KANSAS CITY — The American Society of Baking has revealed the five universities that will compete in its Product Development Competition during BakingTech 2019, the wholesale baking industry’s annual technology conference and marketplace exposition held Feb. 24-26 in Chicago. Student groups from the University of Wisconsin — Madison, Purdue University, California State Polytechnic University and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst were chosen as finalists.

“The A.S.B. Product Development Competition is an extraordinary way for the baking industry to discover and help launch the careers of exceptional individuals,” said Kent Van Amburg, executive director, A.S.B. “It’s education and networking at its best.”

For this year’s competition, participants were asked to develop a proposal for a new flatbread product. At BakingTech 2019, judges will evaluate the potential success of product entries in today's market and the technical problem-solving skills used by the teams during product development. 

The finalists will compete for $20,000 in scholarships. Each team member from the winning group will receive $2,000. Second-place team members will receive $1,500 each. Third-place team members will each receive $1,000, and all members of the fourth-place team will receive $500.