Earlier this year, students at the Culinary Institute of Canada (part of Prince Edward Island’s Holland College) took part in a unique competition. The inaugural Canada’s Smartest Kitchen Product Development Challenge asked students to harness their culinary creativity and develop novel food product ideas. The four-month competition, which finished in April, was funded by Canada’s Smartest Kitchen ($15,000) and Cavendish Farms ($5,000).

Led by product developers Krista MacQuarrie and Jen Bryant, the Challenge encouraged students to research food trends, develop new formulas, and experiment with food styling and photography. To aid their efforts, the students had access to leading industry professionals.

In the end, the challenge provided Cavendish Farms with seven new product concepts, which must now be reviewed and refined by the company’s R&D team, to gauge their commercial potential.

Noted the organizers: “Working with a strong commercial partner provided students with exposure to not only the ideation and concept development process, but helped (them) to better understand the business aspects of product development and the work required to scale up a product from a prototype and take it to market.”

In addition to their introduction to “real world product development,” the students also gained exposure to new jobs emerging in the food industry.

“There are an increasing number of food manufacturers in Atlantic Canada looking for assistance with product development,” the organizers noted. “This competition opened up opportunities for the students to gain valuable skills that they could use in the field.”