My Food Job Rocks!

Today’s guest is Ken Botts, the Food Policy Manager at the…Humane Society? So I believe that Ken’s job title is very misleading. I would call him more like a food service plant protein expert. He lead a a team and travels all over the United States implementing plant based proteins into food institutions. For example, his team works with chefs in schools, amusement parks, and even the military to educate and create amazing menus that use plants. In this episode, you’re going to learn everything about the hot topics of plants. This includes why eating plants is important not only health wise, and sustainability wise, but also learn the latest companies innovating with plant proteins, really cool recipes like non-dairy cheeses, and even about urban farming. Again, we wanted to remind you about the graduate school series next week. We'll be pushing hard on this initiative. In fact, we even a have freebie to give you. In exchange for an email address, you can get a nice, polished, graduate school post which will tell you what and when to prepare for applying to graduate school. About Ken Botts Ken Botts is a food service consultant, speaker, and blogger. In 2009 he designed and developed the nations first all vegan dining hall at the University of North Texas. His ideas and insights have appeared in media outlets including; USA Today, The Dallas Morning News, Green Source DFW, ABC news, Food Service Director Magazine and VegNews. Ken uses his 35+ years of food service experience to help restaurants and food service organizations implement plant-based menus and concepts. His mission in life is to help make the world a better place one plate at a time. Key Takeaways - Millennial’s push to know what’s in their food and why they care about food and the future - The challenges of opening a Vegan Restaurant - Amazing advice on how to network really well - The hottest plant food trends - How plants can potentially save the world - Why the Military loves plants - Why Urban Farming might be the solution Summary Answers When you’re introduced to someone, what do you tell them you do?: Teach chefs how to work with plant protein Most exciting part of the job: I get to travel all over the world to help food service professionals Millennials are driving the demand of plant proteins Most Important Skill You Can Have: Long term connecting with people Tips to be a connector: Never meet a stranger. Have the mindset that you can help someone when you meet them. My Food Job Rocks: Make the world a better place through food The Biggest Challenge the Food Industry as to Face: How are we going to feed the future without destroying the planet? Who Inspired you to Get Into Food: My mom: if you get a job in the food service, you’ll always have a job Favorite Quote: If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity and you don’t know how to do it, say yes. – Richard Brandson Favorite Book: Diet for a Small Planet Favorite Piece of Equipment: Vitamix – You can heat soup! Favorite Food: Bean Burritos Advice to get into your industry: Strive to learn something new every day. Find yourself a mentor. And think as big as you can How does the Humane Society get clients?: Schools first, other things follow. It’s free too. What We Talk About Global Conference for Amino Acids James Beard Foundation Humane Society Paul Shapiro Josh Balk – Cofounder Hampton Creek Kristie Middleton Vegan Dining Hall Men’s Journal about Plant Based Proteins “Clean Meat” Feed 9 billion people in 2050 Beyond Meat Tyson Food buys a stake in Beyond Meat Kite Hill Almond Cheese Treeline Vegan Cheese Myoko Vegan Cheese – Has a book Chickpeas World Health Organization Year of the Pulses Changing the culture of the culinary world through Chefs Department of Defense Urban Farming Northeastern University Herbavore festival in Riverside Pumpkin Mac and Cheese – recipe posted at kenbotts.com Humbolt State University Sea World Parks Ken Botts.com Twitter kbotts@humanesociety.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I’m so happy to introduce Tiffany Lau, a friend I knew from Cal Poly. We actually graduated together, and from time to time, we catch up. Though before this interview, it’s been a while. Anyways, very excited to have Tiffany on the show because she has experience with a very important, but not really well talked about part of the industry. She is the first guest to focuses on a very important part of the industry: food safety. Working as an Auditor for the NSF, she goes and does audits for retail food stores. This mainly involves correcting and teaching workers about food safety habits. If you’re interested in learning about audits, this is really