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| Food Marketing & Agribusiness Management students earned second place in the Western Collegiate Food Marketing Competition on March 15 in Pasadena. |
Students in Cal Poly Pomona's Food Marketing & Agribusiness Management (FMAM) department earned second place in the Western Collegiate Food Marketing Competition (WCFMC) on March 15 in Pasadena.
FMAM lecturer Nancy Merlino-Lipscomb took the lead in coordinating the inaugural competition with the Southern California Section of the Institute of Food Technologists (SCIFTS).
The competition was open to student teams from two-year and four-year colleges and universities in the western United States majoring in Agricultural Business Management, Business Administration and Food Science & Technology. The teams prepared and presented comprehensive marketing plans for food products. A panel of industry representatives judged each team's 20-minute presentations.
Brigham Young University, with their product Frooshi (a sushi roll for dessert), took first place. Cal Poly Pomona's Ice Cream Plant and Parlor took second place. Cal State Chico, University of the Pacific and Cal State Fullerton rounded out the list of the top five awardees. Cal Poly Pomona was also awarded first place for the Most Innovative Marketing Idea and Best PowerPoint in the student judged divisions.
The Cal Poly Pomona team included the following students: Kristal Clark, Jason Edgar, Rafael Galvan, Kelly Murphy, Brianna Vermeulen, Tony Wei, Jay Sharp, Karla Wong, Russell Smith and Tri Nguyen.
Cal Poly Pomona alumna Nicole Hammack (master's in Business Administration, '98) served as moderator of the competition. Cal Poly Pomona lecturer Rick Mathias and Cal State Chico associate professor Annette Levi, along with FMAM students Monica Benyamin, Ben Brotchner, Maria Cicalo, Monica Espinosa, MaryKate Francesco, and Tyrone Hampton, assisted in organizing the event.
Following the competition, students attended the SCIFTS Suppliers' Night, providing them an opportunity to network with over 400 industry professionals.
For information on next year's competition, contact Merlino-Lipscomb at (909) 869-2270 or namerlino@cpp.edu.