WHAT DOES A FOOD TECHNOLOGIST DO?
Published: Mar 31, 2025 - The Food Technologist investigates supplier complaints, identifying root causes and solutions to ensure compliance with safety standards and prevent enforcement challenges. This position requires Collaborative efforts with suppliers, external colleagues, and quality assurance teams to enhance product development, ensure on-time launches, and maintain product quality through rigorous evaluation programs. This role supports the Global New Product Development process, aligns with local legislation, drives innovation, and supports nutritional strategies in response to the latest regulations.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Food Technologist
1. Food Technologist Duties
- Project Management: Create and duplicate competitive products through the successful management and timely completion of customer-related projects in accordance with project parameters and customer requirements.
- Cost Optimization: Lead different savory projects including cost optimization, analysis, evaluations, and portfolios.
- Regulatory Compliance: Experience working with labeling requirements and requirements from FDA and the USDA.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Effectively utilizes critical support functions including Innovations, Analytical, MCI, and Regulatory, in the development process.
- Communication: Communicate with Regulatory and Purchasing for raw material information and labeling requests.
- Technical Expertise: Deliver technical assistance and savory development expertise to protein strategic customers.
- Process Development: Establishes Work Instructions and Process Controls for consistently manufacturing product design to finished product specifications.
- Continuous Improvement: Seeks to continuously improve production and R&D processes through best practices.
- Food Safety Standards: Ensures that strict hygiene food safety standards are met, and quality programs are followed.
- Supplier Management: Partner with suppliers to ensure raw material data and documentation are current.
- Raw Material Solutions: Collaborate with Procurement and other members of R&D team on raw material solutions.
- Consumer Insights: Coordinate and execute internal and external consumer panels to gain important insights on innovation, new product development, and renovation projects.
2. Food Technologist Details
- Raw Material Management: Review all Raw Ingredient Specifications, and maintain raw material database based on updates.
- Supplier Approval: Organise, manage and document all supplier approval requirements by completing the database of all suppliers with essential information as directed by the head Chocolatier.
- Allergen Risk Management: Complete and Document the Allergen Risk assessment as part of Allergen Risk Management.
- Supplier Approval Process: Complete and Document the specification assessment as part of the Supplier Approval process.
- Product Specifications: Complete full Finished Product Specifications based on the customers' own format and requirements when needed.
- Customer Communication: Promptly deal with all customer queries regarding the specification and matters related to it.
- Traceability Support: Support Traceability exercise during audits and investigations.
- Certification Management: Be responsible for maintaining certifications.
- Regulatory Compliance: Ensure that Rococo is compliant with EU and UK regulations.
- Label Database Management: Create, maintain and review the back of the labels database as instructed by the head Chocolatier.
- Technical Reviews: Support all technical reviews in order to amend and update specifications related to raw materials and finished products.
3. Food Technologist Responsibilities
- Raw Material Analysis: Analysis of raw materials both for substitute or second source, working with Procurement to comply with Kellogg raw material specifications.
- Raw Material Development: Development of new raw materials with procurement and suppliers.
- Product Development Planning: Produce a development plan with Innovation and support cost reduction to improvethe competitiveness of products.
- Testing Coordination: Co-ordinating with production and Quality to perform testing in processes and production lines.
- Product Testing Management: Manages and supervises product development testing.
- Sample Management: Manages test product samples for testing and evaluation.
- Product Specification Development: Establishing product specifications to meet customer satisfaction.
- FDA Documentation: Prepares documentation for FDA submission for new products and imported products.
- Raw Material Specification: Establishing raw material specifications to meet Kellogg's food safety policy.
- Food Safety Compliance: Maintains manufacturing food safety procedures for new products or revises the current ones to comply with the latest food safety regulations.
4. Food Technologist Job Summary
- Product Improvement: Works with Production to improve products or eliminate any production or product problems.
- Cost Estimation: Formulates the BOM for cost estimation calculation.
- Internal Research: Performs internal research and evaluation of premium testing.
- Shelf Life Monitoring: Monitoring product shelf life test.
- Formula Management: Ensure that all formulas, parameters /SOP/Master files are updated.
- Documentation Control: Controlled documentation for SOPs, Formulas, etc. are signed, dated, and authorized prior to use.
- Quality Improvement: Supports quality improvement projects.
- Compliance Management: Ensure all the processes are followed, compliance with standard requirements prior to producing any new product or innovation, including Allergen, HACCP plan, stability test, product image, attributes, etc.
- Raw Material Approval: Ensure all raw material specifications, nutrition information have been approved by the area quality.
- Issue Resolution: Providing issue support and resolution or escalation where appropriate.
- Reporting Support: Support Technical Operations Director and Technical Operations Managers with routine and ad hoc reporting requests.
5. Food Technologist Accountabilities
- Data Coordination: Co-ordinate the generation, provision, and approval of nutrition and allergy data for use in-store, digitally, and to meet customer requirements.
- Material Approval: Reviewing and approving materials related to the above, e.g., menu boards and other POS, for legality and accuracy, in a timely fashion.
- Policy Compliance: Support and advise the category and marketing teams on menu items compliance with relevant policies including external requirements, e.g., CQUINs.
- Data Provision: Provide additional data provision to support the decision making during the development process, e.g., recipe and nutritional modelling.
- Quality Issue Support: Support the Technical team by supporting the investigation of quality issues raised by the Costa category, suppliers, or identified complaint trends.
- Data Gathering: Support the wider technical team with data gathering and collation, particularly in times of crisis management, in a timely manner.
- Meeting Representation: Attend and represent the technical function at Costa meetings, where relevant.
- Customer Query Support: Assist the Customer Feedback Team in providing technical responses to any customer queries.