for you. You’ll learn a ton of things such as what tests to take, what it’s like to work at home, and why this job might resonate with you. This is also a pretty nice interview if you’re interested in sales Let’s begin Key Takeaways The difference between a health inspector and 3rd Party Auditing Why a Food Safety position might be for you Retail Safety versus Manufacturing Safety Pros and cons of being Home-based The payoff for being a food safety auditor Summary Most common problem in audits: There is no one specific problem Why Does Your Food Job Rocks: It feels like I can help people Where do you see yourself in 5 years?: I want to try Regulatory. Quality, Food Safety, or Regulatory What do you look for most in a job?: A job should make you happy Food Trends and Technology: Rolled ice cream Biggest Challenge to Food Industry needs to face: Food Labeling Who Inspired you to Get into food: Alton Brown, my mom Favorite Kitchen Equipment: Kitchen Aid Favorite Food: Korean Food – buckwheat in cold broth Advice: If you’re studying to be an auditor: focus on microbiology and food safety Deleting your goal or purpose on your resume People Skills, interacting with clients, make them not afraid of you When looking into the future: ask if this is right for you Something inspiring: “Lucky Breaks don’t happen, they’ll only happen when you find something you love” What We Talk About (Links) 3rd Party Food Safety Auditor Unannounced Audits Explaining food safety aspects Recruiting via linkedin CPFS Certified Professional Food Safety Credential Bad bug chart (coming next year) Food Defense Shelf-life 626 Night Market Korean fried chicken Koreatown – Kyochan Chicken- best Korean fried chicken Taylor Swift Song (Haters gonna hate) Smart Label Initiative Non-GMO Gluten-free French Macarons Macarons vs Macaroons Jajangmyeon REHS - Registered Environmental health specialist Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some housekeeping items: - We're going 2 times a week! Check out a new episode every Monday and Wednesday starting January 2nd! - On January 2nd, we will be creating an awesome new series called the Graduate Series. You can check it out at myfoodjobrocks.com/graduate Key Takeaways Hear me pronounce words wrong like existential crisis My story about applying to graduate school 5 reasons why you should apply to graduate school anyways See what we're launching in January Is Graduate School For You?   I wanted to tell you my story on graduate school, which isn’t very exciting, but whatever. I think everyone has this weird thing, like an existential crisis, that happens in your senior year of college where you have absolutely no idea what to do after graduating. I think it’s very common to have graduate school cross your mind once or twice during your final year in college. The school I went to to be honest, has a slight disadvantage when it comes to applying for graduate school. Though some people in my university do get in, the skill set in the food science program at Cal Poly was definitely geared more towards industry preparation. For example, I only had to take one Organic Chemistry course, where most master’s programs require like 3 courses on it. There are exceptions. But anyways, applying to graduate school is really tough, I found it extremely stressful and overall, I turned in my application late and didn’t get in. Actually, I only applied to Penn State for graduate school. I got so angry at UC Davis’ process that I didn’t even finish it. First of all, you have to take this dumb test where you stare at a computer screen for 6 hours, then you have to ask 3 people why you’re the best and either have them take the time to write a letter, or they ask you to write it for them, and then you have to not only request a transcript, but in some cases, you have to type it all in the application process as well! It was extremely frustrating for me. I was also applying to jobs and if you looked back at like, episode 10, then you might remember how much time that consumed out of my day. Overall, I had a cheesy revelation that there are plenty of people who are successful without a Ph.D. and I’ve heard a lot of stories about the pros and cons of graduate school, and then I realized I really didn’t want to deal with the stress of long hours and bite sized paychecks. With a job, I could get money and spend it on cool projects, like this one! Note: these are my opinions for people with a Food Scientist background. There are many people who major in things that might as well have an advanced degree, though if you think hard enough, you can actually get around it. For example, a chemist might need a Masters but I know a handful of people who get into project management fresh out of college with a BS. But the 7 people we will be interviewing do understand the value of a higher education and they will tell you all of their trials and tribulations, their hints and short cuts, and their undying passion to make the world a better place. But anyways, I wanted to give you five distinct pieces of advice about graduate school and reasons why you should at least apply, or not apply. Sometimes it might be worth it, sometimes not. 5 Tips for deciding if Graduate School is for you. Decide what you want to do with your life Most directors for rich companies have PhDs because they have the ability and drive to tell people confidently that they’re wrong. The company I work at specifically have a lot of people at the director level that are doctorates. So when it comes to mapping out your life, this is really, really hard. It is actually very rare for someone to follow their life in one straight line. A masters will open doors, but so will starting a podcast about the food industry. Well, that was a bit tongue in cheek, but the fact remains, graduate school is a very nice, structured, accomplishable task and you can do great things in a narrow field when you get that masters or phd. If you want an unconventional method, get a job, and spend money on fun projects. Some people don’t want to find the “truth of tomatoes” and that’s fine too. I think if you’re passionate and actually like what you studied, you can definitely do graduate school. The cool thing with food science, however, is that there is a lot more incentive to enter the work force right away. This is mainly because having a science degree means two things: You think you can tell lesser educated people they’re wrong (which is why you can be a supervisor straight out of college) You can weigh and record in a little book your cookie recipe over and over again Well, with a  masters degree, it adds a bit of a layer of complexity: You think you can tell lesser educated people they’re wrong (which is why you can be a manager straight out of college) You can weigh and record in a little book your cookie recipe over and over again, but now you can write a plan to make better cookies before you record your data. So I am basically giving you the philosophy that a degree and work experience are pretty much equal, and the only thing that separates is the value and initiative YOU have to take to be successful. Also, I can guarantee you that working at a 12 hour shift in a factory for a month is equal to a month in graduate school. I did this, it sucked, but I got a job that I love because of it. Guys, to do great things, you must do something challenging, I can’t stress this enough. A good life is hard, if life was easy, it’d be too boring, right? Do you have good grades and accomplishments? Go For It! Our friend Heather McCain is an amazing student, was our chapter IFT president, did a lot of stuff for IFTSA, and got stuff done. It would be a shame for her NOT to apply for graduate school. I did some cool stuff too, so I decided to not let this go to waste and applied to graduate school. This is the same experience I had going into college for my Bachelors. I wanted to be a chef, but my grades were pretty good so I decided to apply to college. But graduate school, I realized… I’m not an academic. I’m still not sure what I’m good at. But I have a good idea on what I’m bad at. In my opinion, it’s extremely painful to apply to graduate school but you should give it a shot. When I say painful, it’s going to take time and it’s going to take effort. The experience has some tangible takeaways, like knowing math… and knowing words… So I have a bias about applying to graduate school because the process was absolutely terrible in my mind but I think with the interviews this month, you’ll have a much better strategy than I had. Who knows, I might actually change my mind. Again, if you have the prerequisites, at least try applying. There is no harm to. I mean I did, and failed horribly at it! The point is, you’re going to regret not trying, more than you’ll regret trying. And this statement is true for all decisions in life. Do you know a professor? Go for it! If you have a professor’s digits on your phone, you can probably get funding. At least much more easier than everyone who doesn’t? Most strategies I’ve learned from the interviews is that it is MUCH easier to contact professors, and set up a relationship and then apply to graduate school. The professor is going to OK you anyways so as long as you don’t have glaringly bad GPA or exam score. Within the 7 interviews in the coming week, you’ll realize that a handful of them contacted professors and secured funding before even doing the application process. However, some were long time connections, and some didn’t even have to worry about it. If this helps, Graduate school is not undergraduate school. It’s a low paying job with high returns in value and you have to treat it as such. You can get a job via connections and you can go to graduate school via connects. This is because you’re going to work with this professor for a very long time. He or she has to like working with you. Do you just not want to deal with the “real world”? Don’t Do It. Everyone is scared about the real world and everyone has considered graduate school to be another two to 10 years of academic limbo. I would know, I’ve had it and I I’ve also heard graduate students that “I’m not ready to face the real world yet” In my personal experience, that’s the worst, most cringe-worthy excuse I’ve ever heard. In fact, you should deal with the real world first before deciding to go to graduate school. Get some industry experience, do an internship, work at a slaughterhouse. These experiences might actually give you more of a drive to get into graduate school. The real world isn’t that bad, I mean you make money, right? And you can spend it on whatever you want. When you’re a graduate student, you have to be very frugal…well, unless your parents are paying for it. Then go for it! Do you want a higher pay grade? Don’t Do It… yet This questions depends on your major, but I’m going to assume the people listening are trying to get into the food industry. Depending on the company, they will pay for your education. And you’ll also get paid for work! What a steal. If that ever gets offered, you should do it. However, if you meticulously plan your life like a lot of my friends, you’re probably going to be disappointed. My friends are like “oh in 5 years after I get my masters I’ll make this, then I’ll get married, have 2.5 kids and  nothing else will go wrong. I mean, maybe I dunno, but you can’t predict the future and even with that mindset, if one thing doesn’t go your way, your life will be very unhappy, which is just not necessary. So does a graduate degree generally means more pay? Depends where you end up. Industry? Academia? Entrepreneurship? The possibilities are indeed endless. With my discussions with Katie Lanfranki, we both discussed the fact that in this industry, having an advanced degree does not necessarily mean you’ll be paid higher. There are starting salaries in food science that make more than professors, who have made less than 10,000 dollars in the past 4 to 10 years. Point being, don’t get your graduate degree for the money. DO it because you are interested in a specific subject, and want to be a MASTERS of it. But again, mastery can come from anywhere. I would concider Deya from Beyond Meat (episode 24)is considered an expert in Extrusion with just a bachelors, and Darryl the ice cream consultant(episode 21) gained from entrepreneurship. Either way, DO NOT GET YOUR ADVANCED DEGREE FOR THE MONEY. Having this mindset is very toxic. You have to do it because you love what you do. You have to do what will make you happy. Anyways, those are my 5 reasons to go (or not go) to graduate school. But please, listen to all seven interviews so you can get multiple perspectives, multiple pieces of advice from people all over the world. This is extremely important. I would have killed for this if I was in graduate school. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have an amazing guest today, Rohini Dey is an inspiring woman, who not only owns a very successful restaurant in New York and Chicago, but also spearheads a great scholarship program for aspiring women in the culinary field. We are also proud to announce the Women in Culinary Leadership Scholarship and encourage you to apply. Click here for the link. About Rohini Dey, Ph.d.  A leading restaurateur, proponent of Indian cuisine with her unique Latin twist across Vermilion Chicago and NYC, an avid supporter of women, former World Bank economist and McKinsey management consultant, Rohini Dey straddles the worlds of business and philanthropy across the US and India. Rohini was inspired to break away from her management consulting career by a desire to go entrepreneurial and a conviction that Indian cuisine in the United States was either confined to stereotypes, or timid and washed out. Rohini created and developed the Vermilion Indian-Latin concept and cuisine. She led the spectrum of entrepreneurial activities across her NYC & Chicago entities. As founder, owner and culinary director of Vermilion, Rohini oversees the operations and culinary evolution of her restaurants. As a woman