Product EvaluationsEach year, Oregon Dairy Industries holds an annual evaluation of products from membership plants. The objective of the evaluation is to promote the production of high quality dairy products in the Pacific Northwest. The products are judged by a panel of trained, unbiased experts led by Professor Lisbeth Goddik. Test results are not public, but the winners within each product category are honored at the ODI Annual Conference each year. This year's evaluations will take place November 16 & 17, 2022 ObjectiveThe objective of the ODI dairy product evaluation is to promote the production of high quality dairy products. EligibilityOnly plant members of ODI may submit products. ProductsPlants may submit more than one product per category though only one product will compete in the evaluation. Plants must specify, in advance, which product is the official entry; other products will receive complementary judging. If more that one product is submitted within the same product category, the official entry should be the product marketed locally. An ODI plant member can submit products co-packed at other ODI member plants, even when these products are similar to products submitted by the co-packers under another label. Products submitted to the evaluation should be standard products. Except for the score butter evaluation, ODI discourages changing standard procedures to make special products that are more likely to receive high scores. Evaluation ProcedureThe official ODI contact at each plant will be notified approximately 3 weeks prior to the evaluation. It is the responsibility of each plant to ship products to OSU no later than one day prior to the evaluation. Products arriving too late will not participate in the evaluation but may receive complementary scores if the judges agree to do so. Products are blinded and judged based on USDA product score sheets. Results are mailed to participating plants. JudgesODI judges are professionals who have shown talent for evaluating dairy products and who are familiar with the score sheets. Judges do not know the identity of the products. The reputation of the evaluation depends on the integrity of the judges, and ODI expects all judges to behave in an unbiased, professional manner. People wishing to become official judges should contact the evaluation supervisor. Product CategoriesThe following product categories are evaluated: Milk
Score butter is the only category which is not packed in retail package. Score butter is entered by the individual butter maker and should be packaged in plastic seal-able containers as specified by Sheri Cole (minimum 5 pounds recommended). ScoringPoints are given based on ADSA/USDA’s score sheets. To be eligible for awards such as first or second place within product categories and sweepstakes, the products must score within the gold range. Product Gold
AwardsNormally, awards would be distributed at ODI’s annual conference. Gold products will receive honorary mention during the award ceremony. Except for fluid milk & cream, all other product categories compete for first and second place. In addition, sweepstakes for fluid milks, frozen dairy desserts, and cultured products are awarded based on average of best three out of four possible products (milk & cultured products) and average of three products (ice cream). ODI Policy on AdvertisingPaid ODI members may advertise the ODI Products Judging results using these guidelines: 1) Any advertisement must include the year in which the award was received; 2) An advertisement appearing on any carton or package must not outlive the ODI Award Year. Ex: An ad may run from just after the ODI Awards Ceremony to just before the ODI Award Ceremony the next year; 3) The wording used in any advertisement must reflect the actual wording of the Award, Ex: “Sweepstakes Award, Fluid Milk, ODI 2022”. If this policy is violated the plant shall be prohibited from participation in the ODI contest for a period of three years. |