Ep. 133 – How to Set Up For Product Development Success with Siddharth Bhide, Food Scientist at JUST Inc

I happened to be in San Francisco and met up with Siddharth at the JUST office. After an amazing tour of the place, we sat down in one of their rooms and I busted out my new equipment, a sound box where I could improve the audio quality of mics

If you're interested in product development or want some skills to improve, I'd listen to this interview as we pour out our strategies and frustrations on scaling up. You’ll also learn some interesting tips on how to improve your own R and D process.

A note, the audio might sound a bit off, and I apologize. New technology is tricky, but we’ll nail it.

Sponsor - BAKERpedia

This episode is brought to you by BAKERpedia – your one-stop, resource that answers all your questions on industry trends, ingredient information, food safety and more. It’s shared knowledge, freely available, always. BAKERpedia.com – we do all the thinking so you can focus on your business.

*NEW* Patreon

Due to our ad cycle being over, we’re trying a different model for My Food Job Rocks. We have opened up a Patreon page! Now you can support My Food Job Rocks if you want to and the reward tiers go from a complementary career advice book to ad placement and more. We’d love for you to be part of the process. Visit Patreon.com/myfoodjobrocks

Shownotes

A quick story about my experience with Hampton Creek, or JUST shownotes:

http://letters.eatjust.com/dear-23-year-old

http://myfoodjobrocks.com/?attachment_id=2529

Shownotes on Siddharth Bhide

When someone asks what you do for a living, what do you say?: I differentiate between nutrition and food science and research chefs JUST name change What do you do at JUST?: I do a lot, mainly scale up and commercializing products When did you start working for JUST?: I started in November 2015. What is the most exciting thing about your job?: Learning about all of these plant proteins How do you test all of these plant proteins?: We have a sourcing team, an isolation team, and then it goes to the application team What kind of misconceptions would you like to dispel today?: Asking a food scientist if they’re good at cooking is like asking an electrical engineer to fix your computer How did you find out about food science?: I always learned about food in my family. When it was time to choose my major, food science popped out as an option. I worked in India in the Nespresso line, then got my masters in Rutgers. I worked in General Mills and then the Rutgers Innovation Center How did you get into JUST?: Look for people who care about the mission. It’s also nice to work with very similar products What is the most important skill you need in your job?: Being inquisitive and thinking outside of the box because of this all new development. Critical Thinking is also very important How do you acquire knowledge on plant-based innovation?: I follow the news Good Food Institute Institute of Food Technologist Google Scholar with any keywords based on clean plant-based proteins, etc Saskatoon, Canada My Food Job Rocks: I get to work with a basic necessity that can impact lives Favorite JUST product: Cookie Dough What would be your dream job title?: I actually don’t know. I’m just trying to explore Is it ok to not know where you’re going?: Yes, but you should try different things What do you look for at the job?: I need to be challenged and always learning What department interests you the most?: Scaling up is what I find the most interesting because we don’t learn it in college Lumeng Jin – Sensory Scientist Do you recommend product development competitions?: Yes, you realize you need to solve a problem. You also learn a lot of nuances. It’s better to use this experience for a job interview Siddharth did Developing Solutions for Developing Countries Product Development competitions ask you how to ask for help The biggest issue is learning about scale up, especially from a  copacker What is your favorite trend and technology?: Clean meat and plant-based meat. Also, high-pressure processing Holly Guacamole How do you feel about clean meat?: I think it’s the future. The media is expensive, but we hope our plant based database can help us pinpoint the right nutrient broth Fetal Bovine Serum R and D presentations JUST has 6 divisions and share information all the time The biggest challenge the food industry has to face: The population is rising and we need to feed them. Mea production is detrimental to the environment. Gustav Y-combinator podcast interview Zengineer podcast Who inspired you to get into food?: My parents. Nestle manager. Dr. Don Schaffner was actually my adviser (he was in My Food Job Rocks) Favorite Quote: Mahatma Gandi: be the change you want to see Favorite Foods: A spice, a friend of mine packages it in turmeric foods Turmeric needs to be solubilized in oil for it to take in effect. Any advice for anyone in the food industry?: Go for it, be inquisitive. Anyone can join the food industry What would you tell someone on the first day in their job?: Don’t be too fixated by the problem. You have to think of the bigger picture and some solutions don’t have to be perfect

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices