2020 December Board Book

Contact: Jennifer Giambroni CMAB jgiambroni@cmab.net (209) 690-8244

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

REAL CALIFORNIA MILK SNACKCELERATOR DOUBLES SEMI-FINALIST POOL AND EXPANDS TO OVER $800,000 IN AWARDS IN RESPONSE TO QUALITY OF APPLICATIONS Influx of creative dairy snacking startups inspires California Milk Advisory Board to add $350,000 in additional awards and create the “Sweet & Savory 16” runoff in VentureFuel-run innovation competition TRACY, Calif. – October 7, 2020 – The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) announced today that it has doubled the number of semi-finalists and added over $350,000 in additional awards to the Real California Milk Snackcelerator, its dairy product innovation competition. Inspired by the number of quality ideas and products that integrate the flavor and functionality of California dairy into both sweet and savory snack formulations, the VentureFuel-run competition has expanded to include 16 companies competing for over $800,000 in awards. The Real California Milk Snackcelerator taps into the $605 billion global snack food market 1 while combining two of California’s great natural resources: High quality, sustainable dairy products and the insatiable California entrepreneurial spirit. The competition aims to inspire innovation and investment in dairy-based snack products, packaging and capacity within California by connecting the dots between processors, producers, investors, ideas and entrepreneurs. “The purpose of this competition is to inspire new ideas integrating the natural ingredients, flavor and nutritional profile of milk and other dairy products and this year’s entries certainly delivered,” said John Talbot, CEO of the CMAB. “In fact, when the judging committee evaluated the applications, we saw so many unique ideas and scaleable opportunities to bring new products to market, it was clear that we needed to find a way to expand the program even further.” VentureFuel, Inc., the leading corporate innovation consultancy, is partnering with CMAB to run the program and identified and recruited applicants from their global network of investors, founders and academics. “We saw a 153% increase in qualified applications from our first program with CMAB, which is a testament to the momentum we have been building together as well as the opportunity in marrying snacking innovation with dairy,” said Fred Schonenberg, Founder of VentureFuel, Inc. “We saw applications from Ghana to Oakland that included personalized nutrition, functional foods as well as unique flavor-profiles inspired by cultures around the world. Now comes the fun part of helping accelerate these products so that they are ready to pitch at the semi-finals, the finals and ultimately get to market for consumers to enjoy.”