The purpose of ASB’s Product Development Competition is to facilitate the development of innovative bakery products for the wholesale manufacturing industry among post-secondary education students who seek to have a career in the commercial or industrial bakery manufacturing industry.
The 2027 Product Development Competition is sponsored by the National Honey Board.
Entries are due each November. Visit the following tabs for complete details.
Honey in Action – Develop a new, innovative bakery food product that utilizes honey for its functional properties beyond flavor.
Key Ingredient: Honey must be used as a functional ingredient that goes beyond flavor. The proposal must clearly define and demonstrate the functional role honey plays in the product (e.g., moisture retention, improved texture, shelf life, emulsification, etc.).
Reference this document to find out more about honey as a functional ingredient: ASB PDC Functional Ingredient Guidelines
Novel texture: The product should showcase a combination of a minimum of two (2) textures in a new or existing baked product.
Base Ingredient(s): Products should be made using a grain or pseudo-grain flour (also including pulse and legume flours). The product should start as dough or batter before being cooked into its final form.
Shelf Life: The product must have a minimum shelf life of 14 days.
All serving sizes, claims, and labeling must be in line with the current FDA and/or USDA regulations.
Judges will be evaluating the potential success of product entries in today’s market, scalability, and technical problem-solving skills used in product development.
Rules
In order to control the emphasis and fairness of the competition, the following limitations will be enforced:
Team Composition and Eligibility:
Competitors must be student teams consisting of between two and four full-time students comprised of undergraduate and/or graduate students.
Source of Entries, Information, and References
Since the focus of this competition is on baking skills in product development, preliminary proposals will not be scored on the quality of package graphics or other advertising material. However, student teams are encouraged to be creative and encompass modern packaging technology.
Judges will not award extra points for the size of sensory panels or source of panelists. The purpose of this rule is to eliminate the possibility of teams earning extra points for their ability to collect more sensory data due to a larger number of team members.
Penalties for violations will be determined by the judges. Judges will communicate their decision, which will be considered final, in a prompt fashion to the ASB staff liaison at the end of the competition.
Disqualification:
Failure to comply with these rules and ASB’s Code of Conduct will lead to the loss of points and/or disqualification
You must be available to attend the BakingTECH conference in person, if you are selected as a finalist, to be eligible for the prize money.
Teams must submit their preliminary proposal and supplementary documents electronically in PDF format online by November 6th at 11:59pm CST. Proposals received after November 6th will not be accepted.
Submit your application here: ASB’s 2027 Product Development Competition Application Form – Fill out form
If you have questions, please email Sarah Day (sday@asbe.org)
Only online submissions will be accepted. Entrants must include the following information in their application:
Attachments:
Failure to submit the above information by the deadline will result in ineligibility. An acknowledgement email will be sent.
The report must be typed, double-spaced 12-point Garamond font with 1” margins. It must be submitted electronically. Use your creativity to format this proposal in a way that showcases your product’s unique attributes and market position.
Do not include the name of the university or the team names anywhere in the preliminary proposal PDF. Names of sponsor companies, any university, students, or other indication of team location are NOT acceptable in the report, or on the product picture as these will be seen by the judges. VIOLATION WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION OF SUBMITTED PROPOSALS.
The Product Development Competition Committee will select a maximum of three (3) finalists. All competing teams will be informed of only their respective scores and any Product Development Committee’s comments.
Scoring will be determined by the Product Development Committee. Each entry will be scored on a basis of 100 points, with the points to be distributed as shown here:
Product Description 10 points
Process Description including scale up 15 points
Technical Problem Solving 20 points
Food Safety/Shelf Life 15 points
Originality 20 points
Literature/trend data 10 points
Marketing 10 points
Finalists will be announced on November 20, 2026. All team leaders will receive an email informing them of their competition status.
Responsibilities of finalists include the preparation of the following, with details below:
Finalists will be scored on a basis of 300 points, distributed as follows:
Final Written Proposal 75 points
Promotional Video 25 points
Live Presentation 75 points
Poster Display 25 points
Product Sample 100 points
The maximum number of pages for the final written proposal is ten (10). This number INCLUDES proposal body text, process flow diagram, references and appendices. It does NOT include the one (1) title page and the one (1) photograph page.
The report must be typed, double-spaced, 12-point Garamond font with 1” margins on white paper. Must be submitted electronically as a PDF.
The title page, for which there is no specific required format, must include the title of the proposal and date. A list of donors, and other contributors that assisted the team should be listed ONLY on the title page.
