The Department of Food Science collaborated with the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering and Sweetwater Valley Farm to create the Power T cheese. This product is hand cut by our students and is a combination of orange and white cheddars. The Power T cheese, along with our other wonderful cheeses are currently available to be shipped all over the continental United States or picked-up at the Food Science Building.
Focus on Students
We are all about our students!
Our mission is to provide our students with the skill sets they need to work effectively and productively within the food industry. By partnering with Sweetwater Valley Farm, students have real-life experiences in dairy operations and cheese production, from start to finish. They see first hand what it takes, all the way from raising cows, to generating milk, to how milk is turned into cheese, and then packaged and sold to the market. Throughout this process, they also learn about manufacturing, safety, and regulatory issues, all of which better prepare them to become valuable employees in the industry. And by starting a cheese business inside the university, students are learning about entrepreneurial ventures and gaining business skills. They learn about market demand, pricing, profitability, logistics, marketing, and selling. This provides them with an even more diverse skill set desired by the industry.
History
The Food Science and Technology Department (now the Department of Food Science) was originally formed in 1972 and included all teaching, research, and extension operations in UTIA that were related to food, including the original UT Creamery until it closed in the fall of 1989. Now we have partnered with Sweetwater Valley Farm to produce our first product, All Vol Cheese. Students have interned at Sweetwater Valley Farm and benefited from the hands-on experience of manufacturing cheese. They also help the department market and sell the cheese online. A new UT Creamery opened in 2023 providing an opportunity for students from all over campus to learn to make ice cream and manage an ice cream business. Food Science students, who know the complicated science of ice cream, learn the practical aspects of producing safe, high-quality products that consumers will enjoy.