Jonelle Taylor
Working as: SENIOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIST for Fonterra Brands (Fresh 'n' Fruity).
Age: 25
Earning:
In a nutshell: “I work for Fonterra Brands as a Senior Product Development Technologist. My job is to work on cultured foods and I cover 3 main areas: new product development, production process optimization and cost saving projects with cultured foods.”
Why?
"I make desserts. What's not to love?”
At School and University
It was my Dad who first told me about the Food Technology degree and from the start it sounded like me. Gaining the prerequisites necessary to study the subject at university wasn’t difficult, I simply chose the recommended subjects in 7th form and one year later my bags were packed for Massey. Still, despite my enthusiasm I did my homework and talked to some former graduates of the course. The more I heard the more I liked.
I completed the 4 year Massey Food Technology degree in Palmerston North.
Palmy was fun; the degree was quite tough but interesting and every year you have to do practical work experience in the summer break. My first taste of my chosen field only cemented my interest and provided me with all the incentive I needed to perform well at Uni.
Once I completed my degree I knew it wouldn’t take me long to get a job. There is a shortage of Food Technologists in New Zealand and more than enough work to go around.
At work
 The majority of my work is in new product development. I manage projects from conception all the way through to launch. Once a concept is finalised I will proceed to either formulation work then bench top work to make a sample. Once complete I present my work to the Marketing team and once they sign off on the samples I begin trials in the factory. For this I need to organize the raw materials, the ingredients and the packaging. I also have to construct the nutritional panels and ingredient lists for the packaging.
While I manage multiple projects it is essential that I be present for the first production run of each new product to ensure the first batch of product to reach the supermarket is perfect. Most projects should take about 8 months to get to this stage but in reality they usually take 4-6 months. When the marketing department wants something quickly we have to work hard and fast. Even then we may have as many as 6 large projects on the go at the same time, and a few smaller ones.
As you can guess my day to day work varies a lot. I may be at my desk Monday, in the lab Tuesday before hitting the factory on the Wednesday. In broad terms the work divides out roughly into the desk work being 70%, lab work being 20% and factory work being 10%. While I enjoy being in the factory I only need to be there when we are trialling a product or for first commercial production runs, and to be perfectly honest the variety ensures that every facet of my job stays fresh. You can’t get bored when there’s this much diversity.
An exciting product I have made:
 One of my latest launches is the ‘Fresh’n Fruity Desserts’ layered yoghurt range. It’s one of those really yummy indulgent products that everyone seems to love and it’s doing very well on the market. There are 3 flavours and they come in twin packs to ensure the satisfaction of even our most demanding yoghurt fiend. They have layers of fruit on the bottom covered by delicious creamy vanilla flavoured yogurt. They’re devilishly nice and it was an exciting product to develop as the task also involved reviving technology that hadn’t been used for 3 or 4 years.
It was quite a challenging job to get it all up and running again as the machinery ran anything but smoothly initially. We certainly ran more than the average number of factory trials but it was more than worth it in the end. The machinery used was unique in that it’s able to layer the food into the pot during manufacture. It took a while to perfect but the end result is a smooth, semi-addictive dessert that is quick to produce and practically flies off the shelves.
Looking Back
My job here has changed a lot since I began. Initially 50% of my time was as the Sensory Technologist and the other 50% was as the product developer. Being the Sensory Technologist meant I did the sensory work for all of the technologists, the UHT, the yogurts, the milk etc. You get a good feel for the product range at this company.
What makes a good Food Technologist:
You need to be quite thorough, with an acute attention to detail. You can’t skip over any part of a project and you need to be precise in almost everything you do. Still, an accountant’s mentality won’t get you far. Creativity is essential. We’re always looking for the next new idea and if it’s you that comes up with it then your value to the company skyrockets.
You need to have a love for knowing how things work. The most successful in my field are those that never lost their childish curiosity. When you combine an inquiring mind with a sound knowledge of what ingredients are going to work together the possibilities are almost limitless.
You need to have good communication skills as you have to work closely with our suppliers and many other teams within the company, including the factory production staff. The importance of forming good relationships with these people can’t be emphasised enough. They may not know the technical background to products that we technologists do but the people in this team really know their machinery and are crucial when it comes to performing factory trials.
And of course: A LOVE OF FOOD! It may sound trite but the projects that are fuelled by passion really do taste better and in this job it’s not hard to generate. I’ve got a really fun career and I love it. It’s such an exciting job and it’s so varied.
My time out from work What I really enjoy the most outside of work time is exercising enough to keep healthy and spending time with my friends, going out and having fun.
(Profile courtesy of Futureintech – www.futureintech.org.nz).
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Real people talk about their jobs in food science, technology & engineering (courtesy of Futureintech: www.futureintech.com):
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 Wendy Robinson, Senior Food Technologist for NZ's largest ice cream manufacturer, Tip Top Ice-Cream, Auckland.
 Harriet Gibbs, Process Manager for multinational dairy processor Fonterra, Edendale, Southland.
 Bronwyn Hawker, Food Technologist with innovative beverage manufacturer Frucor, Auckland.
 Michelle Lucke, Process Improvement Technologist for prepared foods manufacturer, Heinz Watties, Tomoana, Hastings.
 Ben Sutherland, Product Development Technologist for healthy snack manufacturer Mother Earth Foods, Auckland.
 Anna Smith, Development Technologist for milk and dairy foods processor Fonterra Brands NZ.
 Melanie Wong, Food technologist/QA Manager for meat processor and exporter ANZCO Foods Green Island, near Dunedin.
 Rachel Johns, Product Development Technologist for iconic prepared foods manufacturer Heinz Wattie's, Hastings.
 John Evans, Operations Manager for drinks manufacturer Phoenix Organics, Auckland.
 Penny Hosking, Technical Manager for buttercup squash processor and exporter Southmark Quality Foods, Hastings.
 Emily Choi, Product Development Technologist for prepared foods manufacturer Heinz Wattie's, Hastings.
 Tracey Petley-Hibbs, Process Technologist for sweetmaker, Nestlé Confectionery, Auckland.
 Andrew Hutton, Product Development Technologist for prepared foods manufacturer Heinz Wattie's, Hastings.
 Debbie Curtis, Chocolate Technologist for international chocolatemaker, Cadbury, Dunedin.
 Jonelle Taylor, Senior Product Development Technologist for Fresh 'n' Fruity yoghurt manufacturer Fonterra Brands, Auckland.
 Yvette Temple, Senior Product Developer for biscuit manufacturer Griffins, Auckland.
More profiles of careers in food technology at Futureintech: www.futureintech.com. | |
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