You may include a single page of photographs/images of your product. This page does not count as part of the 10 pages. Additional images throughout the report are optional but WILL count as part of the 10-page report.
References should be added at the end of the proposal. The teams’ anonymity is no longer required.
Final Written Proposal Evaluation: 75 points total
Areas that may be covered in the final proposal are listed below. These are only suggestions. You may include other areas. Remember, thoroughness is important, but originality is highly encouraged! Be sure to cover all areas according to the allotted written proposal points below.
Product Description 15 points
Originality 10 points
Process Description 20 points
Safety/Shelf Life 10 points
Profitability 10 points
Marketing 10 points
Product description/use
Product formulation and ingredient functionality
Market potential
Competitive framework
Sensory/ Consumer tests
Shelf-life estimation
Price/cost evaluation
Package selection and basis for selection
Nutrition Label
Process description and basis for selection
How product would be scaled for industrial production
Process flow diagram
Process limits
Operating cost
Capital investment estimate
Patent status (apply, infringe, license)
Food Safety evaluation with respect to formulations, functionality, and processing
Legal implications of the product (ingredient labeling)
Hazard Analysis – Critical Control Points (full HACCP plan can be included in the appendix but must be referenced in the body of the report)
Good Manufacturing Processes (GMPs)
Home use – safety hazard?
State Regulations
Federal Regulations
FDA, USDA, OSHA, EPA, etc. regulations
Finalists will develop a 30 – 60 second promotional video that will be posted on the ASB website and social media pages. The video will also be used as an introduction to the on-stage presentation at the BakingTECH conference and should be an exciting, engaging and informative video that captures the essence and uniqueness of your product.
inalists will give a 10-minute presentation during the ASB Annual Conference BakingTech 2027. The conference is being held at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta from February 21 – 24, 2027. The presentation will be given during the conference on the main stage.
Finalists will also present their product development ideas in a poster session at BakingTECH. The content rules for the written report also apply to the poster display.
An 8 ft. wide by 4ft. high (32 sq. ft. display area) poster board will be available for you to display your product information. The panels can be divided up however a team chooses as long as it fits the allotted poster space (4′ high × 8′ wide).
Judges will visit posters in a random order. Judges may ask questions to any or all of the team members present during this time period.
Note: Product development teams are not allowed to provide food samples to the general public at the poster session, or at any time during the Annual Meeting. Teams are encouraged to have display samples for viewing.
The poster display will be graded based on scores submitted through the event app by event attendees. BakingTECH attendees will visit teams on the Formulation Floor, and vote based on their interactions and understanding of your product and processes.
Each team will send five (5) samples of their product to judges and PDC staff, to be shipped by Friday January 22, 2027.
*The two-week shelf life requirement for product samples starts on the shipping date.
The names and addresses will be provided mid-December. Feedback on the samples will be included as part of the final rubric.
Each team will have an online Q&A session with the judges in early 2027. Each member of the team is required to participate. Each team will be allocated 15 minutes.
This is a compulsory, but not scored, part of the final to allow judges to introduce themselves and ask clarifying questions based on the product and processes.
BakingTECH 2027 is February 21 – 24, 2027 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta .
Travel and meal expenses will be reimbursed for the Finalists.
Teams will receive a schedule of PDC meetings and events to attend during BakingTECH.
Teams are encouraged to attend as many General and Technical Sessions as their schedule permits.
Items to be completed for entry in Product Development Competition:
Items to be completed for Product Development Competition Finalists:
Failure to comply with any of the rules of the competition may result in penalization of teams, including disqualification at the discretion of the judges and the competition Chair.
Awards – up to $20,000 in total
1st prize: $2,500 scholarship for each team member
2nd prize: $1,500 scholarship for each team member
3rd prize: $1,000 scholarship for each team member
Winners will be announced during BakingTECH on Wednesday, February 24, 2027. All Finalist team members must be present.
Questions can be sent to ASB Director of Education Sarah Day (sday@asbe.org).
They will then be forwarded to the Product Development Committee for a response.
Member Since 2019
Scientist, R&D
Impossible Foods
As a Food Science PhD student at the University of Florida, one day my colleague introduced us to the Product Development Competition. From there on we went as finalists to BakingTech. It gave us a perfect platform to expose ourselves to the industry and was the most inviting and inclusive food conference in the USA by far. BakingTECH was a place to learn everything about baking, network, and create connections that I am still grateful for.