KANSAS CITY — Completing its judging of entries to the 2015 Product Development Contest, the American Society of Baking (A.S.B.) announced finalists in this first-ever competition. They are:

Professional finalists

• Michelle Kim, The Little Door, Los Angeles, for “Buckwheat Pita”

• Emily Guilfoyle, Corbion Caravan, Lenexa, Kas., for “Loaf Divided”

• Paul Morabito and Branden Cadenelli, Puratos Corp., Cherry Hill, N.J., for “Muesli Cookie”

Student finalists

• Ting Lin, Andrew Pham, Mallory Mau and Victoria Lee from University of California, Davis, for “Hearty Pie”

• Alex Maxwell, Emily Ehlers and Amy Guo from Kansas State University, Manhattan, for “Multigrain Masala Mathri”

• Emily Elliot, Emily Jackson and Marie Feldpausch from Kansas State University, Manhattan, for “Whole Wheat Garlic Parmesan Bread”

To launch the new event, the A.S.B. chose whole grains as the product theme, requiring that the total formulation of the proposed item contain no less than 50% whole grains. Entries were evaluated for their potential success in today’s market and the technical problem-solving skills used in developing the product.

The final proposals will be made during BakingTech 2015, A.S.B.’s technical conference set for March 1-3 at Chicago, with winners announced from the conference podium.