restaurateur, Rohini is a staunch supporter of women in business and mentorship and education of girls on a global level. A member of the Board of Trustees and the National Advisory Board of the James Beard Foundation, she co-founded the James Beard Foundation Vermilion Women in Culinary Leadership Program (WICL), backed by a roster of incredible restaurateur-mentors and celebrity (CFW) “Chefs for Women.” About Vermilion Since inception, Vermilion has been acclaimed as “Best New Restaurant” by Chicago Magazine, Travel & Leisure, Town & Country, USA Today, and Bon Appetit, among others. For its pioneering cuisine, woman-led team and Rohini’s entrepreneurial journey, she and Vermilion have been profiled in The Financial Times, Time, Oprah Magazine, Fortune, Esquire, Crain’s, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, BBC World, CBS News, and NBC, among others. Key Takeaways - How Rohini took advantage in the rise of Ethnic Food - How Rohini planned her research to make her restaurant (she gets very intense! Like interviewing 40 people) - Why Rohini is also very passionate about Women in Culinary Leadership (there’s a scholarship at the end) - Tips on what they look for as a candidate for a scholarship What We Talk About Previous Job: World Bank and McKinsey Indian Cuisine Passion: to feed the world Latin Cuisine Tandoori Skirtsteak (It’s fusion) Play with food anything south of the US What makes a good Chef?: Taste-minded, Cost-minded, Team –oriented, Vision-minded, Why Does Your Food Job Rock?: "Because I can create an amazing new cuisine and surprise people by how delicious it is." Women in Culinary Leadership – (Jamesbeard.com) James Beard Foundation Women in Culinary Scholarship Tip: Go Above and Beyond and Ask For More New Trends and Techologies: Exotic flavors and spices getting utilized Stiff upper-lipped Upscale Dining Favorite Meal: Home cooking and street dining Grilled Peruvian food in Cuzco Tempura in Japan What’s the one thing you’d like to know more about: Someone to catapult Rohini’s business (I pitch here about food science) Advice on how to start your own restaurant: Do your research. Especially the cost. Vermilion in New York and Chicago New York is more competitive and jaded than Chicago eaters   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Enter to win $500 dollars at Jessica Gavin's contest. Click Here! Today we have an amazingly bubbly guest. Jessica Gavin is a Sr. Research Scientist for Nutralite, which is a division of Amway. She’s been there for about 9 years which I find absolutely amazing. What’s also super cool is that Jessica has her own food blog at jessicagavin.com which has amazing pictures and recipes. Her blog is one of the most professional food blogs I’ve seen as someone who is a food scientist. More importantly, Jessica has decided to showcase a scholarship for aspiring food scientists and this is the first thing on our show notes at myfoodjobrocks.com/028jessica . We definently encourage any student listening to apply. Keeping this short, because this interview is jam packed with great information just about how to be a good product developer, communicator, and mother. Note: Though Jessica and I work for direct sales companies, we cannot sell our own products! However, I hope through our conversation, you can tell they treat us quite well. Key Takeaways - Why Jessica stayed in her company for 9 years - How to use a culinary mindset in a product development aspect - Why Nutralite grows their own Botanicals - Jessica’s blogging skills and why she did it, and what she does (around 42:00 minutes in) - Why Jessica wants to give you money What We Talk About Nutralite- Amway Botanicals Flintstones Vitamins Probiotics Direct Sales Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Taryn Yee The Most Important Skills in your job: Learning to build trust Every failure is an opportunity to learn Stages (pronounced: Stauge)- volunteering at a restaurant Culinary Science Ali Bouzari What’s your dream job: Culin-neer? Own company What do you look for in a job?: Your company values you Most exciting food technologies: Clean Label, Gluten-free, GMO-free what you don’t put in Soybeans Pea Protein Supply Side West What’s the biggest problem the food industry has to face?: Pseudoscience and communication Uber communication Millennials What’s your beat? Who inspired you to get into food?: Jessica’s Grandfathers (crazy story) Favorite thing you like to cook: Home made dumplings Butternut squash macaroni and cheese Tofu Favorite Quote: Wayne Gretski: Miss 100% shots you don’t take Favorite Book: Science of Good Cooking Favorite Kitchen Utensil: Spiralizer What would you eat for a month?: Croissants French Polynesia Advice for the Food Industry: What is your Passion? What energizes you? Advice for your freshman self: Study abroad or take interational lessons Take internship opportunities Cargill Slaughterhouse in Texas Jessica Gavin’s Blog Reddit Consistency is key Income Report Trolls Scholarship Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  We have another great small business this episode. Piccola Cucina is an Italian bakery that focuses on Italian baked goods such as macarons and focus on using almonds in their mix. In this episode, you’ll learn about the different varieties of Macarons, how important it is to maneuver and adapt in the food industry as a small player, and some amazingly good resources and advice from the CEO herself. I always appreciate having small businesses on the podcast and we have a few more coming up in the pipeline. I admire their tenacity and thinking in the long term. This interview is no exception. About Pina Romolo An entrepreneurial, international trade, sales, and relationship management executive, delivering the highest level of client service with keen attention and acuteness to cultural and political sensitivities with valuable contacts in a number of worldwide regions; expert knowledge and proficiency in English, Spanish, Italian, French and basic German. Specialties: BA in languages, Specialty Food Manufacturing, Strategic Business Planning, Channel Sales, Web presence, Business Development, Event Management, Public Relations, Relationship Management About Piccola Cucina Piccola Cucina is the premier manufacturer of gourmet, handcrafted, almond based foods. These artisan products use almonds as the first ingredient and are made with the utmost of care and attention, manufactured in a dedicated gluten free facility. Products include a line of Italian macaroons, 6 flavours in all. Flavours include Amaretti, Chocoretti, Pistachioretti, Limonetti, Coconutt & Walnutti. Products also include almond based pie & tart shells. The sweet shells are free from gluten, dairy, grains, soy, corn & yeast, low in sodium & vegetarian. And the unsweetened shells are a multipurpose, vegan free from gluten, dairy, soy, corn & yeast & low in sodium. These shells are dense, won't get soggy, can withstand and hold any filling, from sweet to savoury, to quiches & meat pies, to deep dish pizza and anything in between. Key Take Aways - The history and diversification of macaroons (macarons) - Amazing specialty food industry resources - The ability to listen to customers and pivot - How do small businesses compete against the bigger guys? - Why family is everything What We Talk About Italian Family Recipes Italian Macaroons Amoretti cookie Almond flour French Macaroons, America Macaroons Brazil Macaroons Tip for making macaroons: Ask my mother Vegan Pie shells Listening to customers Food and Beverage Mannitoba (Board of Directors) Ciao Specialty Food Show Fancy Food Show in San Francisco Specialty food association newsletter Biscotti Gluten-Free My Food Job Rocks: I’m surrounded by good people, I get to be my own boss, I can build a legacy Food Technologies: Non-GMO As a business, what would you like to know more about?: I am learning every day District Ventures- Armine Dickinson’s Incubators Who inspired you to get into food?: My family, my mom Favorite Book: Arlene Dickinsons: All In Favorite Kitchen Item: A good knife Freezing basil Favorite Food: Pasta, Spaghetti Carbonata Advice to Start a Food Company: Be prepared to be in it for the long haul Don’t cut corners piccolacucina.com twitter linkedin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephanie Ronquillo is a Cal Poly alumni, and perhaps she could be described as one of my first influences in getting me involved in college. She was the ideal academic student. With the 4.0 GPA, president of the food science club, she’s smart. After college, she went straight into industry and works at Newly Weds Foods as a food scientist where her focus is on seasoning blends. In this interview, we focus a good chunk on strategies to make your college experience meaningful, childhood heroes, and interview tips.