TRACY, Calif. — 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.
