A team of food science students at Oregon State University competed in a national baking challenge in February and took home third place for their original cookie recipe.
The students participated in a baking competition that included an on-stage baking event and a poster presentation at the American Society of Baking’s BakingTECH 2025 conference in Orlando, Florida. The annual Product Development Competition helps food science students showcase their products to industry experts. This year’s competition included teams from Cornell, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Oregon State University. The teams were asked to create a grab-and-go product featuring honey as the primary sweetener.
The Oregon State team developed Garden Box Cookies, which are based on French canelé pastry, but include a honey ribbon crunch, florals and spices, and a beeswax coating.
“Developing the Garden Box Cookie recipe was a lot of late-night taste tests and sudden flashes of inspiration,” said product development captain Trenton Reed, a second-year master’s student in food science and technology. “I must have gone through over 50 versions of the recipe before we settled on the final one. What makes the Garden Box Cookie so special is that we are taking a classic and elevating it in new and unexpected ways.”
Reed has been baking since he was 8 years old and views himself as a dedicated experimenter. He is also a baker by profession, starting during his undergraduate years. He was a natural fit for the baking team, but the work preparing for the competition was intense.
“Most product development competitions give you almost a full year of prep time. ASB is a six-month competition. So that meant preparation was a constant battle of looking ahead and overcoming unexpected obstacles as fast as possible,” Reed said. And attending the conference itself took things up a notch.
Teammate Brandon Truong also pushed his limits during the competition. A baker since age 5, he joined the baking team because it aligned well with his interests and skills. The competition isn’t just about creating a delicious product but about learning what it takes to bring food creations to consumers.
“Logistically, we had to turn in a proposal report, which included market research, the process to produce a cookie, food safety and stability evaluation, and budgeting, along with other things,” Truong said. “We also had to turn in a one-minute advertisement, a slideshow for the stage presentation and a poster for the floor presentation.”
Sophia Pratt is a freshman studying food science and thought the competition would be a great way to get involved as a first-year student. She said developing a cookie with a long shelf life was a big challenge.
“Since this competition was already centered around honey, it seemed perfect to include beeswax as well,” she said. “The cookie needed to have a two-week shelf life to qualify for the competition, so finding something that would prevent moisture migration, which could lead to microbial growth, was a big deal.”
The other big obstacle was the tight time frame for the team, as they only had from November to early February to complete their baking procedure, packaging, promotional video, sensory tests, powerpoint and presentation.
Ultimately, the competition was a rich experience for Pratt and sets her up for a more successful future, she said.
“Working with the other competitors, I learned a lot about how they became inspired to create their products and how they went about solving problems similar to the ones we had,” she said. “Seeing each of their individual approaches to marketing is definitely something I'll consider going into future competitions.”
The biggest challenge for Truong was overcoming his reticence to speak in public.
“For the floor presentation of the posters, I was pretty nervous,” he said. “On one hand I wanted industry professionals to come so we could talk about our product and get OSU's name out there, but on the other hand I dread talking to people in general. It was the same feeling as giving a five-minute presentation to your class, but prolonged to hours.”
The experience eased his fears and also helped shore up many of the concepts he’s learned in class.
“The main reason I even got into food science is to continually express my love for food, and I feel the same is true for everyone else in the department,” he said. “Pursuing my passion and enjoying every bit of it was its own reward.”
For Reed, the experience is a great warm up for a master’s defense.
“These competitions are a way to hone your skills at collecting background data and creating research methods that support your final goals,” Reed said. “My plans for future careers all involve product development so events like this are just a taste of the real thing and great networking opportunity for the businesses I would love to work for.”
~ Theresa Hogue
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