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s guest is the Vice President of Business Development for a distributor/ supplier, SPI Group, Russ Nishikawa. What SPI Group does is brokers deals with lesser known ingredients and markets them to customers. A specialized ingredient producer will make deals with distributors for them to market or sell their product. For example, I would have never known about a pea protein from Belgium if it wasn’t for the SPI Group. You don’t hear much about these types of businesses in school, but they are all the rage in industry, especially if you deal with highly functional and trendy ingredients. Anyways, I’ve known Russ Nishikawa for a couple of years in Northern California. He reminds me of my uncle to be honest. About Russ Nishikawa Russ has been involed in the growth of SPI Group for 25 years. He is involved in new ingredient business development with key customers and targeted market segments, working with new ingredient from new and existing suppliers and determining how applicable the product benefits are to each end product and customer, and maintaining a very technical approach to understanding the value of each ingredient to our customer's needs. About SPI Group SPI Group is a distributor of specialty ingredients to food, nutritional, and nutraceutical manufacturers in the Western United States and Canada. Quality Ingredients Personal Service Logistical Solutions Technical Personnel Key Takeaways How Russ got his first job in Hawaii Why learning about people is more important than process and equipment How tricky it is to substitute cleaner ingredients What We Talk About Humble Pie NCIFT New Professionals SPI Group Colorado Utah Clean Label Sodium Benzoate Lactic Acid Social Media MSG UC Davis Food Science Hawaii- Maui Papayas Punaynay IslandCommerce Wisconsin Learning more about People Formosa Food Ingredients New Zealand Milk Products New York Most Important Skill in the Industry: Empathy How to improve empathy: it’s about character, you’re trying to do the best for yourself and others Why Does Your Food Job Rock: It’s Part of Commerce Food Trends and Technologies: Clean Label GMO, Non-GMO Phosphates Spices and Extracts The Biggest Challenge the Food Industry needs to Face: Trust in the consumer and transparency We’re on the same side What’s one thing in the food industry you want to know more about?: How food interacts with each other Understanding process Inspiration: My Sister got me to look at food science Pilot Plant Most important ingredient: The people. Quote: Be The Light –Buddha Don’t be a downer Favorite Food: Poco Loco (might actually be El pollo loco) Poke QSR Advice for the Food Industry: Match your personality to the career you like For the Future: I’d like to build process lines to Food Banks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First off, I am loving the diversity of our guests recently. From different ages and genders from all over the world! The person we are interviewing today fits into this category. Deya is from Mexico and now works for the ever-trending Beyond Meat, where they produce meat substitutes that actually taste like real meat. If you do some research, their process making it (which is proprietary, and won’t be discussed too much here, sorry folks) is pretty fascinating. You’re going to learn a ton about an interesting process called extrusion, which is a very scientifically complex process that creates really cool products. Basically, you take raw materials, put them into a machine and it pops out a product… that was a horrible description… but if you just google the process on how hot dogs, protein bars, or even how puffed cereal is made, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I used to do some extrusion work in college and at my old job so it was nice to talk to somewhat of a kindred spirit. However, I think Deya takes it to the next level, she is probably one of the most passionate people I’ve ever seen in a particularly specific subject and you will find out exactly why in this episode About Deya Suarez Trujillo Deya was born in Monterrey, Mexico to parents with engineering and food science masters degrees. Their influence and understanding of the teaching method and her mother’s strong belief in leading by example and learn by doing, challenged Deya early in life to take risks and not be afraid to fail, as well as her dad always pushing her to be limitless creative.  Together with her passion for creating yummy food allowed her to excel as a fearless, young engineer, working with heavy machinery, and integrating her work with scientists. Deya attended university at Tecnologico de Monterrey known for their expertise and innovation with food science, particularly food engineering using extrusion technology.  Additionally, Deya spent a year as an exchange student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.  