The information below has been supplied by dairy marketers and other industry organizations. It has not been edited, verified or endorsed by Hoard’s Dairyman.
Eight colleges and universities from the United States participated in this year’s contest. In addition to Clemson University, schools competing at the contest were, California Polytechnic State University, Iowa State University, South Dakota State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Tennessee, the University of Wisconsin – Madison and the University of Wisconsin – River Falls.
This was the first year the contest was held due to the pandemic of 2020. To play it safe, 2021’s contest was also canceled. Thankfully, this year the contest was held and we wanted to thank all the schools that participated this year as our comeback year!! Clemson University prevailed this year as the All Products Winners and are pictured below. Clemson’s team is coached by Dr. Sara Cothran.
2022 All Products Winning Team – Clemson University – Pictured from left to right: Sara Cothran (Coach), Ian Smith (Alternate), Frances Schueren (1st Place All Products), Reagan Ross, Katherine Hannahs, Reese Kaufmann, Kevin O’Rell (All Products Judge)
Sensory Quality of Retail Dairy Products
Established in 1916 by several universities, the Collegiate Dairy Product Evaluation Contest initially was designed to identify quality defects in dairy products throughout the country, so defects could be corrected. It expanded over the years to recognize those students and dairy product judging teams that had mastered the ability to identify high-quality dairy products. The contest gives students the opportunity to showcase their evaluation skills and prepare for careers in the dairy industry.
Students test their sensory abilities against professional judges in six different dairy products: fluid milk, butter, yogurt, cheddar cheese, ice cream and cottage cheese. Dairy industry judges from around the country review eight representative samples of the six different dairy product categories and score each sample based on sensory attributes and the severity of their departure from the ideal. The students are challenged to present scorecards with answers that come as close as possible to the judgments of the experts.
All Products Winners
In the All Products individual undergraduate category, Frances Schueren of Clemson University won first place, Megan Van Ruler of California Polytechnic State University earned the second place award and Hannah Lansbury of the University of Tennessee won third place.
In the All Products individual graduate student category, Kahlid Alsaleem of the South Dakota State University won first place, Joey Paglia of California Polytechnic State University in second place and Karin Cho of Iowa State University taking third place.
Product Category Winners
First, second and third place winners (and Team Category winner) were named in each of the six product categories. The winners are as follows:
Butter
1st Place, Megan Van Ruler, California Polytechnic State University
2nd Place, Amber Barnwell, University of Tennessee
3rd Place, Neilson Hadlock, University of Missouri
Graduate Winner, Abigail Affonso, California Polytechnic State University
Overall Team Winner – University of Tennessee
Cheddar Cheese
1st Place, Hope Lewandowski, South Dakota State University
2nd Place, Madison Dahna, South Dakota State University
3rd Place, Emily Barajas, California Polytechnic State University
Graduate Winner, Khalid Alsaleem, South Dakota State University
Overall Team Winner – South Dakota State University
Cottage Cheese
1st Place, Joshua Saad, University of Tennessee
2nd Place, Madison Dahna, South Dakota State University
3rd Place, Kaitlin Pescinski, University of Wisconsin – River Falls
Graduate Winner, Joey Paglia, California Polytechnic State University
Overall Team Winner – University of Tennessee
Ice Cream
1st Place, Emily Barajas, California Polytechnic State University
2nd Place, Hanna Lansbury, University of Tennessee
3rd Place, Megan Van Ruler, California Polytechnic State University
Graduate Winner, Abigail Affonso, California Polytechnic State University
Overall Team Winner – California Polytechnic State University
Milk
1st Place, Frances Schueren, Clemson University
2nd Place, Tyler Schroepfer, University of Wisconsin – Madison
3rd Place, Hannah Lansbury, University of Tennessee
Graduate Winner, Khalid Alsaleem, South Dakota State University
Overall Team Winner – South Dakota State University
Yogurt
1st Place, Bailey Hauge, Iowa State University
2nd Place, Mikayla Haack, University of Wisconsin - Madison
3rd Place, Frances Schueren, Clemson University
Graduate Winner, Karin Cho, Iowa State University
Overall Team Winner – Clemson University
All Products Individual/Team
1st Place, Frances Schueren, Clemson University
2nd Place, Megan Van Ruler, California Polytechnic State University
3rd Place, Hannah Lansbury, University of Tennessee
Graduate Winner, Khalid Alsaleem, South Dakota State University
Overall Team Winner – Clemson University
To learn more about this unique competition, visit www.dairyproductscontest.org.
