From Food Labs to World Dairy Stage
Our students hard at work churning out innovative dairy flavours
Ice cream, yogurt, butter, dairy drink… What do these have to do with Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP)? Well, believe it or not, our students from the Diploma in Food Science & Nutrition have been acing these categories at the World Dairy Innovation Awards for seven straight years!
Since its inaugural run in 2010, NYP’s School of Applied Science (SAS) has been a familiar player in the competition and also, the only education institution alongside a pool of international F&B giants such as Haagen-Dazs, Dreyer’s Grand and Meiji. The competition, organised by the International Dairy Federation (IDF), celebrates innovation in the global dairy industry.
In 2017, NYP's Camooringa Moringa and Carrot Milk Spread won the Best Butter or Dairy Spread award, and made it to the finals of the Best New Brand or Business category. NYP also achieved top honours in the Best New Ice Cream category in 2010 for La Femme Green Tea Aloe Vera and in 2011 for Frozherb.
NYP has consistently been a finalist in other dairy categories such as Best Yogurt in 2012, Best Butter in 2013, Best Ice Cream in 2014, Best Dairy Drink in 2015, Best Children’s Dairy Product in 2016 and Best Dairy Dessert in 2017.
So just what is it about NYP that enables us to churn out award-winning dairy products? According to Dr Gan Heng Hui, Assistant Manager (Food Science & Nutrition Projects), it is a combination of the “professionalism, teamwork and commitment of everyone involved – from students, to lecturers, to peers.” Indeed, creating unique dairy flavours for a graded assignment does sound novel and fun but delving into the science of it is by no means easy. Putting aside the cool factor of such a module, students also have to consider food safety, nutrition and of course, taste of their creations.
We may not be able to pinpoint the “secret ingredient” to our winning streak. But clearly, there must be something magical cooking in the food labs if they are able to produce champion dairy flavours year after year.
This is innovation at NYP… Because We Can