A food protein extrusion program at Texas A&M exposed her to the versatility of combining food and engineering machinery to create a wider range of food products. This lead Deya to Beyond Meat, a company focused on improving human health, positively impacting climate change, conserving natural resources and respecting animal welfare through the innovation of plant based meat products. There, she leads the extrusion team developing, designing and communicating scale-up technology transfer for manufacturing in the extrusion team. On any given day she can be found working the drill press, creating and testing new die models for product improvement and functionality or testing new sustainable ingredients to help make the Beyond Meat products better. She gets messy, takes chances, develops early proof of concept designs, and executes on time. Deya rides her bike to work along the beach and enjoys the beach with friends. She loves hiking in the hills above the ocean, painting, watching football, doing yoga and cooking with friends and family (specially Mexican food). Key Takeaways How Deya got into extrusion technology Why Deya and I love Steve Jobs Why you should be involved in something specific What We Talk About IFT16 IFT App Uber Extrusion Engineer Meat Replacements Extruder Clextral Twin Screw Extruder Buhler Extruder Extrusion functionality and reminiscing problems How to recreate extrusion during the bench sample process Texas A and M Extrusion Course Food Science Engineer Easy-Bake Oven Techologico De Monterey (College) Cereal Science My Food Job Rocks: I do what I love Beyond Meat Why Plant protein is the future Extrusion By Products such as Whey, Fruit Skins, etc Reducing Food Waste Favorite Quote: Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do. (I have this on my cubicle) Steve Job’s Autobiography Favorite Book: The Happiness Track Emma Seppoa Life’s too Short to Be Stressful Favorite Food: Mexican Food (Salsa) Advice for anyone who wants to go in the food industry: Get Ready. Find something unusal that you’re passionate about Find the experts and go out to find the experts Invest in your future: You might not have all the knowledge right now, but if you’re surrounded with people who know things but you don’t, learn from them. Appreciate what you know, and share what you know, and learn other things from other people My Linkedin Video about Extrusion Processing Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Download Interview (Right Click Save As)   For today’s episode, we have Chef Michael Bunn, Senior Manager of Sam’s Club where he takes on a Quality and an R and D role. This guy has an amazing food career. From culinary school in the military, to academia, to being a research Chef, so many things. This guy loves what he does. The RCA loves this dude too. He’s had articles published about him, and Kim also has a great podcast about him as well. Enjoy Chef Bunn’s interview, where we talk about chef school, retorting, and…Baltimore crab… About Chef Michael Bunn As a former military cook and current Sam;'s Club senior quality and product development manager, semper fidelis- the "always faithful" motto of the Marines - guides Michael Bunn's life and work. I cannot do this justice, but this amazing article about the Chef will be the best bio I've ever seen. http://www.nxtbook.com/sosland/rca/2016_09_01/index.php?startid=1#/30 Key Takeaways Why Mike decided to go into research instead of being a chef Whether Mike enjoys Product Developing versus Quality What the heck is Clean Label? How do Chefs help the clean label trend How to ship Baltimore crab to your house Why the industry is looking for both chefs and food scientists What We Talk About Being a Chef Culinary School in the Marine Corps Culinary and Hospitality Management University of Akron, Ohio Food Science at Akron, Ohio University of Cincinnati Food Science Program The Werner Company Retort Intern (company disbanded) JR Simplot Masters Degree in Food Science in Kansas State Sam’s Club Retorting MREs Private Label Research Chef Association Important Skills: Communication, Networking, Flexibility. Be Humble Interview Article for the Culinology Magazine Food Trends: High Pressure Processing versus Thermal Processing Sous Vide Ramen egg Biggest Challenge we need to face: Sodium and Clean label How Mike talks about Clean Label: Depends who’s asking. Panera Bread, Subway have different views for instance What Mike wants to learn more about: GMO’s, Sodium Who inspired you to get into food?: His grandmother Quote: Poor Planning equals Poor Results Book: Culinology Book: Interaction between culinary arts and food science (actually called this) Kitchen Item: Hand blender Favorite Food: Sea food. Crabs and Shrimp. Steam garlic crab, whole boiled crab. Baltimore Crab (they will ship live to you) Google: Live crab for sale online (Maryland) Mayland Blue Crab Express Advice about the food industry: for the chef Learn the craft and skill set very well Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices