Sweet dreams: Ag Sciences students participate in Honey Board product contest

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Last semester, students in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences participated in the first National Honey Board Product Development Competition at Penn State. Three teams of four students were challenged to develop a beverage using honey as the primary sweetening agent.

The competition theme was “Honey as a Natural Sports Fuel in Energy/Protein Drinks.” The teams were required to create a shelf-stable product with a clean-label focus, meaning they could use only ingredients an average consumer would recognize.

Teams included both graduate and undergraduate students majoring in food science. At the end of the competition, the teams showcased their product to a panel of judges: The teams discussed market research, ingredients, food safety considerations, packaging concepts, shelf life and proposed pricing. The teams also had to share their product plans.

Brian Adair, undergraduate program support, explained that the idea for hosting the competition came from a collaboration between the college’s Department of Food Science and the National Honey Board. The board runs similar events and competitions at Purdue and Cornell universities. All these initiatives aim to promote the use of honey as a sustainable food source within food manufacturing.

“There’s a rise in high protein diets and increased interest in sustainable food sources,” Adair said. “We’re witnessing an increased desire to move away from artificial sweeteners, added sugars or dyes, and other additives in favor of more natural and more easily recognizable ingredients.”

The National Honey Board supplied students with about 145 pounds of different varieties of honey. The board also fully funded $9,000 in monetary prizes for the competition and covered up to $500 per team for ingredient sourcing.

Graduate student Rory Campagna, of Chicago, Illinois, was part of the team that created Boocha Boost, a caffeinated kombucha beverage fermented with honey and flavored with lemon, lavender and ginger. Boocha Boost received the $5,000 first-place prize.

“As a food chemist, I do not actually spend much time making food I can eat,” Campagna said. “My favorite part was working in the kitchen. The process was fun, and it’s vital to take opportunities such as this to apply fundamental food science knowledge to real food products.”

Campagna also noted that product development is one major avenue of employment for food scientists, so the competition paired well with his graduate education.

“Participating was definitely a boost to my resume, but more importantly, it made me realize product development was an avenue of work that really fits my skill set,” he said. “Competitions like this are great for developing the soft skills like leadership, overcoming technical or personnel obstacles and delivering on objectives within a set timeframe.”

An additional goal of the competition was to encourage collaboration between the undergraduate and graduate students. Stephanie Read, of Topsfield, Massachusetts, is a first-year student and another member of the team behind Boocha Boost.

Read wanted to participate in the competition to see if product development could be a future career.

“I was very excited to be part of testing different ideas, then actually formulating a product,” she said.

Researching and choosing the packaging, labeling and brand image for Boocha Boost was Read’s favorite part, she said.

“I want to focus my food science career on the business world and help develop or manage food or beverage products from a business perspective,” she said. “Not only do I have a clearer focus on what I want to do with my degree, but I learned the basics of what a product development competition is like and how to be an effective team member.”

Read added that she was grateful for the opportunity and for being introduced to her teammates. She encouraged other students to participate in a product development competition.

“You can make an impact as a freshman, and it’s never too early to get involved,” she said.

The second-place prize of $3,000 went to Honey Trinity, a three-pack variety of energy tea. BeeLeaf Tea took home the third-place prize of $1,000 with a raspberry/lemon high-protein tea.

The National Honey Board Product Development Competition will return in the fall with a new theme: “Honey and Frozen Desserts.” Students will be tasked with creating an innovative ice cream or frozen dessert with honey as a functional and flavorful key ingredient. Students will need to navigate the formulation challenges of using honey in a frozen dessert and develop a product that delivers great taste and texture while telling a compelling consumer story.

Students from all majors are welcome to participate. For more information, contact Adair at bja168@psu.edu.