My food & drink job: Frances Cope, innovation technologist, New York Bakery Co

Name: Frances Cope

Age: 26

Job title: Innovation technologist

Company & location: New York Bakery Co in Swinton, South Yorkshire

Education: BSc (Hons) Food Development and Innovation at University College Birmingham – including a placement year where I split my time between bakery and food to go as an undergraduate developer with Co-op.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? A whale trainer! On a more realistic note, I was always interested in baking as I used to bake with my grandma regularly. The passion for food has always been there.

Why did you decide to go for a career in food & drink? Despite my love for food I always knew that cheffing wasn’t for me – food styling was where my passion lay while I was at school.

I was lucky enough to land work experience for the likes of Anna Jones and Olive magazine, which opened my eyes up to the wider world of food. Once I went to university, my love for product development grew, and the rest is history!

Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): I oversee the entire lifecycle of a food product development, from its inception to its debut on store shelves (which is so exciting to see!), navigating every step of the process with care and expertise.

“It’s probably the best process to get a job I’ve ever done!”

What does a typical day look like for you? There are so many varied parts to this job and no two days are the same. One minute I am in the test kitchen baking up a storm, then I am off liaising with suppliers, analysing lab reports or conducting market research, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

One thing I love is that my role gives me the opportunity to visit food expos and do bakery field trips to ensure that the company is always up-to-date with emerging trends. For example, our newest innovation of limited-edition blueberry bagels cater to the sweet breakfast trend.

Tell us about how you went about applying for your job: The interview process had creativity written all over it. I was briefed to suggest various potential product development options, from new flavours to new category ventures. I suggested gingerbread bagels for Christmas, and bake-at-home bagels that you’d find in the freezer aisle. It’s probably the best process to get a job I’ve ever done.

What’s the best part about working for a food & drink company? I love being part of the product development journey right from its inception.

It allows me to use my creative thinking and understanding of the foodie world, starting from conceptualisation and recipe crafting – which I would say is the most fun part for me. And, naturally, getting to try the fruits of our labour is the cherry on top!

A great example of this is the recently launched blueberry bagel – it has been so rewarding working on this from the start and seeing it right through to the end as the finished product hit supermarket shelves. It is great to know that I’ve been involved in making customers’ breakfast at home that bit more delicious. Blueberry was my first project at New York Bakery Co, and it has been a real team effort. I thrive working in this type of interactive environment.

It’s also nice knowing that my involvement in recipes, whether it be projects on salt reduction or added functional nutritional benefits, means I am ultimately making a positive impact to the diet of our customers. That’s something I’m passionate about – we have a real responsibility to do the right thing as a food manufacturer in this area.

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And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? Product developers aren’t in the kitchen all day, every day. It’s a lot more varied than that, I promise!

What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? If you want to get into product development or a similar technical realm, a food-based degree is a must. Coupled with this, it is so important to jump at the chance of a placement, no matter how long. It will open your eyes to the idea of a role vs the real thing, and start to build your little black book.

What’s your ultimate career dream? My dream is to keep working with food, because I don’t think I will ever get bored of it.

I’d love to see even more women in the world of bakery, and being part of that growth is something I’m deeply passionate about. I also have aspirations to manage a team of my own one day, helping others develop their skills in an industry I love so much.