Recognition

Recognising excellence and rewarding achievements in the dairy sector

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IDF awards

Every year, dairy champions are honoured for their leadership, dedication, and commitment to the sector. Whether it’s being creative, offering high-level strategic and technical advice, or helping the IDF to communicate more effectively with the wider dairy sector, each of these winners has played a key role in ensuring the interests of the industry remain centre stage. Their commitment to the global sector is resolute and is deeply appreciated.

IDF Dairy Innovation Awards

The IDF Dairy Innovation Awards is designed to encourage and celebrate innovative practices across the dairy sector 

 

About the award

Dairy actors around the world have been actively engaged over the years in improving the farming and processing of milk and dairy foods. The IDF Dairy Innovation Awards are designed to encourage and celebrate innovative practices across the dairy sector and their contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony at the IDF World Dairy Summit. Entry is open to IDF members as well as non-member individuals, including dairy farmers, dairy cooperatives, dairy processors and dairy research operators, as well service and equipment companies for the dairy sector.

All the recipients of the IDF Dairy Innovation Awards 2023

Innovation in Sustainable Farming Practices – Environment

  • Bioret Agri– Aqualim Thermodynamic: the first climatised waterbed to fight heat stress for dairy cows, while harvesting the animal’s body energy.
  • Dairy Australia– Environmental Tracker:  the Farm Environmental Tracker allows farmers to assess their farm’s performance and identify improvement opportunities that are interconnected with natural capital asset management and natural resources.

 

Innovation in Sustainable Farming Practices – Animal Care

  • FaunaTech– FaunaTech: a novel smartphone-based handheld diagnostics platform for early detection of critical diseases, monitoring cattle health and screening milk quality at the farm level and reducing antibiotic usage.

 

Innovation in Sustainable Farming Practices – Socio-Economic

  • Danone – Transforming the Food System by Empowering Algerian Smallholder Farmers.

 

Innovation in Sustainable Processing

  • Hochschule Hanover– Development of a RO-NF-UF membrane cascade to concentrate skim milk to a dry matter of > 48%.

 

Innovation in Marketing & Communication Initiative Building Dairy Category

  • Dairy Farmers of Canada– We’re In: the campaign, called “I’m in,” told Canadian consumers about DFC’s Net Zero by 2050 commitment through a creative storytelling method that reflected the personal commitment of individual dairy farmers.

 

Innovation in New Product Development With Focus on Food Safety and Consumer Nutrition

  • Unison Process Solutions– Heist System: the HEIST system is the world’s first automatic testing system for plate and tubular heat exchangers. 
  • Yili Group Ltd– Ambient Cheese Lollipop: this product utilizes natural bioactive antibacterial ingredients and scientifically combines them with preservatives to extend the product shelf life and ensure its safety during storage. It uses dual technologies to guarantee the quality, safety, and nutrition of the ambient cheese lollipop production process.

 

Innovation in Sustainable Packaging

  • Yili Group Ltd– Declaring Your Love to the Earth with Actions – SATINE Environmentally Sustainable Packaging with No Ink or Printing.

 

Innovation in Women Empowerment in the Dairy Sector

  • Shreeja Milk– Shreeja Milk:  with its impressive membership of 120,000 women, boasts the world’s largest women base in the dairy industry. Shreeja has implemented several initiatives and programs aimed at enhancing female leadership and empowering women within the dairy sector.

 

Innovation in Climate Action

  • Lactanet and Semex, Canada:  In April 2023, Lactanet Canada launched the world’s first official genetic evaluation to decrease methane emissions in dairy cattle. This was achieved through years of research and development during which methane emissions and routine milk tests were recorded on dairy cows in Canadian research herds.

IDF Professor Pavel Jelen Early Career Scientist Prize

The award has been named in honor of Professor Pavel (Paul) Jelen 

About the award

IDF is pleased to announce the establishment of a new award and prize for ‘early-career’ scientists and/or technologists to recognize their work in the dairy science and technology field – The IDF Professor Pavel Jelen Early Career Scientist Prize. The award has been named in honor of Professor Pavel (Paul) Jelen, a Czech born scientist who has spent his career based in Canada and the US, developing academic work on Dairy Food Science and Technology, and encouraging, mentoring, and educating students and early-career scientists and technologists, and who recognizes the importance of communication. The award and prize will provide an opportunity for awardees to showcase their work at the annual IDF World Dairy Summit (WDS), and thus provide opportunities for further education and mentoring, and to enhance employment opportunities and options.  It will also allow awardees to observe the business and operational workings of IDF.

Please, find more details on entry here.

All past recipients of the IDF Professor Pavel Jelen Early Career Scientist Prize

2023 – Davor Daniloski – First prize 

2022 – Dr Angela Costa – First prize 

IDF Award

The prestigious IDF Award is given in recognition of remarkable contributions to global dairy.

First presented in 1998, the IDF Award recognizes remarkable contributions to progress in dairying worldwide. It is awarded on the basis of submissions by IDF members, the IDF National Committees.

About the award

The IDF Award has the form of a piece of art and a medallion with an inscription.

By granting the Award, the IDF wishes to pay tribute to extensive contribution to dairy science, adding to the scientific knowledge about the benefits of dairy foods.

