On your marks, get set, innovate! Food science students create unique to-go desserts

Alongside a lot of flour and sugar, cooking skills, food science knowledge, ingenuity and market acumen were the key ingredients for a fall course at the University of Maine in which students created innovative grab-and-go desserts. 

The graduate-level Food Product Development, taught by professor Denise Skonberg, required students to undergo several rounds of ideation, production and consumer sensory testing to develop a brand-new food product for retail markets. In addition to serving master’s and Ph.D. students studying food science and human nutrition, the course was also open to undergraduates and met the capstone requirement for a bachelor’s in food science and human nutrition, with a concentration in food science. 

“This is the field that I want to enter after college, and learning about market research, product development, packaging products and the entire line of production has been very interesting to learn about,” said UMaine senior Brandon Madden.  

Madden and graduate student Yuka Kawata were among the 13 students who participated in the course, and they rose to the occasion with their to-go tiramisu and dulce de leche products, respectively. 

Kawata’s group made a grab-and-go style tiramisu product in which consumers would have prepackaged coffee-infused lady fingers to dip in a creamy and sweet dipping sauce. Madden’s group made a to-go treat that included thoroughly seasoned churro style cookies and a rich dulce de leche dipping sauce. Both products placed an emphasis on convenience.

“We had gained inspiration from the grab-and-go-style of food products, and one of my teammates recommended that we do a dulce de leche style product,” said Madden. 

Students were challenged to create something unique in an industry full of never-before-seen products. Rather than deterring their work, the task pushed students to think in creative ways using their knowledge of the market and consumer needs.

“We found that every product is innovative in 2024. You see one product, then you see it several different ways,” said Kawata. “We found that people are eating food for the experience. So we were trying to come up with unique flavors, and unique experiences.” 

Through creating new treats, students also had to determine the optimal way of preparing them. 

“Some of the challenges we faced surrounded the time it took to cook the dulce de leche, to combat this challenge we decided to cook in smaller batches at a higher heat, so that way it would be more of a finished product in the time that we had to make the product.” said Madden. 

Throughout the course, Skonberg provided the supervision and guidance necessary for students to devise new products and learn more about the field of food product development. 

“She brought guest speakers into class, which has been very beneficial because they told us their story and how they got there. They have helped us realize what we could be after completing this course,” said Kawata. 

Skonberg said she designed the course to teach food science students how to develop new food products for today’s marketplace. Students learn each step of the process, from concept generation to commercialization, and apply their food science knowledge to ensure the safety and stability of their new product.  These experiences, together with learning to work as part of an effective team, help prepare students for future careers as food scientists in product development, quality assurance, consumer research or regulatory affairs.  

“I really enjoy teaching this class because you never know what new products students will come up with. I’ve seen similar products eventually show up on supermarket shelves, which is always a fun surprise,” Skonberg said. 

Story by news and social media intern Luke ONeil.

Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu