For approximately 80 food science seniors, finals week began on stage in the Silvarado Sensory Theater at the Robert Mondavi Institute, UC Davis. 

Senior food science students have created a slate of wild new food products ranging from savory vegetable leathers to spoon-shaped, chai-laden cookies for stirring tea. As part of their final exam, twenty teams of three and four members pitched their new food concepts and offered them for tasting as they competed for $20,000 in prizes, provided by Nugget Markets; the Culinary Institute of America's Food Business School; and KitchenTown, a Bay Area food startup incubator. 

Food Product Innovation and Development is a capstone-level course that introduces upper-division food-science students to the entire process of creating new food products. In just seven weeks, the students brainstorm ideas for a line of three new food products; develop the food items in a kitchen laboratory; and design packaging and labels that meet all federal guidelines, including health claims. The student teams also create a business plan that addresses sustainable production practices, marketing, pricing and profit margins, scale-up for commercialization, and potential return on investment. They can also earn credit by developing social-media campaigns about the creation of their products, which can be seen on Twitter at #FoodProdPro and #FST160. 

Video at: https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/food-beer-grad-caps-commencement-streamers