Anna Smith
Working as: DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIST at Fonterra Brands NZ
Age: 22
Earning: $35,000 - $40,000
In a nutshell: “My job is to develop new food products that end up on New Zealand supermarket shelves and in homes and kitchens around the world.”
Why food technology?
“I love my job. I’m pleased I chose the school subjects and study programme I did.”
I work for Fonterra Brands New Zealand as a development technologist. There are two main parts to my job: I carry out food sensory work, and I’m the development technologist for UHT (Ultra High Temperature) products which are mainly exported. It’s definitely a challenging job.
I work on products such as fortified milks, standard milk, cooking cream and whipping cream, for which Asia is our main market.
Taste testing
Sensory work is a lot of fun. The other development technologists will come to me with their new products, such as dip, cottage cheese, yoghurts, and milk products that need to be tested.
One example might be deciding the best mix of flavours to have in a six-pack of yoghurts. I’ll do a bit of ‘in-house’ testing, which I organize with either people from the factory or business/admin side, and they come and try the new flavours.
After the taste tests I process the statistics and write a report, which I give to the food technologist involved.
If it’s Calci-yum, which is aimed at kids, I go out to schools and do sample testing there. That’s a lot of fun.
Working on UHT
The other part of my work is the UHT (Ultra High Temperature) work. UHT products are aseptically filled cartons of milk that are shelf stable for six to nine months, but need to be refrigerated once they’re open.
UHT involves heating the milk to higher than normal temperatures. This can cause a lot of changes in the chemistry of the milk, for example, milk can gel because of the interactions between the proteins and other things in the milk.
Some people have negative perceptions of UHT, because they think we’re adding things to the milk. This is not the case – it’s just been heated to a very high temperature and all the bugs have been killed, not just some of them as with pasteurization..
 Developing a new product
Most briefs come from the marketing department who talk with customers and determine their needs, and then we follow a process to achieve what they want.
It starts with the idea or innovation, and some preliminary costings, and then we move on to the development stage. The pre-launch follows which includes development of artwork. It’s also our job to make sure the nutritional panels are correct before we launch the product onto the market.
One example of a UHT product I‘ve developed is a soft serve ice cream mix. I even have a soft serve machine on loan so that I can see the final product. The lab people love me when I’m making an ice-cream mix because they get to sample lots; they even line up outside the door!
It needs specific ingredients to get it to look and feel right. It needs to come out of the machine with nice peaks, white in colour and not pitted looking. Adding stabilizers and emulsifiers helps ensure this.
A technologist in the making
I went to Waikato Diocesan School for Girls in Hamilton and I had a strong interest in the sciences – I studied chemistry, physics, calculus, statistics and English in my final year. I always knew I wanted to go to university but wasn’t sure what degree to do.
When I heard a food technologist explaining his job developing interesting flavours for milk, I knew this could be the job for me…
I enrolled in a four-year Food Technology degree at Massey University. It was a good mix of science, food science, technology, and engineering involving processes and product development plus a lot of practical hands-on experience.
A large part of the final year of the degree is completing an individual project for a company. The company funds the project and mine was to develop a UHT-based high protein milk drink. I had to go through the development process and develop a product by the end of the year.
As part of the degree it’s compulsory to work each summer in a food industry to apply the knowledge we learn at university. It was a challenging degree but I really enjoyed it and think it was really really worth it. It’s a degree that combines food development and processing, so it can take you any number of places.
When Fonterra were looking for a new technologist they were looking for someone interested in UHT development, so my project experience in my last year of university helped me win this job.
Some of the skills you need
Communication skills are so important in this job. I have to work with people in the factory who have a world of knowledge about how things work, and with people in administration and marketing as well as our ingredient suppliers. You need to get along with a lot of different people in this job.
If you’re a problem solver, good at the sciences and able to think outside the square then you’ll enjoy this job.
And of course you have to like food.
(Profile courtesy of Futureintech – www.futureintech.com).
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Real people talk about their jobs in food science, technology & engineering (courtesy of Futureintech: www.futureintech.com):
  Simon Loveday, Food Research Scientist for The Riddet Institute, Palmerston North.
 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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