In far northwest Washington, just a few miles below Canada, rural Lynden, Wash., produces approximately 90% of the nation’s annual frozen red raspberry crop. Geographically, it’s a world away from downtown Chicago—the striking contrast of Mount Baker towering over green farm fields to Chicago skyscrapers towering over a broad metropolitan area.

Those worlds collided in mid-November when the Washington Red Raspberry Commission (WRRC) hosted its second annual Food Product Innovation Student Competition involving 22 students and their mentors from Chicago’s Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Hosting the event was Charlie Baggs Culinary Innovations (CBCI) on the city’s near north side.