The Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest board of directors announced its momentous milestone as it commemorates 100 years of fostering excellence in the dairy industry.

Established in 1916, this competition has been a cornerstone of dairy products training, education, and sensory evaluation for over 100 years.

Contest History: Since its beginnings in 1916, the Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest has played a pivotal role in shaping the future of the dairy industry. For a century, the contest has provided a platform for students and professionals to showcase their expertise in the evaluation and analysis of dairy products.

 This is a summary of the first Collegiate Dairy Products Evaluation Contest held in connection with the National Dairy Show sponsored by the National Dairy Association. Butter was the only product judged because of its commercial importance at that time. From this modest beginning in 1916, the Student’s Butter Judging Contest has grown to an internationally recognized competition with university teams from the United States and several international teams with over 100 dairy industry company participants and sponsors. 

While it started with butter in 1916; cheddar cheese and milk were added in 1917, in 1926 ice cream, in 1962 cottage cheese, and in 1977 yogurt was added. The Contest has been sponsored by several organizations over the years.

The first butter judging contest was sponsored by the National Dairy Association later followed by the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA), International Association of Food Industry Suppliers (IAFIS) and the American Dairy Association and International Dairy Foods Association. Today, the three primary sponsoring organizations are Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Dairy Recognition and Education Foundation (DREF).

Companies throughout the dairy industry also support the contest in many ways through hosting contest space, donations to the contest, product samples to judge, as well as time by industry leaders, to judge, officiate and organize the event. Over a century later, 5 generations of college students have been trained in sensory methods of evaluating the quality of six dairy products - butter, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt and vanilla ice cream.

The number of college teams rose from nine to a maximum of 33 in 1956. The Contest represents the culmination of an intense training of students by college professors who are experts in dairy product evaluation.

Over the years, more than 4000 students have participated. While training is at the heart of the mission of CDPEC, winning comes with dedication, talent, and time. The most team wins have been from South Dakota State University, The Ohio State University, Mississippi State, and Iowa State University. Below is a table of participating universities through the years: