Food! The very sustenance of life. With the evolution of the human race, our production of food manufacturing has now involved into the largest sector within the various advanced manufacturing industries in Australia. In this episode, we showcase four leading experts within food manufacturing, food technology and food science! Jana Cameron (President of the Food Association of QLD), Lea Reid (Senior Development Technologist at Earlee Products), Trish Linderman (R&D Manager) and Juju Chen (Food Technologist) join forces to deep dive into a detailed discussion on this amzing industry. Each guest humbly shares their expertise on the various details of the food industry unravelling responses to questions such as: What is involved in the food industry and food sciences? How has it evolved? What are the technologies involved? Robotics, Data, IoT…, What are the different career paths & employment opportunities within the food industry? What are the key skills & attributes required? Following this knowledge share, each guest goes on to details advice for future food technologies and scientists as well as what 21st century educators now need to take on to align with the requirements of the industry. Tune into this delicious episode for all the ingredients required to understand exactly how to succeed within food industry.

A bit about our guests…

Jana Cameron
Jana is the President of the Food Industries Association QLD (FIAQ). She has held this honorary position for the past 7 years. In her day job, she runs a recruitment business that specialises in the recruitment for food manufacturing - PATH4 Food.
Jana has been involved in the food industry and food technology for over 20 years. This has been through recruitment and through various honorary positions in food technology and food industry associations. As a result, she has thorough understanding of the industry and has been lucky enough to guide people through their careers. She has also been sitting on numerous advisory and reference groups to assist in developing strategies for skills shortages and navigating the industry through the recent pandemic.

Jana is qualified with a Master of Science in Agriculture, a Master of Business Administration, holds a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, and is also a certified NLP Trainer and a Results Coach.

Lea Reid
Lea Reid has worked in the food industry for over 25 years and has held a wide range of positions within different food companies. She has many years’ experience in the domestic and export meat industry implementing new products and processes including sous vide, meat drying, smallgoods, marinades, food ingredients, raw meat, further and general processing. She has also spent time in bakery as well as the ready meal industry in production, operations, marketing, packaging, and logistics. Lea is currently working at Earlee Products as a Senior Development Technologist.

Lea has worked in positions of Quality Management, Production and Operations Management, Process improvement, Technical Sales, Food Technologist and Research and Development.

Lea is qualified with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Food Technology graduating from University of Queensland – Gatton Campus and a Master of Business Administration (MBA).
She is also a committee member of the Food Industries Association of QLD (FIAQ).

Juju Chen
Juju is a food technologist at Earlee Products. She holds a Bachelor of Food Technology (Honours) and is a 2017 graduate from University of Queensland. Since then, she has been fortunate enough to work in R&D - her area of passion. She is a well-rounded food technologist, with experience in fruit processing/fruit sauce manufacturing as well as now at Earlee Products. She has also had some work experience in a quality assurance function.
Juju is passionate about R&D and is greatly invested in the food industry. She couldn’t dream of any other career and always has food on her mind.

Trish Lindeman
Trish is the R & D manager at Earlee Products with over 30 years industry experience.
Trish studied Food Science and technology in her home country of Ireland and has held many roles using different elements of her studies. During her career she has worked in Quality Control, Microbiology, primary industry research and new product development.
Trish has worked in the sugar, beverage, brewing, sugar research, and food ingredient industries.

Her current role involves managing a team of talented Food technologists and Chefs in developing new products that are tasty, safe, and affordable for everyone.
Trish is passionate about promoting food science and technology as a rewarding, exciting career with lots of variety and opportunities.

Useful Resources:
Home Economics Institute of Australia Inc. (HEIA) - https://heia.com.au/