Address by Shri Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB at SMC College of Dairy Science Quiz prize Distribution Ceremony 3 September, 2022

Dr. N.H. Kelawala, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Kamdhenu University, Gandhinagar
Shri Jayen Mehta, Chief Operating Officer, GCMMF
Dr. D.B. Patil, Director Research & Dean PG Studies, Kamdhenu University
Dr. A. H. Jana, Principal, SMC College of Dairy Science, Kamdhenu University
Dr. Amit Patel, Alumni Secretary, SMC College of Dairy Science
Participants of the Contests,
Faculty, Students
I am very happy to be amongst you in this Valedictory Function & Prize Distribution Ceremony of 13th National Dairy and Food Quiz Contest & 17th National Dairy Products’ Judging Contest.

How well do you know a subject?

I think quickest way to find out is to play a quiz.

Any question you answer incorrectly, immediately show you where your knowledge is lacking. Especially for students, quizzes identify gaps in knowledge and highlight any areas that need more revision.

Reading information as a way of learning is definitely useful. But reading information and then taking a quiz is much more effective. Quizzing forces your brain to retrieve data/facts/figures thereby helping it to become ‘embedded’ for use in the future.

Thus, whether for students or professionals, quizzing is undoubtedly a tool for building confidence and enhancing their professional competence.

Now, how do we ensure acceptability of a food product?

All of us know that the sensory quality of food products is an important factor in overall quality of the product.

You see, howsoever excellent your product is on chemical and microbiological attributes, it is not going to sell unless it has those organoleptic properties that a consumer is looking for. And till date, there is no machine which can simultaneously sense and make a judgement based on tactile, flavor, taste, rheological properties etc. of the product.

Dairy products have great significance in our diet. For many of us, the dairy products, in one form or other, constitute part of our daily food intake.

And they are consumed not only for the sake of nutritive value but also for rich aroma and pleasant taste.

The flavor of milk is an important attribute in its popularity. For this reason, an ability to judge and score milk is an asset to almost everyone involved in producing, processing, or marketing milk.

Judging milk begins at the point of production - on the farm. A farmer needs to know when off flavors or conditions are present in his milk so corrections can be made.

Judging continues in the commercial dairy plant where the milk is processed. The milk is examined at various points in processing to check for any irregularity in the plant operation. And the finished product is examined by the plant’s quality-control specialists, who frequently compare their product with those of competitors.

How does a person learn how to judge and score milk? Training can come from experience in dairy plant where a variety of milk flavors/products are found. Or it can come from working with prepared samples. In either case, a basic understanding of the problems involved in judging and a uniform application of judging procedures are very important.

Therefore, in my view this yearly organization of National Dairy Products’ Judging Contest by SMC College of dairy science is an apt exercise to equip future dairy technologists with the very important abilities of quick recall of knowledge and judging sensory attributes of the products.

My compliments to the SMC team for successfully continuing to organize this event, since may years now, by attracting dairy technologists/professionals from different parts of the country and providing them a wonderful platform to showcase different shades of their skill, talent, creativity and knowledge.

I also appreciate the enthusiasm of those who have participated in this event and I am sure that all of you must have had very productive and enriching times today in terms of knowledge, learning, concepts and skills.

These days, changing lifestyles and enhanced consumer awareness on food quality and safety is presenting an opportunity for innovations in product development and thereby augmenting dairy businesses. Therefore, Sensory science is evolving into a pragmatic discipline.

These days a sensory analyst must be able to analyse the products, concepts and packages as a whole. Earlier they have concentrated their studies on the products, leaving the research on the concepts to experts or market researchers.

The sensory analyst must determine how the product fits the concept, as well as determine whether or not the product has the appropriate level of acceptability and the right sensory profile. The analyst must also check whether the efforts made by the entire team (R&D, marketing, production) meet consumer expectations or (reverse process), study the market expectations and communicate them to their colleagues in the aforementioned disciplines for a remodelling of the parameters studied. Needless to mention that there is a world of opportunities waiting for those who develop such skills in food industry.

While many of you may be aware but still I take this opportunity to inform you that India is hosting the World Dairy Summit 2022 (WDS 2022) of International Dairy Federation at New Delhi (NCR). The Summit is being organised during 12-15 September 2022. Theme for the WDS 2022 is “Dairy for Nutrition & Livelihood”.

India last hosted the International Dairy Congress in 1974. At that time, India had just kick-started the ambitious plan to become self-sufficient. Today, India is the largest milk producing country in the world on account of millions of small and marginal dairy farmers for whom dairying remains an important source of livelihood.

This transformational journey of Indian Dairy Sector is continuing and average growth of 6.2%, in terms of milk production, has been achieved during the last 5 years in comparison to 2% growth of World milk production.

Therefore, WDS 2022 provides India an opportunity to showcase the remarkable journey of Indian dairy sector from deficiency to self-sufficiency.
We are arranging for participation of good number of students from SMC College of dairy science in WDS 2022, so that they can get an opportunity to learn and experience the very best of dairying.

With this I conclude and I thank organisers for this opportunity to participate in this programme and address you all.

Thank you.