R&D Intern - Fermentation

 

About Flora Food Group

We offer consumers a compelling choice in four growing categories: butters and spreads, creams, liquids and cheeses. We hold leadership positions in many of the 100 countries we operate in, with iconic brands including Flora, Becel+ProActiv, Blue Band, Country Crock, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter, Rama, and Violife, together with our local brands and Professional business.  

Global branded food champion Flora Food Group, offers the next generation of delicious, natural, nutritious food. Our products are more affordable and more sustainable than their dairy equivalents.  

 

Location: Wageningen, Netherlands

Hybrid: 1 day from home

Start date: March 1st 2025 (6 months)

About the role

We are looking for a passionate and agile R&D intern to join our Fermentation team using enzymes and lactic cultures for dairy and dairy alternative products. In the Fermentation Team, you will work closely together with the fermentation technologist within R&D Global Product Design for Dairy Alternatives. Learnings on how to conduct R&D fermentation trials in the Lab. and pilot plant using lactic acid bacterial culture and enzyme preparations to improve taste and texture of plant-based protein suspensions and emulsions. Assist in contributing to developing the fermented dairy and plant-based bases and application in final products then conduct sensory analysis and product performance over shelf-life.

On a daily base, you will:

• Screen the best cultures/enzymes and proteins combination for application in dairy and dairy alternatives (Lab. Experiments)
• Plan and execute fermentation trials in Pilot Plant (familiar with UHT/HTST treatment and 10-L fermenters)
• Monitoring/comparing different kinetics of acidification induced by lactic acid bacteria for dairy and plant-based products such as cream cheese, crème fraiche.
• Statistical analysis for data collection.

So, what does it take to be successful in this role?

• You are a master’s student in Food/Dairy Technology, Food Biotechnology, Food Microbiology, Material Science, or a similar field at a Dutch university
• You have a practical knowledge in lactic fermentation and enzyme technologies to prompt the best BioSolutions for our dairy, plant-based, and blended products.
• Preferably, you have prior knowledge with dairy processing such as fresh fermented dairy products (cream cheese, butter, creme fraiche etc.)

What’s next? 

If this position sounds interesting, please hit the apply button now! If you have additional questions, you can reach me at melina.malea@florafg.com.

 

We understand your resume might not be up to date and recommend that you apply with what you have or your LinkedIn Profile. Flora Food Group is dedicated to building an inclusive and diverse workplace, we understand that you might not meet all the requirements stated in the description, but we encourage you to apply anyway. You might be the right candidate for this role or other roles.  

Flora Food Group is an employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and equal opportunities for all. We recruit based only on values, qualifications, performance, skills, behaviours, experience, and knowledge. We ensure job advertisements are free from unintentional bias.  

No personal characteristics should be a barrier to joining Flora Food Group. We prohibit discrimination and harassment based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or other personal characteristics.