If you like the chilling burst of piña coladas chased by the sweet aftertaste of white chocolate, then escape to your favorite palm tree with Tropical Jewels. That is the name that five Cornell food science graduate students gave a piña colada-flavored frozen yogurt that was judged the best overall and most marketable product at the annual Dairy Management Incorporated (DMI) competition in Chicago in March. The five shared an $8,000 prize for developing the yogurt product.
The food science group's leader, doctoral student Jimmy K.H. Chen, along with doctoral student Sajid Alavi and graduate students Mayank Singh, Girish Solanki and Han Tutanathorn, began their work on Tropical Jewels last November. Using exotic, tropical flavors in their concoction, the team entered the contest to garner experience in food industry development -- as well as for the fun of it.
The DMI competition is open to college and university students nationwide. Formed in 1995 by the National Dairy Board and the United Dairy Industry Association, DMI is a non-profit management, marketing and planning organization that aims to increase the demand for dairy products.
Syed Rizvi, Cornell professor of food science, said Cornell's food science product development teams tend to perform well in such competitions because they are the "ultimate test of conceptualizing a product and working with a team."
Solanki explained that the competition serves as one of the few avenues through which students can showcase innovative skills in dairy food science.
The team created Tropical Jewels first by blending pineapple puree, coconut milk, sugar and plain frozen yogurt. The mixture was then frozen and stirred constantly to build volume and texture, while minimizing ice crystal formation. Finally the yogurt was molded into balls and dipped into a vat filled with a white chocolate and green-tea powder mixture thinned with vegetable oil.
The resulting product was a batch of 20-gram balls of frozen yogurt coated in an emerald-colored base, samples of which were shipped overnight to DMI's Chicago headquarters. The team also sent a detailed, 10-page product report and an executive summary.
At 160 calories per serving, 60 of which come from fat, Tropical Jewels is aimed at female consumers between the ages of 25 and 49, the students said. The product received favorable reactions from a Cornell student and food science faculty panel in February.
Chen said he will use his portion of the prize money to "eat out every day," beginning with his favorite Chinese restaurant in Syracuse. Similarly, Tutanathorn wants to treat his friends to a meal at a local Thai restaurant, and Solanki said he hopes to throw a party, and perhaps serve piña coladas.
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