obstacle was a tough time frame for the team, as they only had their baking procedures, packaging, promotional video, sensory tests, PowerPoint and presentation from November to February.
He finally had a great experience for the competition, and prepares it for a more successful future in the future.
“Together with other rivals, I learned a lot about how they were affected to make their products and how they went to solve problems like us,” he said. “Seeing every one of their individual point of view of marketing is definitely something I will consider to go to future competitions.”
The biggest challenge for Troong was to overcome its exemption to speak to the public.
“For the floor presentation of posters, I was very nervous,” he said. “On the one hand, I wanted the industry professionals to come so that we could talk about our products and name the OSU there, but on the other hand I am generally afraid to talk to people. It was the same feeling as if your class was given a five -minute presentation, but for a long hours.
This experience reduced his fears and also helped many of the ideas learned in the class.
“The biggest reason I even go into food science is to express their love for eating, and I think that is the case for everyone in the department,” he said. “Pursuing your hobby and enjoying each of them was his own reward.”
For Red, the experience is a huge summer to defend the master.
Red said, “This is a way of competitions to improve your skills in collecting your background data and creating research methods that support your last goals.” “My plans for the future career include product development, so such events are just the taste of the real thing and the best opportunity for networking for the businesses I would love to work.”
~ Theresa Hogo
