“We are encouraged that students are showing an interest in moving the dairy food industry forward with innovative product development and creative marketing to reach consumers,” said PDPP chairman and dairy farmer Jeff Raney from Adamsville, Pa. “Because of the quality of the applications we received, these scholarships are a worthwhile investment by dairy farmers to help secure the future of our industry.”

Tom Francesconi of Haddon Heights, N.J., a junior studying food marketing and business intelligence and analytics at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, received $3,000 dairy product marketing scholarship. He was selected from among 22 applicants.

Francesconi aspires to work for a large food company to lead its dairy division, gaining shelf-space in stores and market share growth for its dairy category. He also plans to focus on reaching Generation Z consumers through social media and utilizing e-commerce grocery shopping platforms to increase dairy sales.

Dana Carrato of Hazleton, Pa., a junior majoring in food science at Penn State University at University Park, received a $1,500 scholarship last fall. The scholarship is managed through the Department of Food Science in the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences and awarded to a food science student with an interest in dairy food innovation.

Students must have been enrolled in an accredited university or college in Pennsylvania or be a Pennsylvania resident with an interest in the dairy foods marketing industry to be considered for the scholarship.

For more information about the scholarship program, contact Cara Trotter at ctrotter@milk4u.org.