Posted: 5-6-2009
Championship repeat for UF NAMA marketing team
The trophies just keep stacking up here in Titletown—for the second year in a row, UF’s student chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association has won first-place honors in the association’s annual student marketing competition. It’s only the second time that a school has claimed back-to-back wins.
The 20-member UF team bested squads from 29 other universities at the event, held April 15-17 at the NAMA annual meeting in Atlanta. Team adviser Lisa House, a professor of food and resource economics, said the team won because they simply outworked the competition.
“There were some late nights, but it was worth it,” House laughed. “The team received feedback from the judges that their presentation was the most professional of all the entries, and that contributed to why they won.”
The team’s campaign focused on an imaginary citrus variety, SunFruit, created by crossing grapefruit with pummelo. The fruit had two big selling points—first, it contained no furanocoumarins, the chemicals in grapefruit that can interact with some medications. Second, it had a sweeter, less acidic flavor than many grapefruit varieties.
The team included Peter Almeida, Jennifer Bell, Emily Cecil, Brandon Davis, Skeeta De Matas, George Enstad, Brett Johnson, Kristen Kovalsky, John Lai, Jessica Manning, Carolina Martinez, David Reed, Kyle Ritsema, Giselle Rodriquez, Enrique Salazar, Melissa Short, Saran Srichomkuan, Patrick Thompson, Joanna Weber and Blair Willenborg.
“They’re ready to win a third year,” House said.
Two other distinctions from the meeting:
UF’s student chapter received the John Deere Signature Award, which recognizes the overall strength of the chapter, including its membership, activities, members’ applications for scholarships and other efforts.
And member Jenna Greene won the association’s most prestigious scholarship, the R.C. Ferguson Successful Farming Scholarship. The $4,000 scholarship recognizes academic excellence and NAMA involvement.
Send us your comments:
