GREELEY, COLO. — JBS USA, in partnership with the American Meat Science Association (AMSA), hosted its third annual Global Ingenuity event, held April 10-12, in Greeley, Colo. University students were invited to tour the company’s headquarters and compete in teams to develop an original, scalable protein product alongside a marketing plan.

The theme of this year’s challenge was Fusion Fun, inspired by the growing trend of adventurous consumers looking to try more global flavors. Specifically, teams were tasked to formulate a whole-muscle protein product using beef, pork or chicken that could easily be reheated from frozen.

Coming from diverse backgrounds within the food and animal science sectors, students pooled their skills together to form and pitch their final products within less than 48 hours.

Carmen Au, R&D director at JBS subsidiary Pilgrim’s, explained the intensity of the timeframe at Global Ingenuity compared to the typical process for Pilgrim’s to turn around a new product. For example, Pilgrim’s may take several months to complete a new formulation, but through the unique opportunity of having specialists from all different parts of the process present at the same time, that timeframe can be consolidated.

“What’s really amazing is that a lot of different team members from different groups are taking the time out to be a professional resource for our students,” she said. “Each one of us is juggling 20-plus projects, and there are multiple people on multiple teams for each kind of segment that makes a product come to life. And so, we have several people in each of those segments helping all the students, and it's just a wonderful thing because it's rare to have us all together in one room.”

JBS Global IngenuityParticipating teams received one-on-one mentorship from experts from JBS, Pilgrim's and ingredient supplier Kerry. (Source: Sosland Publishing Co./Rachael Oatman)



With the help of mentors, students successfully presented the following products to judges at the close of the program:

  • Chipotle Elote Pork Tenderloin – Fully-cooked stuffed and marinated pork tenderloin.
  • Mango Inferno Breaded Chicken Bites – Fully-cooked breaded boneless, skinless chicken breast bites flavored with natural flavors.
  • Ko-ribbean Pork Tenderloin – Fully-cooked chipotle-mango marinated pork tenderloin with gochujang-pineapple glaze.
  • Junmai Slices – Fully-cooked seasoned and sous vided premium beef tri-tip.
  • Fiesta Beef Cuts – Fully-cooked beef tri-tip cubes marinated and seasoned with a South American-inspired blend.

The winner will be announced at the 78th annual Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC), hosted by AMSA June 22-25 in Columbus, Ohio.

More extensive coverage of Global Ingenuity, including the winning product, will be available in the July edition of MEAT+POULTRY.