Agricultural business students claim third place at national conference

(April 17, 2016) — A Fresno State agricultural business student team earned a third-place finish at the Produce for Better Health Foundation’s Formula Five fruit and vegetable marketing competition.

The event was held in early April at the organization’s annual conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., and students presented a comprehensive marketing plan that was judged by industry professionals.

Fresno State team members that traveled to the event included senior Alex Horvath (Bakersfield), juniors Aubrey Lim (Fresno) and John Ball (Fresno) and sophomore Brooke Woods (Bakersfield).

The students created their initial marketing plan for a proposed instant vegetable soup product, and were one of five teams selected to make final presentations at the conference from more than 30 entries last December.

Other university teams that competed at the conference in April included Arizona State, Concordia, Millersville and West Chester.

Fresno State’s marketing plan included an executive summary, business proposition, tactics and implementation, monitoring and measurement, and financial and budget projections.

In the same competition in 2015, Fresno State’s student team won the competition in its first appearance at the event.

In February 2016, a similar Fresno State agricultural business department student team competed in a marketing e-commerce case study competition at the National Grocers Association national conference in Las Vegas.

That team was composed of Ball, Woods and seniors Salvador Mariscal (Modesto) and Branden Teicheira (Los Banos).

The agricultural business department also entered a four-person student team last fall in the Food Distribution and Research Society and placed among the top two teams.

That group was composed of Lim, seniors Mohammed Basharaheel (Clovis), Elizabeth Brown (Porterville) and Chandler Johnstone (Tulare).

“Our students spend a tremendous amount of time preparing for these national competitions,” said Dr. Todd Lone, agricultural business professor. “They are eager to seize the opportunity to gain career experience, establish industry connections and showcase their talents. Their performance at these national competitions is further evidence that our program is training the future leaders of agribusiness.”

More information on the agricultural business department is available at its website (http://www.fresnostate.edu/jcast/agbs/index.html ).