OSU teams dominate in product development competition

Thursday, July 30, 2009

(Stillwater, Okla. – July 10) Second place goes to Oklahoma State University with the product Country Breakfast Coil. And, the first place winner is Oklahoma State University with the product Baja Chimipopper.

That is what OSU food and meat science graduate students heard when they dominated the competition during the “Taste of RMC” product development competition at the Tyson Discovery Center in Springdale, Ark. The competition was held in conjunction with the Reciprocal Meats Conference, a national meeting of the American Meat Science Association, at the University of Arkansas on June 21-24.

“Our goal was to win first and second in the competition,” said David Hayden, OSU meat science graduate student and member of the first place team. “It was a great feeling to know the hard work paid off. We were definitely proud to be wearing the orange.”

This year’s competition required the teams to develop food products for a quick-serve restaurant and complete templates for hazard analysis, critical limits and corrective actions, flow chart, marketing plan, food fact sheet, and product description and ingredients. The teams were graded on these templates, plus the creativity, production capability, craftsmanship, and flavor and palatability of the products.

Dr. Brad Morgan, meat science professor in OSU’s department of animal science, said the competition was an excellent team effort by the students. Not only did the OSU teams win bragging rights, but they also brought home team plaques, and the winning team was awarded the traveling trophy until next year’s competition.

“They not only had to come up with a product concept, but also had to provide food safety protocols, marketing plans and present an oral presentation to the leading research and development people in the U.S.,” Morgan said. “I could not be prouder of their wonderful showing.”

The first place team developed a spicy beef popper with a sweet dipping sauce that they named Baja Chimipopper. The product is similar to a mini beef quesadilla that is rolled; marinated in limejuice, chipotle and cilantro; and deep-fried. The dipping sauce is made from crème cheese, cilantro, limejuice and jalapeños.

In addition to Hayden, other members of the first place team included graduate students Katie Hanger, Courtney Maloney and Lea Ann Kinman.

The second place team developed a breakfast roll using sweet yeast dough wrapped into a coil around eggs, cheddar cheese, all-natural bacon and homestyle-spiced sausage. The team wanted to capitalize on the cinnamon roll shape and cowboy theme, so they named the product Country Breakfast Coil.

Members of the second place team included graduate students Kate Hargens, Alisha Parsons, Andrea Garmyn, Josh Shook and Sydney Knobel.

Hargens said she was excited that her team placed second in the competition, but more excited to have both OSU teams place in the top two.

“It felt better to have Oklahoma State as first and second place teams,” she said. “ Oklahoma State made a good showing and was competitive with the teams that dominate every year.”

Both teams put a lot of time and effort in making sure the products were ready for the competition. The students met with specialists at the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center for assistance in developing their marketing plans, HACCP plans, nutritional analyses and product formulations.

Although the Baja Chimipopper and the Country Breakfast Coil are not available in the food industry, both Hayden and Hargens hope people will be able to buy their products soon. The FAPC has interest in helping them get the products into market.

Morgan said both teams did a wonderful job competing against the other meat science programs in the country, and come to find out their major competition was each other.

“Placing first and second in this national competition has never been done,” Morgan said. “What’s cool is that they did it on the stage of the largest research and development facility in the world, the Tyson Foods Discovery Center. In fact, several of the Tyson people came up to me and said that both of the OSU products could be placed on the menu of a quick serve restaurant today and be very successful.”