- Surveillance Testing Coordination: Co-ordinate the surveillance testing programme from collating the risk assessments, scheduling the testing, arranging samples, to being the key contact with the lab.
- System Support: Delivering systems support for the team for all applications and system needs across the department.
6. Food Technologist Functions
- Relationship Management: Establish and maintain strong relationships with all stakeholders in the end-to-end supply chain.
- Supply Chain Management: Technical management of the end-to-end supply chain across bespoke and off-the-shelf suppliers and distributors of food and drinks.
- Guideline Development: Responsibility for the development and implementation of Costa/NSF guidelines and standards.
- Supplier Auditing: Represent Costa when auditing suppliers, working on Industry panels, and liaising with external bodies.
- Supplier Visit Program: Deliver a programme of supplier visits & ensure audits are closed off and supplier standards are driven forward.
- Continuous Improvement: Collaborate with suppliers to drive continuous improvement through carrying out regular reviews and implementing live quality improvement plans.
- Guide Creation: Provide support through the creation and maintenance of WGLL guides across the supply base.
- Product Compliance: Ensure that all products are manufactured in accordance with the client’s requirements.
- Supplier Record Maintenance: Maintain and update supplier records.
- Cost Savings Support: Support Costa buyers in the identification of cost savings in the supply chain.
- Supply Chain Visibility: Maintain visibility of every stakeholder in the supply chain.
- Incident Coordination: Coordinate and manage incidents related to food safety, legality, and quality, including decision making, investigation, and follow-up of actions.
7. Food Technologist Job Description
- Complaint Analysis: Analyse and investigate supplier complaints and issues to identify the cause and solution.
- Safety Compliance: Ensure there are no successful enforcement challenges on the safety for area.
- Corrective Actions: Work with suppliers to implement corrective action plans to address the causes of actual and potential product non-conformity.
- Development Collaboration: Collaborate with external colleagues and suppliers to drive the development process.
- Product Launch Management: Ensure all new products and product improvements are launched on time from technically and ethically capable suppliers.
- Specification Management: Maintain active and accurate product specifications for the area and carry out regular reviews on these with the supply base.
- Product Evaluation: Collaborate with the Costa team, QA inspection team, and suppliers to manage a regular product evaluation programme – organoleptic, analytical, and microbiological.
- Provenance Verification: Work closely with suppliers to ensure that any provenance claims can be proven and defended if challenged.
- Quality and Availability Plans: Ensure delivery of quality and availability plans.
- Category Quality Management: Responsible for the End-to-End Quality of the category.
- Nutritional Strategy Support: Support the Costa Nutritional Strategy in line with the latest regulations and guidance.
- Global NPD Compliance: Support the Global NPD process by facilitating technical compliance with local legislation and regulations (as appropriate to category).
- Technical Innovation: Drive and support technical innovation in new products, processes, and equipment.
8. Food Technologist Overview
- Product Dispatch: Prepare and dispatch sauces, condiments, and dressings to customers for appraisal and analysis.
- Customer Presentation: Present created products to external customers.
- Tasting Sessions: Prepare and conduct tasting sessions.
- Product Development Research: Conduct research to aid product development.
- Stock Management: Maintain and manage stock.
- Documentation Management: Complete documentation following production including nutritional information, product costings, and sample submission documentation.
- Production Trials Oversight: Oversee product creation at production trials.
- Sensory Evaluation: Execute sensory evaluation of shelf-life testing and communicate conclusions.
- Data and Documentation Maintenance: Collect and upkeep data and documentation for co-manufactured products, which will be maintained in a database.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work cross-functionally with Manufacturing/Operations, Marketing, Innovation, Quality, Regulatory, and Co-manufacturers to support new product development, and existing product improvements and resolve product quality issues.
9. Food Technologist Details and Accountabilities
- Complaint Processing: Utilize SAP-QMQN for complaint processing from plant assignment to responding to customers.
- Complaint Tracking: Use the system to close and track food safety and/or quality complaints.
- Customer Communication: Capture data and communicate with customers on complaints.
- Complaint Analysis Coordination: Coordinate complaint analysis and provide the required data to the Quality Assurance (QA) Managers.
- Conference Call Coordination: Coordinate and conduct routine conference calls with Product Line Managers (PLM), Plant Managers (PMs), Quality Assurance (QA) Managers, and other plant department personnel for complaint updates.
- Data Collection: Communicate with the Customer Operations Team in data collection to ensure complaints are correctly processed and data entries are accurate.
- Investigation Coordination: Assign and communicate with plants for complaint investigation and complete the investigation cycle by coordinating with the plant investigator(s).
- Customer Response: Write responses to customer complaints, providing required details on product root cause analysis with appropriate corrective action plans.
- Sample Analysis: Coordinate sample collection and conduct analysis, either at internal or external laboratories, to analyze data, interpret, and report.
- Data Maintenance: Maintain all data in SAP and provide monthly reports to the QA team for decision making and action planning.
- Proactive Problem Solving: Demonstrate proactive attitudes in approaching food safety and quality solutions to customer issues.
10. Food Technologist Tasks
- Team Support: Support the entire R&D team in attaining short-term and long-term development goals.
- Reporting: Provide written and verbal reports of research activities.
- Meeting Participation: Participate in R&D meetings.
- Product Development: Generate new product ideas and recipes, modify and improve existing recipes, and develop prototypes.
- Process Development: Develop processes for the production of recipes at a large scale.
- Food Safety Compliance: Ensure that strict hygiene and food safety standards are met.
- Test Runs: Conduct production test runs.
- Data Analysis: Collecting and analyzing data.
- Product Specification Development: Develop in-process and finished product specifications.
- Nutritional Information: Generating ingredient statements and nutritional information.