All past recipients of the IDF Award

  • Dr Andrew Novakovic (US)
  • Dr Aleksander Surazynski (PL), Professor Judith Ann Narvhus (NO)
  • No recipient
  • No recipient
  • Helen Dornom (AU)
  • Jean-François Boudier (FR)
  • Dr. Robin Condron (AU)
  • Pavel Jelen (CA), Phil Kelly (IE) and Kevin Marshall (NZ)
  • No recipient
  • Mohamed El-Hossieny Abd El-Salam (EG)
  • Roger Abrahamsen (NO)
  • George Davey (AU)
  • Suk-Jin Cho (KR)
  • Manuela Juárez (ES)
  • Walther Heeschen (DE)
  • Ylva Ardö (SE)
  • Peter Parodi (AU)
  • Shuichi Kaminogawa (JP)
  • Donald Muir (GB)
  • Lawrence Kenneth Creamer (NZ) and Pierpaolo Resmini (IT)
  • Pieter Walstra (NL)
  • Patrick F. Fox (IE)
  • Robert R. Sellars (US) and Zdenko Puhan (CH)
  • Douglas B. Emmons (CA)
  • Ernest J. Mann (GB)
  • Jean-Louis Maubois (FR)

IDF Prize of Excellence

The IDF Prize of Excellence is given in recognition of an outstanding recent contribution to the Work Programme of IDF.
The Prize honours an individual or group of individuals, who contribute as volunteers from among the grassroots of IDF, to the IDF Programme of Work in accordance with IDF’s purpose and following the five key concepts constituting SWIFT as a driver for the development of IDF.

These concepts are:

  • Speed
  • Worldwide visibility
  • Impact
  • Focus
  • Transparency

These ensure that the organization continues to deliver timely outcomes that meet expectations and the changing needs of IDF membership.

In 2020, the IDF Prize of Excellence was awarded to IDF SCFA Action Team on Alignment of food additives between Codex dairy standards and the Codex General Standard for Food Additives Keith Johnston, members Michael Hickey, Christian Kastrup, Jackie Crichton, Nick Gardner, Yoshinori Komatsu, Allen Sayler, Aurelie Dubois, Osamu Suganuma, Clement Benoist and Peter Wolfs.

Winners of the IDF Prize of Excellence to date

  • Stephan Peters (NL)
  • Meenesh Shah (India)
  • Nicholas Gardner (USA)
  • Erica Hocking (UK)
  • Keith Johnston (NZ), Michael Hickey (IE) , Christian Kastrup (DK), Jackie Crichton (CA), Nick Gardner (US), Yoshinori Komatsu (JP), Allen Sayler (US), Aurelie Dubois (IDF staff), Osamu Suganuma (JP), Clement Benoist (FR) and Peter Wolfs (NL)
  • Cary Frye (US)
  • Jaap Evers (NZ)
  • Keith Johnston (NZ)
  • Sandra Casani (DK)
  • Jointly Michel Hickey (IE) and Claus Heggum (DK)
  • PG-AMC-C13 – Milk and milk products– Determination of nitrogen content – Part 1: Kjeldahl principle and crude protein calculation. Dr. Dave Barbano (US), Richard Johnson (NZ), Dr. Silvia Orlandini (IT)
  • George Psathas (CY), Juan Romero (US) and Odd Rønningen (NO)

Yves Boutonnat International Milk Promotion Trophy

The annual IMP Trophy competition was initiated in 1989 by the IMP Group.

IMP is a permanent action team of the IDF Standing Committee on Marketing, it is a means of showcasing, to dairy farming and industry delegates attending the annual IDF World Dairy Summit, the best generic advertising campaigns created recently amongst the group in the key areas of innovation, nutri-marketing, and marketing communication. In honour of one of their founding members, Yves Boutonnat, it is now called the Yves Boutonnat International Milk Promotion Trophy.

Entries by marketing experts that are members of the IMP (International Milk Promotion) group are submitted to the IMP Group mid-year meeting where they are subject to peer-review, analysis and judging. The top 3 are selected to present their campaign and the winner is elected by secret ballot. The winner is considered the best in promoting the nutritional benefits and the healthy image and lifestyle of dairy foods.

Previous winners of the IMP Yves Boutonnat Award

  • Dairy Australia: “Our Dairy Promise”
  • United States of America: (USA) “Reset yourself with Dairy”
  • CNIEL France: #Fromagissons initiative
  • UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB): “The department of dairy-related scrumptious affairs”. The award is a means of showcasing the best generic advertising campaigns.
  • The European Milk Forum (EMF): ‘Milk Moments’ campaign.
  • Norwegian Dairy Council: One nutrient, hundred communication possibilities
  • Ireland: Promoting dairy for teenage healthy living
  • South Africa: Consumer Education Program of Milk SA
  • Dairy Australia: Changing our image – it is what we make it”
  • United States of America: Refuel with Chocolate Milk to Win the Race for Milk Sales
  • Norwegian Dairy Council: ‘No mornings without breakfast – no breakfast without milk’
  • Dairy Management Inc.: DMI (US) for the ‘Would You Like Milk With That?’ campaign