TRACY, Calif., July 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The California
Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) announced today the twelve (12)
semi-finalists in the Real California Milk Excelerator, the 3rd
edition of the CMAB's dairy product innovation competition in
partnership with innovation consultancy VentureFuel. The companies
will compete for over $650,000 in
prizing for their emerging dairy products that promote personal
performance and recovery benefits.
The 2021 Real California Milk Excelerator taps into the thriving
functional foods market – a market that has grown significantly
over the past year and is projected to reach over $275 billion globally by 20251. With
consumers prioritizing personal health and wellness in response to
the pandemic, the competition identified early-stage, high-growth
companies with a cow's milk-based product that plays a critical
role in personal performance like focus, energy, exercise, and
strength, and/or recovery benefits such as rejuvenation,
relaxation, gut health and sleep.
"This competition is designed to inspire new ideas integrating
the natural benefits of real milk and dairy products as functional
ingredients delivering a flavor and nutritional profile that's hard
to beat. This year's entries demonstrate the versatility of these
ingredients and how they can be used in endless formulations," said
John Talbot, CEO of the CMAB. "Just
as our definition of health has evolved, our desire for functional
benefits from our food and beverage choices has evolved with it.
Our twelve finalists certainly capture this evolution, with every
manner of benefit from maximum athletic performance to gut-health
and even sleep support – all in relevant formats that will appeal
to today's consumers."
VentureFuel, Inc., the leading corporate innovation consultancy,
is partnering with CMAB for a 3rd straight year to
direct the program, identifying and recruiting applicants from
their global network of investors, founders, and academics. "Each
year we see such disruptive and unique products, built specifically
around consumers' evolving needs and wants," said Fred Schonenberg, Founder of VentureFuel, Inc.
"This year's applicants were particularly inspiring as each sought
to create better-for-you products that can improve and sustain the
many ways we define health. We saw applications from Australia to Austin, from local dairy farmers to PhDs to
celebrity chefs, all tapping into the natural nutritional value of
real dairy. Now we move to accelerating these businesses to drive
commercial growth through mentorship, strategic resources and
introductions to buyers and investors."
Each semi-finalist's product is made with cow's milk dairy as
the first ingredient and making up at least 50% of the formula. The
startups have committed to producing the product in California, with milk from California dairy farms, should they win the
competition. Each semi-finalist accepted into the cohort will
receive $10,000 worth of support to
develop their product further while receiving a suite of resources
including lab or kitchen time, graphic design, consumer insights,
and elite mentorship from global marketing, packaging, and
distribution experts. The first-place winner will receive up to
$150,000 worth of additional support
and the second-place winner, $100,000 worth of additional
support to accelerate the commercialization of their product to
market. The total value of competition prizing is over $650,000.
The 12 semi-finalists for the 2021 RCM Excelerator are:
- Alexandre Family Farms – Fourth generation California dairy farmers with functional brand
extensions for liquid milk, powder and yogurt focused on properties
for anti-anxiety and gut health.
- Boba Guys – Trendy tea
brand Boba Guys, with 15 brick and
mortar locations in California, is
developing a bottled milk tea latte with key nutrients, vitamins,
and caffeine to optimize performance and recovery.
- GoodSport Nutrition – A first-of-its-kind, all-natural
sports drink made from the goodness of real milk that delivers
superior hydration with three times the electrolytes and less sugar
than traditional sports drinks.
- Kefir Lab – Kefir Lab takes kefir and makes it more
effective with organic milk cultured with 24 live and active potent
protein strains for a bottled kefir that boosts immunity,
metabolism, and brain health.
- Nightfood – Uniquely formulated by sleep experts and
nutritionists, Nightfood ice cream delivers great taste for those
nighttime cravings and a sleep-friend nutritional profile to help
promote quality sleep.
- Positive Chemistry – A dissolving pouch that melts in
the bath, releasing a bubbly, fizzing mixture of real milk and
recovery salts to promote recovery for skin, muscles and the soul.
