Congratulations to our top three winners of this year’s Danisco Knowledge Award

Product evaluations began in early May and consisted of a two day preliminary judging forum, with six Danisco food specialists.

Each preliminary judge tasted and evaluated the concepts anonymously and scored each product based on a 100 point scale. The top twelve finalists were determined by the highest points received.

Following the preliminary judging session, an appointed judging panel of six product development experts independently and confidentially, judged the top twelve products.

Each industry professional studied written reports, evaluated the concepts based on taste and product criteria, assessed the marketability and uniqueness of each of the product concepts submitted, and based on a  200 point scale determined the top three Knowledge Award winners.

So it is with great pleasure to announce our top three champions.

First place goes to Brian Huber from Washington State University-University of Idaho School of Food Science & Technology. 

Brian and his team submitted SymBoba, a ready-to-drink probiotic bubble tea.

The product consists of tea, milk, Boba (balls), Danisco's Litesse ® II polydextrose, and Danisco's fruit flavorings.  Symboba utilizes Danisco's GRINDSTED® Alginate FD 150 to create stable Boba gel networks.

This specially designed alginate Boba serves as a carrier, or helps encapsulate Danisco's HOWARU ™ Probiotics and preserve the good health properties of the product.

SymBoba also contains Betaine (Betafin® BF 20), an extract of sugar beets that among other attributes is a osmoprotector that assists in bacterial cell viability.

SymBoba is a symbiotic creation, mixture of probiotics and prebiotics to aid digestitve health, combined with the natural antioxidant properties of green tea.

SymBoba Bubble Tea is a healthy and delicious alternative as well as a unique spin to the other ready-to-drink teas in the market. Symboba comes in two flavors titled Pearls of Wisdom and Panda Berry.

Second place goes to Virginia Tech and Team Leader Mark Kline. Mark and his twelve teammates produced a product, Sweetza, a gourmet white chocolate and raspberry frozen dessert pizza.

The luscious pizza's wonderful flavor was developed using Danisco C9038 Natural & Artificial White Chocolate and C21661 Natural Raspberry WONF Flavors.

Sweetza is formulated to only have around 200 calories. This is approximately half the amount of calories per serving compared to other desserts sold in the frozen dessert section of the supermarket.

To maintain stability in the dough after freezing and during the baking process, Danisco's GRINDSTED® POWERFreeze 300 and GRINDSTED® POWERFreeze 200 blends were added. These products prevent ice crystallization, and maintain dough strength.

GRINDSTED® Pectin GZ 955 was included during the production of the raspberry jam to provide gel strength for the fruit based glaze. Sweetza may be conveniently located in the grocery freezer close to the traditional pizzas and requires minimal preparation time which enables the benefits of a gourmet dessert in less than 20 minutes.

Third place, congratulations to Mallory Kelly and her team from Michigan State University. This team submitted a new type of classic American cheesecake with a twist, called Cheesecake-to-GO!  A single serve frozen novelty product, designed for consumers who are looking for a convenient indulgent treat.

This new cheesecake concept is an individually sized serving of frozen cheesecake, served in a waffle straw and dipped in milk chocolate at one end. Cheesecake-to-GO! comes in three delicious flavors using frozen fruit and/or Danisco flavors , Danisco Vanilla Extract, C11152 Strawberry Flavor or C10977 Blueberry Flavor.

It is a unique and innovative frozen treat that provides portion control, fewer calories and zero grams of trans fat. Since the Cheesecake-to-GO contains high levels of dairy products, it can supply 1 out of 3 servings of the recommended daily dairy requirement as well as provide a good source of calcium, phosphorus, protein, vitamin A and vitamin D.

For enhanced mouth feel and structure of the delicious treat, Danisco's GRINDSTED® Xanthan 80 gum was used. Additionally, Danisco GRINDSTED® Carrageenan CL 392 FLX was also added to help maintain stability and provide a creamy texture.

Many unique and interesting concepts were developed for the competition and we truly appreciate everyone's participation.

A product review booklet of all our entries in the 2006 Knowledge Award New Product Contest will be released soon, as well as a formal announcement of our winners at the Prepared Foods New Product Conference, October 15-18, 2006.

Congratulations again to all.

Top

Print

Mail a colleague about this page