The Department of Food Science and Technology’s senior product showcase has become a celebratory event among community members, students, and faculty. The Senior class of 2025 presented their ideas during a 10-week period this spring. With the guidance of Dr. Andrew Gravelle, Dr. Jean-Xavier Guinard, and Matthew Ford, eight teams crafted healthy, sustainable, and delicious food, all while considering affordability, safety, and profitability.

Creating a product is no easy task, as these student teams worked rigorously in the classroom and the kitchen. From testing ingredient interactions to marketing tactics, calculating cost effectiveness and even packaging design, these teams built a never-before-seen food product straight from scratch. Not only is this a celebration of their hard work, but the showcase also gave these seniors a chance to showcase the skills they developed during their years at UC Davis. Let’s start with the savory dishes first!

The Savory Snacks

The first presented product was Newdles, a healthier take on instant ramen. Instead of a water-based, high-sodium snack, Ken Hoang, Glory Wongmahapaul, and Joseph Montemayor shared their unique creation: fiber-rich, spicy noodles. “14% of college students consume instant ramen on a weekly basis,” Joseph shared. They set themselves apart from competing brands by including prebiotics and protein in each serving. Although a bit too spicy for my taste, I could see many college students making Newdles a new pantry necessity.

Next up was a versatile sauce called Somi crafted by Jasmine Putri, Renata Alyssa and Jamie Richardson. It can be used as a pasta sauce, a flavorful simmering base for meats, or a dip for your favorite snack. This product features a hummus-like texture and is available in two flavors: Chickpea Miso and Spicy Edamame. Somi is vegan, high in protein, and rich in fiber, making it an excellent option for the health-conscious consumer. 

If you love ginger shots, get ready for the next level! Angus Lau, Vivian Tran, and Raspberry Carpenter shared three flavors of their Immuno-Shots. These are designed to mimic classic cocktail drinks, with all the fun and none of the alcohol. They’re high in vitamin C, antioxidant-rich, and have fun and familiar flavors like Blue-Cran Cosmopolitan, Ginger Piña Colada, and Kimchi Bloody Mary. After the audience tasting, the fan-favorite was the Piña Colada, followed by the Bloody Mary. Tough luck for the cosmopolitan! 

A unique twist on this classic pastry, Crunchy Mochi Donuts turned a beloved dessert into a salty snack. Amanda Hu, Mikaela Sasada, Risa Kawaji, and Remi Nakai introduced a crunchy tofu and edamame-based donut, encased in a mochi shell. Mikaela shared “that most Americans are not getting enough fiber each day, with the average being ten grams, while the USDA recommends 24 grams. This pastry is cooked in the air fryer, which may come as a surprise given its chewy texture and flavorful, crunchy center. This was by far the most unique product I tasted at the FST 160 event.

The Sweet Treats

Moving on to the sweeter products presented, Dough-Kara was showcased as a vegan, edible cookie dough. The creators, Natalie Vissman, Jamie Guthrie, Bebe Toy, and Maggie Nelson explained that okara is a byproduct of soymilk and tofu, and 14 million tons of it are wasted each year around the world. By using okara flour, this brings Dough-Kara’s sustainability one step forward. The product is gluten-free, peanut-free, and comes in four fun flavors: The Little Chipper (chocolate chip), The Big Chipper (double chocolate), Cashew at the Party (cashew butter with sprinkles), and Not your Grammy’s Cracker (snickerdoodle). Audience members were able to try the raw Little Chipper dough and the baked version, which, impressively, both masterfully mimicked the texture and taste of a non-vegan cookie dough.

BerryPea Delight, created by Yoo Jeong (Chistina) Choi, Ruby Corona, and Michelle Paik recreated a cookie with real fruit, chickpea flour, and a variety of vitamins. This soft and moist treat has a lower glycemic index, so customers with high blood sugar can enjoy it. The taste and texture blew me away. You could say, this product takes the...cookie!

For a more chilling dessert, Wendy Zhong, Melat Tesfay, and Iris Zhang introduced Chia Bliss. This product is a chocolate-covered Greek yogurt ball blended with chia seeds and real fruit, such as mango and blueberry. Like many of the foods showcased, these desserts are rich in protein and fiber. This frozen bonbon had a thin chocolate shell with a creamy center and the chia seeds added a satisfying crunch! I would be delighted to see these in the freezer aisle in the future. 

To close out the presentations, Soy Creamy took to the stage. This vegan ice cream is made with okara, tofu, and coconut cream. This frozen dessert was created by Kevin Tomlinson, Kathey Tran, Jinwoo Chae, and Sona Na. With loads of fiber and protein, it’s not hard to imagine the positivity in response to this unique ice cream. The two flavors presented were mango and chocolate. Although the mango was subtle, the chocolate tasted like perfection.

Another Successful Showcase

After tasting all eight teams’ products, I was fully satisfied with the ideas presented, and so was my stomach! Health trends such as high fiber and high protein were prominent throughout this event, highlighting the importance of these components to the modern consumer. A relatively new component was recently added to this class to encourage students to utilize AI. Some of the packaging concepts, names, and flavors were created in collaboration with AI tools. 

After such a successful showcase, there is no doubt surrounding the bright (and delicious!) futures of these recent graduates and their innovative products. You can also watch last year's highlight video.

Gwen Gonzalez is a fourth-year food science major passionate about storytelling and food innovation. She is an active member of the Food Tech Club on campus and assists in Guinard's Lab pursuing sensory science. When she's not thinking about food, she immerses herself in music and the performing arts at the Manetti Shrem Museum and Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. In the future, she hopes to merge her interests in food and the arts and contribute to creative research and development in the food industry.