Colleges students from Hawaii, Utah and California will test their marketing skills at the Western Collegiate Food Marketing Competition hosted by California State University, Fresno on Friday and Saturday, March 11-12.
The event, hosted by Fresno State’s Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Friday with individual competition during the Fresno Food Expo in downtown Fresno. On Saturday, the action shifts to the University Business Center at Fresno State for team competition beginning at 9 a.m.
Friday, Students will pitch innovative marketing ideas about a food product, service, ingredient, packaging or other food attributes using the fast-paced Pecha Kucha format, involving no more than 20 slideslow images presented in less than seven minutes.
“The PechaKucha format makes presentations concise and keeps things moving at a rapid pace,” said Dr. Srinivasa Konduru, assistant professor of agribusiness in the Jordan College and the Fresno State competitors’ adviser.
Fresno State students Ben Villines of Escalon and Michael Fenn of Bakersfield will compete against four other students Friday as part of the public portion of Fresno Food Expo, which is cosponsored by the city of Fresno.
The expo showcases products of central San Joaquin Valley food growers, manufacturers and processors, brewers and winemakers to national and local retail buyers, restaurants and chefs. A trade session – closed to the public – is 9 a.m.-3 p.m., with the public event 5-9 p.m. Tickets are $40 and available only in advance at www.FresnoFoodExpo.com.
Students will observe the trade portion to learn firsthand how food product marketing happens.
On Saturday, teams from CSU, Chico, Cal Poly Pomona, Utah State, University of Hawaii and Shasta College will vie with Fresno State for a top prize of $500, which will be awarded around 2:30 p.m. The competition can be viewed by the public at no charge.
Teams present a detailed marketing plan for an innovative food product designed to attract support from potential investors and to be marketed either west of the Mississippi River or internationally.
Representing Fresno State in the domestic category are Cindy Gumber of Fillmore and Villines. In international competition, Aki Dioniospoulos of San Jose and Fenn represent Fresno State.
For more information, contact Konduru at 559.278.4434 or skonduru@csufresno.edu or Annette Levi at 559.779.2600.
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(University Communications news intern Nicole Maul contributed to this copy)
