Name: Will James
Age: 27
Job title: Product development technologist – The Spice Tailor
Company & location: Premier Foods, Worksop
Education: Sheffield Hallam University: BSc Food & Nutrition and MSc Food Consumer Marketing & Product Development
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? I always toyed with different career ideas, but usually at that time it was whichever sounded the most interesting, adventurous or dangerous, and varied month on month. For most of my childhood it was to be in a band.
Why did you decide to go for a career in food & drink? My food industry journey began when I was a teenager, working as a pot wash at the weekends in local pubs and restaurants. This developed into me becoming entrusted with a section in the kitchen, which then grew to me having more responsibilities, and I went from weekend work to a full-time position once I left school. New techniques, ingredients and adrenaline were enough to get me hooked and I absolutely loved it – it never felt like work to me.
Before university, I also worked in kitchens in France during the ski season and had an amazing opportunity to work part-time in a Michelin restaurant, where I further honed my practical skills in the kitchen.
“Some of my project trials with The Spice Tailor take me to India to ensure we’re working with high-quality ingredients throughout the portfolio”
Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): I work on the NPD for ambient cooking sauces at Premier Foods, and I have been heavily involved in the development of The Spice Tailor range. This involves working on new recipes and collaborating closely with marketing and further internal teams to understand how we can best position the range.
What does a typical day look like for you? My days can be really different depending on what stage we’re at with a product. My work often includes: weighing and batching recipes in the Pilot Plant facility we have on site; quality checks on samples; product tastings and making amends based on feedback; project or supplier calls; calculating costings; and sending samples for safety testing.
Tell us how you went about applying for your job: Towards the end of my postgrad degree, I came across the opportunity to work at Premier Foods, and liked the idea of working with the company that held a high proportion of the market share of my kitchen cupboard!
I went through two stages of interviews, the first of which was on Zoom to chat through my background, experience within the industry and what I studied at university. The second stage was an in-person interview, within which I had to present ideas for a new product and how I’d go about selling and launching it to the market.
What is the best part about working for a food & drink company? The reward when a product is produced and people enjoy it is the best part. It’s an amazing feeling when you walk down an aisle in a supermarket or convenience store and see the final product you’ve been working on for the past year. It makes it all worthwhile – even the ups and downs that come with it – especially when a product you’ve been a part of has been shortlisted for an award.
The opportunities are also a great part of working for a food and drink company. For instance, I was given the opportunity to travel to India to work on a selection of The Spice Tailor products. I got to see and work with authentic Indian ingredients, learn new development methods and have much more involvement in the overall project, plus experience the delicious local cuisine.
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And what’s the biggest misconception people have about working in food & drink? For me, it’s the time spent on new and existing product development. Initial ideation to final launch can take anywhere between a year and two years, and I don’t think people realise the extent of work that goes into the products they consume every day. Hours and hours are put into recipe formulations and product validation.
Similarly, the level of safety and quality testing we do is very rigorous, making sure products will meet consumers’ high expectations when they come to use them.
What advice would you give to other young people looking to get into the food & drink industry? Value your opinions – all of which are valid. Everyone has a different palate and by having different opinions on the flavour profiles you are tasting, you are also speaking up for wider consumers. No one expects you to know everything when you start, and it’s a great industry for learning on the job. The training and essential knowledge are provided for you. Be a sponge.
What’s your ultimate career dream? This is a difficult one as the food industry is continuously changing, and it seems like a way away yet, but I think it would be to create a consultancy-based business, comprised of all the necessary teams required for launching a product within the food industry. This would aid those in smaller-scale business which need assistance in their development journey. I would see it as a small company with around 10-20 employees, with links to retailers and online stores.
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