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Disney - IFTSA Product Development Competition

Competition Director: Kavita Solanki, Rutgers University (iftsa.disney@gmail.com )

Overview:

The Disney-IFTSA Product Development Competition ("Competition") provides a team of students with the opportunity to propose a market-relevant, delicious and nutritious food or beverage snack that integrates at least one of the following in a product targeted to children 10 and younger for a retail outlet:

• A fruit
• A vegetable
• Low-fat dairy product, and/or
• Whole grains

Teams shall be provided with and use certain Disney characters* to develop their products, such characters and depictions of such characters, and accompanying artwork, designs and/or other elements, as may be designated by Disney. Each Team must develop its product proposal around ONE AND ONLY ONE of the following Disney franchises:

• Characters from the Disney Standard Characters franchise (i.e., Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Pluto and Goofy)
• Characters from the animated television series Disney Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
• Characters from the Disney Princess franchise and the underlying films (i.e., Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Mulan, Pocahontas, The Princess and the Frog, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Tangled)(i.e., Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella, Ariel, Mulan, Pocahontas, Tiana, Aurora, Snow White and Rapunzel)
• Characters from the animated television series Jake and the Never Land Pirates (i.e., Jake, Izzy, Cubby, Skully, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Sharky and Bones, Marina the Mermaid, Tick-Tock the Crocodile)
• Characters from the animated motion picture Disney●Pixar Monsters University
• Characters from the animated motion picture tentatively entitled Disney Planes

Teams can learn more about the Disney characters at www.disney.com/characters.

The first round preliminary proposals (due February 15, 2013) will be judged following the guidelines listed in the official rules of the Contest (Sections 9A & B). Five (5) finalist teams will be selected based on the preliminary proposals to compete at the IFT Annual Meeting on July 13-16, 2013 in Chicago, IL. The final proposals (due June 14, 2013) will be judged following the guidelines listed in the official rules of the Contest (Section 9B). One grand prize winner, one first prize winner and three honorary prize winners will be selected from among the five finalist teams.

Eligibility:

To be eligible for the Contest, a team must meet the following criteria:

• The team’s home base must be within the fifty states, District of Columbia, Canada (excluding Quebec), Puerto Rico or Mexico (“Territory”);
• All members of the team must be active members in good standing of the Administrator;
• All Members of the Team must be currently-enrolled students from the same university;
• The team must be composed of a minimum of two (2) and a maximum of five (5) Members;
• All Members of the Team must be either all undergraduate students of the same university, graduate students of the same university or both undergraduate and graduate students of the same university**;
• Each Team Member must execute and deliver to Sponsor a Copyright and Confidentiality Agreement that Sponsor shall make available to eligible Teams; and
• No team member should be an employee of the Sponsor or the Administrator, their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliated or successor companies or any of the advertising, promotional or fulfillment agencies of any of them (individually and collectively, an “Entity” or “Entities”), nor a member of such employee’s household or immediate family.

* In order to be able to receive and use such Disney intellectual property to create a Team’s preliminary and final proposals, each Team Member must download, sign and return the Copyright and Confidentiality Agreement to Sponsor. Teams may only use the Disney intellectual property made available to the Team by Sponsor for their product proposals submitted in this Contest. Forms from each team member should be sent to:

Kavitakumari H. Solanki
65 Dudley Road
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Upon receipt of the signed Copyright and Confidentiality Agreements each team will receive a disc with Disney artwork and branding guides selected for this competition.

** More than one (1) Team from the same university may enter the Contest so long as each Team meets the eligibility requirements.

Competition Rules (pdf)

Copyright and Confidentiality Agreement (pdf)

Important Dates:

• December 5, 2012: IFTSA Disney Product Development Competition – AMA Session
• February 15, 2013: Preliminary proposals due
• June 14, 2013: Final proposals due
• Final judging will be on July 13-16, 2013 in Chicago, IL at the 2013 Annual IFT Meeting

Prizes:

• One travel grant of US $1,500 will be awarded to each one of the five (5) finalist teams. The travel grants are provided to help subsidize the expenses incurred for airfare and lodging to compete at the 2013 Annual IFT Meeting on July 13-16, 2013 in Chicago, IL.
• One grand prize: a check for US $7,500
• One first place prize: a check for US $3,500
• Three honorary prizes: a check for US $1,000

One travelAll judging criteria and full Contest details can be located in the official rules of the Competition.

THIS SUMMARY OF THE DISNEY COMPEITION IS NOT IN LIEU OF THE OFFICIAL RULES. ANY TEAM ENTERING INTO THE COMPETITION MUST COMPLY WITH THE OFFICIAL RULES.

2013 Finalists:

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with Mike’s S’creamy Dip & Scare Me Chips
Cornell University with Fright Fuel
University of Arkansas with Cubby's Treasure Treats
University of Minnesota with Dusty Dipper
University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez with Snaggie

2012 Winners: