My Food Job Rocks!

Back in November, I saw posts from Dino Borri on Linkedin and all this buzz about opening Eataly’s newest location in Los Angeles. Conveniently, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to message him saying if I could interview him at the spot. It turned out, I was able to go to Eataly, take a tour of the fantastic new LA location, interview Dino, and did such a good job, I ate the heck out of their food. Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. You can create a profile, add your resume and search for co-op, internships and full time opportunities just for Food Grads. Employers can find you too, they can recruit you for jobs and projects they need help with to give you the relevant industry experience you need. Join Fo

In most of my recent interviews, when I ask about technology, I’m always hearing about Clean Meat! So when I saw that there was an actual book coming out on the topic, I used my awesome network to get the author, Paul Shapiro. I have to give my thanks to Ken Botts for kindly hooking me up with this awesome interview. Paul Shapiro is an animal rights advocate who has taken an interest in Clean Meat as a powerful technology to save the world. Think of this episode as a very technical summary for Paul’s book, clean meat, with added science geekiness. After the interview, I bought the book and read it and the topics in this podcast reflect the surface of If you’re really interested in Clean Meat from this interview, I highly recommend reading Shapiro’s book as it goes in depth on a lot of topics we’re talking about. So all of your answers about Clean Meat will be answered in this episode. Including why we’re naming it clean meat, the technology used, opposition to clean meat, and the role you as food scientists c

So this is kinda cool, if you recall our very first episode, we interviewed Nicole, and now, artistically timed, we interview her after 100 episodes. This episode is a bit different because it’s a return guest, and it’s much more conversational. Especially because Nicole and I know each other well, and talk fairly frequently A lot of podcasts do this, especially those with the same networks. I actually find these episodes really enjoyable because it’s like two friends having a conversation about life. I hope you find the discussion we have warm and inviting. However, we do bring up some really cool topics of discussion. We start off with a discussion on social media, then we reminisce about the growth of both Foodgrads and My Food Job Rocks. However, I would say the most important topic in this episode is about how scientists can communicate better, and what part Nicole and I play in this. Key Takeaways Nicole and I discuss the journey of growing our projects The debate on what to support in science How to g

I’ll be talking about this episode in three different sections: One will be about how we produce this podcast, two will be a sort of overview of the most common answers our 100ish guests have given on My Food Job Rocks, and the last part will be about what we plan to do for our future.     Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. You can create a profile, add your resume and search for co-op, internships and full time opportunities just for Food Grads. Employers can find you too, they can recruit you for jobs and projects they need help with to give you the relevant industry experience you need. Join FoodGrads today! Just go to Foodgrads.com Sponsor – ICON Foods What’s worse than marketing saying, ‘we hav

As some of you know, whenever I’m sent for business, I try my best to meet with people wherever I can. This time, it took me to Chicago. So I took a few days off and asked if I could come into the IFT office in the heart of Chicago. I talked to a few people on staff due to my role as Chair of the Cactus IFT section, but I also was able to get an amazing interview with two IFT employees. Karen Nachey and Jay Gilbert. Fun fact, I worked with Jay as an undergrad in college. So a main theme in this interview is food science, how we all found it, and more importantly, how IFT can help you as a food scientist. As you know, IFT has a variety of tools for food scientist and Jay and Karen break down how to use these resources. We talk about webinars, the best way to take your time on Expos, the Food Evolution movie, the really cool things happening with IFT Next, everything IFT is in this episode. Sponsor – FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodG

Hey everyone, just a quick note before the episode begins. We have a survey up for My Food Job Rocks that will help us plan for 2018. We need your input on how we’re doing so far, and we also have some really cool ideas we want you to approve in 2018. For your efforts completing this monster 40 question survey, we will be offering a chance to win an Amazon Echo. I just got one, they make your life a lot easier. Just go to myfoodjobrocks.com/survey I met David before joining Isagenix during my first meeting in Cactus IFT, the Arizona section of IFT. When I interviewed at Isagenix about a year later, I said “wait, I know you” Over time, David and I have become best coworkers and we talk about food, travel, IFT leadership stuff, and developing cool products for Isagenix. David is passionate about many things. Nutrition, exercise science, traveling, nature and of course, food science. He is a writer, or rather, a writer who manages other writers. However, as an avid learner, David decided to get his Certified Foo

Hey everyone, just a quick note before the episode begins. We have a survey up for My Food Job Rocks that will help us plan for 2018. We need your input on how we’re doing so far, and we also have some really cool ideas we want you to approve in 2018. For your efforts completing this monster 40 question survey, we will be offering a chance to win an Amazon Echo. I just got one, they make your life a lot easier. Just go to My Food Job Rocks.com/survey I thought I was going to have a hard time interviewing a 16 year old superstar chef, but it was one of my funnest experiences podcasting. Logan Glueff has a huge list of culinary accomplishments at such a young age. He’s met President Obama, Gordon Ramsey, and other top chefs around the nation. Not only has he been on TV such as Master Chef Junior, and Good Morning America, he also has a really big heart and enjoys hosting dinners at his house. Oh, did I mention he has a cookbook? So I ask some awesome questions to Logan and I got some amazing answers. I wanted t

After 5 years as a corporate food scientist, Tara decided it was time for a change. She decided to explore the wine industry. If you’re in any agricultural university who has a wine and viticulture program, you might have heard stories of the students going all over the world to get Harvest Internships, a time where the vineyards need people to help harvest and process wine from grapes! Tara did exactly that and moved from Ohio all the way to beautiful upstate New York to make wine. Conveniently, Tara works in a consulting group called Savour International and is doubling up doing quality projects in the winery. Nice! Tara’s interview is great if it’s time for a change in your career. You’ll learn about the pros and cons of taking risks, the power of being flexible, and you’ll get a complete rundown of how she got her Harvest Internship, and what she does on the daily. Key Takeaways How Tara jumped into the wine industry after 5 years of baby food How to find what you’re passionate about How to describe food

I knew Rachel before I even graduated and she didn’t know me. She might have actually been the first person I’ve ever seen who was a consultant. I think it’s because she took advantage of the online space and I stumbled onto one of her articles, or e-books, or something. Anyways, if you’re in NorCal, and you don’t know Rachel Zemser, you might actually be living under a rock. Her presence online and offline makes it seem like she’s everywhere. And she needs to be as it’s necessary navigating the Bay trying to solve silicon valley’s greatest challenge: consumer packaged food. In the bonus episode, you might have caught a bit on how Rachel networks, but this episode talks much more on being an expert formulator, even if you aren’t already in R+D. Not only that, but she gives some life advice to young professionals who might not want to leave home, gives some amazing insight on new food ingredients, and rants and raves about her favorite restaurants in the world. Key Takeaways On mentorship and being a pro deve

Rachel and I have known each other for quite a while and I am finally glad to do this jam packed episode with her. We recorded over 2 hours of content and I found the first part so good, that I had to share it with the world. In this segment, we talk a ton about bringing products to life, and the practicalities and pitfalls it takes to actually get started making a product. This includes having people overvalue products and undervalue other aspects such as production and marketing. Since Rachel and I are both in the bar space, we talk a lot about this type of product. This ranges from Keto Bars, bar marketing, dealing with silicon valley entreprenuers and how much money an actual product costs No ads this time, this one is a freebie.  Key Takeaway How to make a Keto Bar Marketing is everything for these products Trade Show Tips If an entrepreneur comes from tech, they think they have it all down Question Summary Do you have a network of consultants?: I have a network of independent consultants. For example,

I’m glad after 94 episode we have someone to represent the packaging side of. Derryl Kostynuik lives in a small town north of Calgary and he works with a lot of food companies to bring out the best in their brand. How do you do that? With creative and innovative packaging. Derryl gives some great examples of brands that went to him to get their packaging reworked. So in this episode, we go into a great detail on the creative process of designing a killer packaging design. We also get pretty into things, on how to make your own design firm (if you’re into that) but I think the most valuable lesson in this interview that I got out of it, was a really interesting method on how to be creative. You can sign up for Derryl's newsletter at: pencilworks.com About Derryl There are so many ‘me-too’, ‘blend-in’ and ‘boring’ package designs and not enough ‘stand-out’ package designs in the marketplace. Sadly, a lot of packages are collecting dust instead of ‘selling themselves’. It doesn’t have to be this way. My mission

I’m a big fan of interviewing small businesses that are rocking it and Pepper North is no exception. For one, I can ask them practical questions on how to get started and I get really grounded and tactical answers. Another reason? I get to try their amazing products. Ana Stevens found me on linkedin and asked to be interviewed. She then sent me some of her amazing products for me to try, big fan of their blueberry barbecue sauce. Canadian listeners, these products are exclusively for you (for now). So a big thing that really surprised me about Pepper North is that not only is it completely family ran, but they are selling at over 200 stores in the Toronto area. I dive in deep to find out how they try to get their products in stores and I found it really informative. Other highlights in this episode includes how important a story is on a label, the huge local movement going around in Canada and a great dissection on what makes these two founders such a great team. About Pepper North Pepper North was born out o

Weber Stibolt contacted me on our My Food Job Rocks facebook page and I got him on the show. He is a fanatic in both the coffee realm and the quality realm and I learned a ton about what makes coffee great. Weber shares his passion for agriculture and food science even sharing how he got into food science and how he’ll be teaching the next generation. Being of a very technical mindset, you will also learn some amazing things, such as the art of coffee tasting, how to be analytical and critical of your own work, and why communicating with your peers, is the most important skill in the world. About Weber  Weber Stibolt is a Quality Assurance Specialist for Eight O’ Clock coffee based in the Washington, D.C. area. Eight O’ Clock is a 150-year-old brand born out of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), a chain of now-defunct supermarkets. When A&P was struggling financially in the early 2000s, the Eight O’ Clock coffee brand was spun off and later purchased by Tata Global Beverages. TGB is a

This title was inspired by this article If you’re a fan of this podcast, I talk about taco bell a lot and I finally got a chance to talk to the registered dietician from Taco Bell. And I did not hold back. I talk about pretty much everything from the Naked Chicken Chalupa to the Power Bowl and praised every single item on Taco Bell’s menu. But of course, there’s some takeaways. One huge thing I want you to notice is how Missy carves her path. After working in 6 months in Taco Bell, she said “I want to own Nutrition in Taco Bell”. Not only that, but she continues to learn how to become a better and better employee by finding mentors in different departments. Other than that, we’ll talk about how being a dietitian in the fast food industry works, how to customize your taco bell order, and we share our experiences eating Guinea Pig in Peru About Missy Missy Schaaphok is the Senior Nutrition Strategist for Taco Bell Corp. spearheading the strategic global efforts for nutrition and product development. Within thi

In the past couple of months, students and professionals have contacted me all over the country to ask for advice on how to apply their degree in food science. I answer via linkedin message, email, phone calls, or sometimes, even skype. Most students are scared to have their interview posted in public, but one rose up to the challenge. Undergraduate Kelly Pan from the Ohio State University has reached out and asked for advice and I answer the best I can. A common theme in this episode is that we get into how to find out what you really like and turn it into a paid profession. We also talk a lot about the value in classes and going above and beyond. Important lesson is that schools will give you a baseline knowledge pool but won’t really teach you much about industry until you get into industry, whether that’s a problem or not, nothing I can do about it, but it’s just something to be aware of. No ads this time, this one’s a freebie How did you find us?: professors forwarded your podcast email to us The Ohio St

This is a special episode where I’ve had the opportunity for some students to ask me some questions. I’ve had many, but I chose these two episodes as great examples of the advice I give to students. So first up is Weslie Khoo, a PhD student who wants to know more about Product Developemnt and stuff like that. I do my best answering them and talk about my experience, but also name dropping a lot of companies that I found If you guys have any problems with the audio, let me know. Weslie’s audio is a bit hard to listen to, and if it bothers you, let me know through podcast@myfoodjobrocks.com or linkedin. I’ll have a replacement episode with my audio switched out. Sponsor - FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and share your story as well as ask specific questions and get feedback from industry experts across the sector. You c

I’m a big fan of talking to product developers because the more and more I talk to them, I realize they have the same problems I do! Sure maybe it’s rice, or gummies, or jerky, but once you realize the common thread of dealing with people, it makes it a lot easier to ask for advice. And that’s kind of the commonality in this episode. I exchange with Brian all sorts of helpful product development tips such as who to ask for help when you can’t figure out something out, or advice on how to get internships. By the way, you’ll also find out in the interview, that I totally forgot that Hershey bought out Krave. We even get into a good discussion on eating protein and the beauty of bone marrow. About Brian Brian Gouldsbury is a Senior Food Scientist for Krave Pure Foods, a subsidiary of The Hershey Company. Brian’s role is to develop new jerky flavors and meat snacks for Krave, in addition to identifying margin expansion opportunities for the brand. Brian has an associates degree in culinary arts from The Culinary

If you want to know ALL ABOUT CROWDFUNDING, you must listen to this episode. Let me introduce you to Cheryl Clements, one of the most delightful people I’ve ever interviewed. She owns the startup, Pie Shell, which helps food startups raise capital using crowdfunding. What makes Pieshell a unique crowdfunding platform is that it is super focused on food. All they fund is food companies but more importantly, they help food companies prepare to get ready for the crowdfunding journey. So this episode is jam packed with so many tips on how to name a company, how to ask for help, and how to most importantly, raise money to achieve your dream. Pieshell is currently in a crowdfunding stage itself and here's how you can be part of the pie. How to invest into the early stages of Pieshell. All you have to do is go to https://www.seedinvest.com/pieshell/seed and invest at minimum, $500 dollars. After I edited the interview, I hopped on and invested and this is not because they are my friends or anything, but it’s because

  I think this might actually be our first quality manager on our podcast and I am very excited that it’s Bryan. He’s had over 25 years working as a Quality expert in the dairy industry. Bryan is also offering his new book: The New Manager Mindset to our viewers and all you have to do is go to fsmaexpert.com and just pay for shipping. I read this book, as I’m thinking of management, and it really gave me some great tips and resources to not only understand people, but to build systems. We go pretty in depth on food safety, quality, leadership and management so if you are interested in this pathway, pay close attention to this interview. My favorite part of this interview is about 20 minutes in where Bryan explains how to have everyone agree on how to deal with warm milk. Sponsor - FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice and s

As the title says, this is another Food Safety Fanatic that I just loved talking to! Still young in his career, Ben Chapman does so many things in his field such as being a professor, writing on a blog, and of course, co-hosting a podcast with our previous guest, Don Schaffner. Ben’s focus on food safety is on the food service side as a lot of his work deal with how to have chefs and other people in the food service industry work with food safety, that not only includes teaching, but he also gives people the tools, whether gaget-like or not to mitigate the complex world of food microorganisms. Other than that you’ll get a lot of great food safety resources, a great discussion of how food safety is portrayed in the media, and where Ben takes his kids when they grocery shops. Sponsor - FoodGrads If you are even just a little bit interested in a career in food & beverage, you should join FoodGrads.  It’s an interactive platform where you can hear about different careers, hear from your peers, have a voice an