The newly launched institute supports farmers in creating value-added products by collaborating with experts in food science, economics, and agriculture.

Indian-American food scientist Dharmendra Mishra has been appointed as the head of Purdue University’s Institute for Food Product Innovation and Commercialization. The institute aims to assist farmers in transforming raw agricultural produce into market-ready food and beverage products.

A joint initiative of Purdue’s food science and agricultural economics departments, the institute is backed by a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development.

“This grant focuses on enabling farmers to enhance the value of their products,” said Dharmendra Mishra, the institute’s director and an associate professor of food science. He highlighted the challenges entrepreneurs face in converting crops into consumer-ready goods and emphasized the institute’s goal to simplify these processes for farmer-entrepreneurs.

The program integrates expertise in areas such as food manufacturing, safety, marketing, and entrepreneurship, offering a three-phase product development process: online training, a one-day workshop on food product lifecycles, and personalized feedback sessions on campus.

Key resources include Purdue’s Pilot Plant, which replicates commercial-scale manufacturing, and the Food Entrepreneurship and Manufacturing Institute (FEMI), established in 2021. FEMI has supported projects like Purdue’s Boiler Chips ice cream and Boilermaker Hot Sauce.

In addition, the institute partners with agricultural economists from Purdue’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability to help farmers evaluate market opportunities.

“There’s a limit to how much agricultural commodity can be produced,” said Kenneth Foster, assistant director of the institute and professor of agricultural economics. “Often, commodities are shipped elsewhere where value is added. Our goal is to facilitate local value-adding, ensuring more benefits stay within the communities where these products originate.”

The initiative is guided by board members from Indiana’s agriculture organizations and aims to benefit both farmers and students, according to Mishra.