Scientists Mentor Small Dairy Business
One of the biggest barriers to innovation is funding, especially in the small business sector. New ideas also benefit from expert insight to navigate through the product pipeline, but it is challenging for a small business to access, let alone afford the support of leading scientists. Thanks to a collaborative incubation program delivered by Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement, small dairy businesses were paired with mentors as they competed in the inaugural Northeastern Dairy Product Innovation Contest for substantial seed funding and support for their new product. Dr. Pulari Nair, Principal Scientist, R&D – Global Technology at Rich Products, was among the team of mentors that helped finalist Oakfield Corners Dairy win one of three grand prizes.
Nair, who holds a doctorate degree in food science specializing in milk proteins from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, amassed more than 14 years of experience in the dairy industry prior to joining Rich’s.
“Now that I’m in the non-dairy sector, my colleagues at Cornell knew that I was in a position to share the knowledge and experience I gained while working for leading dairy manufacturers over the past 14 years,” said Nair. “I am in a unique position to not only share knowledge, but also to connect this young, hardworking family of dairy farmers and scientists with a network of contacts that can help them achieve their expansion goals.”
For three months in 2023, Nair mentored Oakfield Corners Dairy through virtual weekly meetings as they prepared to be finalists in a contest that supports food innovators in launching products made from dairy ingredients produced in the Northeast. In August of 2023, the Oakfield Corners Dairy team learned that they were awarded $55,000 and early-stage incubation assistance from Cornell’s food processing and business experts, access to the university’s food processing facilities, industry mentorship, and training on product prototyping – resources that would ordinarily come at a substantial cost to young companies on a growth track. They also secured a position at the Dairy Innovation Showcase at the Grow-NY Summit in October 2023.
In a note to their team of competition mentors, including Nair, Oakfield Corners Dairy representative, Alicia Lamb said, “We can’t thank you enough for your support, encouragement, and guidance through the NE Dairy Innovation Competition. Without each of you pushing us in the right direction re: proper processing, business development, market ideas, and more, it would have been impossible for us to have been selected as one of the top 3 finalists. We have a ways to go to meet our ultimate goal, but this is a great start and we look forward to the challenges along the way.”
While the product Oakfield Corners Dairy set out to develop is not new, it is new to their local market, and the owners’ primary motivation was to grow their business and improve their value stream. The contest gave them access to technology and expertise while attempting to launch a new product and compete for funding (which the team was ultimately awarded). Each new product was evaluated against the competition and ranked according to concept execution, innovation or improvement, viability of commercialization and business model, use of dairy ingredient, and consumer value.
Nair was immensely impressed by the hard work this family-owned dairy business invested in developing their new product, all while continuing the daily operations of a farm consisting of 10,500 cows, which is a job that requires the attention and dedication of the entire family.
“I am not expecting any return on the time I’ve invested into this program,” acknowledged Nair. “However, if I can contribute to the growth of this family business, even by 1%, that will be very rewarding. I believe farmers are the roots of our country. Without farmers, we are nothing.”
Nair also expressed deep gratitude to Rich’s for allowing her to participate in the mentoring program.
In addition to this mentorship role, Nair also volunteers as a reviewer for the Existing Dairy Processor Expansion Grant funded by USDA Agricultural Marketing Service for the Northeast to expand utilization of regionally sourced milk, with a focus on acquiring specialized equipment needed to increase processing capacity through volume expansion and existing product line expansion.
