Marine supports Benoo in the area of Food and Quality control. Today, she tells us more about her role as a Food Engineer.

1) What made you study Food Engineering?

When I was younger, I was always checking the back of any packaging to read the ingredients’ list and nutritional values of the products. I made some research to find out who was behind it and that’s how I discovered the job of food engineer!

2) Which kind of companies are hiring food engineers? And which is your role within these companies?

Food engineers can be hired by big companies (Nestle, Danone) as well as smaller entities which produce or sell food products or services.
As a food engineer, you can work in different field within food companies such as Research and Development, Quality, Marketing, Sales, Purchasing, Logistics etc depending on what you want to specialize.

3) What studies are necessary to become a Food Engineer in France? What about
Germany?

In France you can study food engineering at an engineering school or at university. In
Germany you can study it at university.

4) According to you, what are the necessary qualities to practice this job?

According to me, you certainly need to have a strong interest in food in general. You should have a problem-solver mindset and you should be adaptable.

5) Are there any noticeable difficulties practicing this job?

I guess not more than any other job!

6) If you could describe your job in three keywords, what would they
be?

In my case my job is varied, a passion for me and a never-ending topic (there is always more to learn).

7) With which other actors do Food Engineers work with the most in
the food industry?

Depending on your position and how big is the company you work for, you can work
together with the food producers (farmers), with the customers (focus groups, interviews), with the food transport companies, with cooks…

8) Are you specialized in precise culinary products?

I specialized in Health and Nutrition. I work mostly for eco-friendly food brands or
companies that aim at developing healthy products. I also worked for the baby food industry back in France.

9) Tell me about a memorable experience in your Food Engineer career?

The really first product I developed was a barbecue alternative for vegetarians. I was proud to have developed a product from scratch!

10) Given the change in mentality about food consumption in recent
years, do you think the Food Engineer job will evolve in the future?

Regarding the actual situation, the food engineer positions are already turning towards sustainability topics and some smaller entities tend to develop towards local food alternatives. The mission of the food engineer in the next years is to be able to feed 9 billion of people in 2050.

Thank you Marine for these precious informations!