Mooofins & DayBreakers: Student concepts give ‘excellent thought starters’ for innovative dairy-based breakfast products

10-Jul-2013 - Last updated on 11-Jul-2013 at 15:24 GMT

The winning 2013 New Product Competition teams taken during a ceremony at the 2013 ADSA Joint Annual Meeting in Indianapolis on July 9, 2013. From left to right, winners include: Mooofins from Pennsylvania State University, DayBreakers from Iowa State University and Whey-Go from Ohio State University

Dairy-based, quiche-like muffins and an American twist on gulabjamun took the top two spots on the Dairy Research Institute’s New Product Competition podium, as the product developers of tomorrow provided ‘excellent thought starters’ to the product developers of today.

This year’s competition challenged undergraduate and graduate student teams to develop a new dairy-based product for the morning meal occasion. Winning entries leveraged essential consumer marketplace trends by highlighting the importance of overall convenience, functional health benefits and diverse flavor options to help overcome the breakfast barrier, said DRI.

The top three concepts were:

1. Mooofins: A dairy-based, quiche-like muffin developed for adults seeking a high-protein, on-the-go breakfast item. The concept, designed by students at Pennsylvania State University used yogurt and whey protein concentrate to replace eggs in the formulation to maintain a moist, delicate and fluffy product.

2. DayBreakers: An American twist on gulabjamun, a fried Indian food. Students at Iowa State University produced a product that is similar in appearance and flavor to French toast sticks, providing 17 g of protein per serving, and 310 mg of calcium per serving.

3. Whey-Go: Students at Ohio State University created a microwavable, easy-to-eat product made of a hearty egg, bacon and cheese scramble inside a crispy waffle crust.

The winners were recognized during a ceremony at the 2013 American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) Joint Annual Meeting in Indianapolis on July 9, 2013.

Thought starters

Bill Graves, Senior Vice President, Dairy Research Institute told FoodNavigator-USA that the three winning entries are “excellent thought starters for the industry to leverage and drive innovation for new ways to use dairy.

“We tie the themes of each competition to areas identified by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy as opportunities for the dairy industry, such as the morning meal occasion, so we while we do not know of specific company product plans, we do know these are product ideas that align with industry interests.

“We also see the New Product Competition as a great way to generate interest among the product developers of tomorrow in seeking opportunities in the dairy industry to help bring the goodness of dairy to consumers in new and fresh ways.

“These young minds are generating innovative ideas for the food and beverage industries to better target their markets and with each year of the competition, we continue to be impressed by the student’s level of creativity and execution of their ideas.”

Graves added that recent consumer research conducted by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy indicated that approximately 42 million people skip breakfast.

“The innovative products submitted by the top three winners take advantage of this tremendous opportunity for dairy and dairy-based foods within the morning meal market.”

Student teams were also tasked with identifying the requirements to manufacture and market their dairy-based breakfast products. The judging panel — composed of experts from the dairy industry, dairy producers, media and members of the Dairy Research Institute — selected the winners based on the merits of a final report, presentation and the product itself.