Tracy, Calif. – Consumer’s changing lifestyles have increased the demand for healthy food and beverage options that align with consumer values. While milk is the original functional beverage, the unique wholesome values of milk have been overlooked in our busy, chaotic lives. The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) announced the launch of The Real California Milk Accelerator – the biggest dairy startup competition of all time – to inspire new ideas integrating the values of fluid milk into contemporary products and provide the resources to help bring them to market.
With more than $450,000 in prizes, The Real California Milk Accelerator combines two of California’s great natural resources: High quality, sustainable fluid milk and the insatiable California entrepreneurial spirit. The competition aims to inspire innovation and investment in fluid milk products, packaging and capacity within California by connecting the dots between manufacturers, producers, investors, ideas and entrepreneurs.
Through The Real California Milk Accelerator, the CMAB is seeking high-growth potential liquid milk product concepts, with milk making up at least 50% of their formula. The applicants will need to commit to producing the product in California, should they win the competition.
Up to eight (8) applicants will receive $25,000 worth of support each, to develop a protocept, while receiving elite mentorship from marketing, packaging, and distribution experts. This includes a business development trip to tour dairy farms and production facilities and to meet with industry leaders to help drive success of their new venture. The winner will receive up to $250,000 worth of additional support to get their new product to market.
VentureFuel, Inc., the leading innovation consultancy, is running the program and helping CMAB identify the best emerging opportunities from their global network of investors, founders and academics. “We have worked closely with CMAB to build a program that truly accelerates innovation and will bring fresh, new products to market by giving founders unprecedented expertise and access to the dairy farmer and dairy processing community,” said Fred Schonenberg, Founder of VentureFuel, Inc. “CMAB is connecting the rich nutrition of fluid milk from California farmers with the ingenuity of today’s entrepreneurs, to inspire great new products for families to enjoy.”
Competition rules and application documents are available at https://www.venturefuel.net/milk-accelerator. The deadline for application is August 31, 2019.
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. California is the number one producer of fluid milk, butter and ice cream in the U.S. and the second largest producer of cheese and yogurt.
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 and is one of the largest agricultural marketing boards in the United States. With a mission to increase demand for products made with Real California Milk, the CMAB is celebrating 50 years in 2019 promoting 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.
VentureFuel helps established companies around the world unlock growth by partnering with emerging startups and breakthrough technologies. Our innovation programs solve specific challenges, deliver tangible results and discover first-to-market opportunities from the Museum of Ice Cream to the latest pioneering technologies. We are 100% independent, sourcing from our global network of the best investors, scouts, founders and academics. Learn more at: www.venturefuel.net.
