2024 September Board Book

2023 CDIC/CMAB Student teams advance to regional and national competitions.

Chapman’s UHT Dairy Beverage “Spice of Life” wins first place at National IFT Mars Wrigley Competition, July 2024

The product was created by Chapman University students as part of the CDIC/CMAB student entrepreneurship program (DMI supported). It is the first time in over 15 years a dairy based product wins the award. The vanilla chai “Spice of Life” wellness shot is a UF milk -based, shelf-stable product which delivers 5 g of protein and focuses on mental health.

CMAB-sponsored team wins first prize at Mars Wrigley IFT New Product Competition.

The “ Mighty Smooth” student team at Fresno State which had received 2 nd place for its kefir smoothie concept at the school’s entrepreneurship competition, competed and won an award at the “ Sunstone Innovation Challenge ” - an annual California campus-wide business plan competition. . Mighty Smooth – Kefir smoothies with augmented reality wins recognition at regional innovation competition.

Packaging Innovation

Bioplastics from Whey (Delactosed Whey Permeate) CDIC attended the final report meeting by UC Davis faculty and also met with researchers at USDA ARS Western Laboratory in Albany, CA, supporting the project. The research consisted of the production of a compostable bioplastic raw material, which can be further processed into utensils and packaging materials. The project successfully demonstrated the concept (first spoon from whey bioplastic produced) and identified opportunities to optimize yield to increase the economic feasibility of the process.

First compostable bioplastics spoons produced from whey – UC Davis/USDA.

Of interest to California cheese/whey processors is the fact that superior results were obtained with delactosed whey permeate, a co-product from protein production of very low value (animal feed applications.) CDIC staff is working with researchers and CDRF to mobilize co-funders for the next phase which consists of scaling-up and optimizing the process and the utilization of the bioplastic produced. UC Davis Researchers were featured in a National Geographic article on bioplastics. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/bioplastic-biodegradable compostable-plastic-pha