College course is key to food career
A former student has embarked on a career in food manufacturing after successfully completing the College's BA (Hons) Food and Consumer Management course.
Emma Baxter is now on the graduate training scheme for Samworth Brothers, which produces sandwiches, ready meals, salads, pastries, desserts and sausages for supermarket own-brands and under their own name.
She says her time at the College prepared her well for the job, as she learned the theory behind such concepts as management, communication, food and nutrition, finance, IT and consumer studies, as well as learning practical food skills, which included a public demonstration where she prepared a dish in front of a live audience.
As part of her course, she also took part in a year-long industrial placement at Givaudan – the world's largest flavour and fragrance house – spending six months in the dairy department and six months in beverages. She also took part in four-week placements at the end of the first and second years, with Ginsters and Heinz.
She said: "I have found that most of the information I gained at College has already been useful during my short time in work, and I can see where other aspects will come in use in the future. I am also glad I took the opportunity of an industrial placement.
"I really enjoyed my time at the College, in particular the practical aspect of the course. Even though the public demonstration was a bit of a daunting prospect, I feel it really helped me to develop my interpersonal skills."
In her current role, Emma is taking part in three placements of between six and twelve months each in quality assurance, process and new product development.
She said: "Quality Assurance involves ensuring that the quality of the raw ingredients, the processes and the final products are of a high standard. In a typical shift I will have to calibrate the temperature probes, inspect the ingredients in the chillers, inspect the production area, carry out a ‘good manufacturing process' audit on one of the lines, take the temperature of various areas of the site throughout the shift, carry out a final quality and taste panel on a sample of each of the products made during the shift, and ensure that the paperwork for traceability and safety of products is filled in correctly.
"When working in the Process department I am responsible for writing specifications for the products, creating the paperwork needed for ingredient preparation and on the production lines, taking photos of each of the production stages and checking the ingredient labels against the product specification. I also help to organise the trial runs and launch production for new products.
"I am yet to start any work in the New Product Development department, but my role will be aiding in the creation of new products and the improvement of existing ones.
"I will finish my training scheme within the next three years, at which point I will be offered a position within one of the three departments – I am hoping to go into new product development. The training scheme should facilitate faster promotion to managerial positions within the company."