USU's winning team, (left to right) Xiaoxi Wang, Ying Lu, faculty advisor Carl Brotherson, Abdulla Khan and Jonathon Solorio.
Using only cottage cheese and spices, four College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences students created Dipeese, an award-winning chip and vegetable dip. The dip won first place in the Idaho Milk Processors Association’s product development competition and the development team was awarded $10,000.
“I loved seeing the end result of the effort I have put into my education,” said Jonathon Solorio, the only undergraduate on the development team. “It feels good to see how book knowledge turned into real-world application.”
Under the advisement of Carl Brothersen, associate director of the Western Dairy Center, along with graduate students Ying Lu, Abdulla Khan and Xiaoxi Wang, the group began developing the product last January.
“We needed a good shelf life, a sensory test with at least 120 people, a marketing strategy and a processing safety plan,” Solorio said.
He and his fellow team members tested multiple dip flavors and selected ranch and spicy jalapeño to enter in the competition. Although the flavors may not sound very unique, Solorio said Dipeese offers something different.
“Most dips on the market today are made from sour cream or oil,” he said. “Since our dip is made from cottage cheese, it is lower calorie, lower sodium and higher protein.”
According to Solorio’s father Hector, product development competitions give students an advantage in the work place. He received his Ph.D. in food science from USU and has worked in the industry for nearly 20 years.
“Companies are looking not only for technically trained individuals but also for individuals who are able to display leadership behaviors,” he said.
Jonathon said the competition was truly a learning experience.
“My teammates were very capable and dependable so it made problem solving easier,” he said. “I learned how to rely on them while at the same time [how to] contribute to the team effort.”