Congratulations to our Georgia 4-H Food Product Development teams!

This year, the process began as normal and later shifted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Participating teams are to be commended for adjusting to delayed timelines, moving their practices online,  dealing with a postponed event, and then finally a change to a virtual presentation. On Wednesday, July 8^th, the first-ever Virtual Georgia 4-H Food Product Development Presentations were held. Teams presented their business proposals for a new food product and discussed their proposal with expert judges.  Following the team presentations, we heard from CAES Program Coordinator Kathleen Freeman about opportunities with UGA CAES, learned about career opportunities from a food product development expert, Trey Sanders (Bulletproof Research and Development Manager), and were inspired by a message from Dr. Jose Reyes, Food Science Department.

Habersham County placed 1^st with their “Owl Go Granola Bars” and receives Master 4-H status. 

• The Habersham County Food Product Development team includes Rachel Dailey, Camden Hughes, Tabitha Ramey, and Tianna Ramey. Their coach is Renee Smagur.

Haralson County placed 2^nd with their “YAP: Yogurt Active Power.”

• The Haralson County Food Product Development team includes Ayshanna Frazier, Rachel Ibbetson, Rebekah Ibbetson, and Rylie Ibbetson. Their coaches are Jenelle Hanyon and Jozie Mize.

This year only, two superlative awards were conferred by the Judges for outstanding work:

• Creativity and Innovation Award: Haralson County Food Product Development Team
• Outstanding Presentation: Habersham County Food Product Development Team

Thank you to Jeffrey Burke and Michaela Fontaine for providing support for our virtual presentations, to Dr. Anand Mohan, Dr. Jose Reyes, Karen Simmons, and Jade Long from UGA Food Science Extension, Kathleen Freeman, UGA CAES Griffin, and Trey Sanders from Bulletproof.