Skip to Main Content
What is the new best Italian American frozen pasta product?
Challenge Type: food science
See more like this check out our active challenges
$1,600
top 50%
90
submissions
DONE
89 months ago

Frederico Bernardi immigrated to the US in 1901 and opened a grocery store that became a tavern serving spaghetti and tortellini made in the basement of the restaurant. Filled pastas were so popular that Federico’s grandson, Jerry, started the first factory in 1968 on Toluca’s Main Street – where it still operates today. We are proud of both our Italian and American heritage and want to create a line of filled frozen pasta products (think raviolis, tortellinis, shells, etc. and lasagna) that celebrate both worlds.

We would like your help in defining what Italian American cuisine is and helping us create delicious products. We are looking for meal, snack and appetizer ideas, specifically around frozen, filled pasta – anything that sounds delicious to you (we are not looking for pizza ideas – even though we know that pizza is delicious).

The pasta product will be consumer facing, in the freezer aisle of your local super market.

Deliverables

Part I: Italian American Vs. authentic Italian Cuisine (short answer, 10-30 minutes)

1. Briefly define “Italian American” cuisine and list a few pasta products you consider to be Italian American.

2. Briefly define “authentic Italian” cuisine and list a few pasta products you consider to be authentic Italian.

3. How is Italian American cuisine different from authentic Italian cuisine?

Part II: Your new Italian American frozen, filled pasta product

1. If you could create a line of filled pasta products inspired by your favorite Italian American dishes, what would you create?

2. How would you package this product? Creative packaging ideas are encouraged!

3. (Optional) Sketches, drawings, CAD renderings, mock-ups, advertisements, videos, graphs or any other visuals that show your new pasta product.

Things to consider:

- Keep it casual. Don't worry about using formal business language, we want to hear what you think in your own words.

- How are we selecting winners? The best submissions will be easy to implement, innovative to the market place, have a large potential to make money as a product, and be cost effective to produce.

- Get creative! We think about filled pastas all the time so try to wow us with a really unique idea!

- Appetizer, meal, snack, desert?!? Your pasta idea can be any type of frozen food item, it just can’t be a pizza!

    Submissions will be graded on the following criteria:
  • Meets Deliverables
  • Creativity
  • Clarity
Reward Tiers
Top 10%
will share $1,000
Next 15%
will share $400
Next 25%
will share $200
Actual individual rewards will be based on the total number of eligible solutions.
Leaderboard
$111.10 Constantine Spyrou University of California at Davis
$111.10 Maggie Edge University of California, Santa Cruz
$111.10 Josh Lyman University of Oregon
$111.10 Alex Pierce The Ohio State University
$111.10 Sally Abouzied Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
$111.10 Marc Crescenzi University of Central Florida
$111.10 Luisa Brady University of California at Davis
$111.10 Matthew Gaiser Queen's University
$111.10 Meagan Bartlett Columbus State Community College
$28.60 Sam Alex Montclair State University
$28.60 Pedro M University of Providence
$28.60 Muriel Allen Brigham Young University
$28.60 Ansh Tayal National Institute of Technology Trichy
$28.60 Kirsty Park Dublin City University
$28.60 Erin Hanscom Ithaca College
$28.60 Stephen Heidenreich University of Central Florida
$28.60 Rachel Gaspar University of Southern California
$28.60 Francis Daniel Santia Harvard University
$28.60 Tarun Jha University of Florida
$28.60 Rebecca Viazzo Brigham Young University
$28.60 Sangi Rama The Ohio State University
$28.60 Jessica Corbo University of Central Florida
$28.60 Nicolas De Mujica University of Central Florida
$9.10 Omer Cohen New York University
$9.10 Valerio Pasqua UNIVERSITY OF NAPLES FEDERICO II
$9.10 Alyssa Paparella Sarah Lawrence College
$9.10 Zachary Blender
$9.10 Austin Lachmann University of Central Florida
$9.10 Marcio Alves University of Central Florida
$9.10 Precious Joseph Hofstra University
$9.10 Manuel Elvira University of Central Florida
$9.10 Lia Florentine University of Central Florida
$9.10 Vincent Coppola University of Central Florida
$9.10 Andrew Barszcz University of Central Florida
$9.10 Melissa Giannetta University of Central Florida
$9.10 Chris Mewhinney University of Central Florida
$9.10 Alexandra Jednorski Drexel University
$9.10 Tyler Walls University of Central Florida
$9.10 Liana Gesundheit University of Central Florida
$9.10 derywilliam University of Central Florida
$9.10 Alexandra DePasquale University of Central Florida
$9.10 Jake Sollazzo University of Central Florida
$9.10 Heather Fucini University of Hawaii
$9.10 AJ Capuano Purdue University
$9.10 Ronald Barranco Nevada System of Higher Education
Submission questions


0 characters Average: 1677 characters
Your solution must be at least 200 characters long
Contact Us