A hidden exfoliating sponge with a message of positivity is
designed to float to the top of the bath.
- Rizo Lopez Foods – Award-winning and family-owned,
Rizo Lopez utilizes Old World
recipes and traditional techniques for their Ready2Go Whey products
derived from a specially processed whey protein concentrate for a
creamy, delicious, and gut-healthy drink.
- ReThink Ice Cream – Low sugar, stomach and
diabetic-friendly ice cream that is infused with fiber and sourced
from lactose-free A2 dairy, ReThink Ice Cream is a decadent source
of natural nutrition.
- Sweetkiwi – Founded by a McKinsey 2021 Black Executive
Leader and certified cultured dairy professional, Sweetkiwi makes
whipped Greek yogurt that is low in calories and high in nutrition.
Sweetkiwi pints are under 320 calories and formulated with fiber,
protein, and probiotics for better gut health with fewer
calories.
- The Indian Milk & Honey Co. – Sugar-free probiotic
Lassi with Ayurvedic immunity supporting herbs and spices, that
also support mental clarity, in one environmentally-friendly
carton.
- Top O' the Morn Farms – A California-owned dairy farm with an expansive
line of fresh products, Top O' the Morn's Cow-Pow chocolate milk is
a clean-label pre- or post-workout beverage fortified with whey
protein isolate and natural caffeine.
- Wunder Snacks – A 2020 RCM Snackcelerator finalist,
Wunder returns with a new protein keto cheesecake snack bar with
10g of clean protein to indulgently refuel.
Semi-finalists will participate in a series of mentoring and
support events leading up to the virtual pitch event semi-finals in
November where four companies will be selected for a final virtual
event to select the Excelerator winner.
In addition to the semi-finalists, two companies have been
selected to participate in the new Real California Milk Incubator
Boot Camp program, which was built to assist ideas and promising
prototypes that are too early for the Excelerator. These companies
will receive mentoring and support from VentureFuel, CMAB and the
California Dairy Innovation Center (CDIC).
- Darvida – Darvida's concept is a bottled, drinkable milk
beverage made with 100% fresh colostrum, with high concentrations
of vitamins and minerals to improve gut health
- Perfect by Nature – Perfect by Nature is using the
revolutionary process of High-Pressure Processing, which leaves the
original proteins and enzymes in farm-fresh milk intact, to bring
the nutritious and delicious qualities of real fresh milk to the
masses.
California, known for
innovation, has a reputation for quality dairy products. As the
number one producer of milk in the nation, California also leads the nation in
sustainable dairy farming practices. More than 1200 family dairy
farms produce the California milk
found in fluid milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, ice cream and other
dairy products identified by the Real California Milk seal.
About Real California Milk/California Milk Advisory
Board
The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), an
instrumentality of the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, is funded by the state's dairy farm families who lead
the nation in sustainable dairy farming practices. With a vision to
nourish the world with the wholesome goodness of Real California
Milk, the CMAB's programs focus on increasing demand for
California's sustainable dairy
products in the state, across the U.S. and around the world through
advertising, public relations, research, and retail and foodservice
promotional programs. For more information and to connect with the
CMAB, visit RealCaliforniaMilk.com, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter,
Instagram and Pinterest.
About VentureFuel, Inc.
Founded in 2014, VentureFuel is an independent innovation
consultancy that builds innovation programs for industry leaders by
unlocking the power of external innovation through startup
collaboration. Its programs focus on changing behaviors and beliefs
in order to unlock new sources of growth. We provide senior
leaders with the tools to drive transformative change within their
organizations by opening up their teams to new ways of working,
products, services and routes to market. Learn more
at: www.venturefuel.net, Linked-In, Twitter and
Instagram. You can hear The VentureFuel Podcast on Apple,
Spotify or Simplecast.
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SOURCE California Milk Advisory Board