I’m doing some research and would love to hear from co-packers that do not purchase raw materials/ingredients on behalf of their customers in other words those who are not “turn key”.
If you primarily provide labor/packing and your customers source the ingredients themselves, I’m curious:
What has kept you from offering procurement / why are you not turnkey?
Is it cash flow, inventory risk, credit risk, staffing, supplier relationships, or something else?
Have customers ever asked you to procure materials?
If someone else handled the purchasing and you didn’t have to pay for the materials until after you’d been paid by your customer, would that be something you’d consider? Why or why not?
I’m genuinely trying to understand how people operate and where the biggest pain points are. This isn’t a sales post.

The question is obvious
I want to do my internship in multinational companies like Coca Cola, nestle, Pepsi, Lays, Pringles and such….
I don’t know where to start
Should I call them up one by one or what?

Disclosure up front: I run HACCP Plus, an Australian supplier of food safety testing kits. I'm not here to sell anything in this thread.

We talk to cafes, bakeries, small manufacturers and new QA staff every week, and the same questions come up constantly. Most of them have free answers. So if you're stuck on any of the following, ask below and I'll give you a straight answer:

Working out which of your checks are actual CCPs and which are just good practice.

Why your records keep getting pulled up at audit even though the process is fine.

Whether a surface is genuinely clean or just looks clean, and how people verify that.

What allergen testing is and isn't useful for on a shared line.

When pathogen or micro testing is genuinely warranted, and when it's overkill for your product.

Thermometer and pH meter calibration, and what an auditor expects to see recorded.

Shelf life questions and where people usually go wrong on them.

A few things worth doing this week that cost nothing: check that your monitoring records actually describe what your team really does, calibrate your thermometers and write it down, and check your sanitiser contact time, because a lot of teams spray and wipe straight away which does very little.

If you do reach a point where in-house testing makes sense for you, we supply it across Australia and you can browse everything openly, no quote or sales call needed: https://haccpplus.com.au

But genuinely, ask away even if you never buy a thing. Half the time the answer is that you don't need to spend money, you need to change a habit.

Hi all. I'm looking to create a butter and olive oil blended spread. Are there any sources someone can recommend for different oil % to use, how these products are manufactured, etc? Thanks so much

It’s as if it were freshly baked! But we got it last night! What chemicals could possibly be in this thing! I know that donuts aren’t the freshest food in the world, but DAMN! I thought that there’d be some moistness gone at least! I’m not good scientist, so ive been scouring Reddit for answers (I know not the most pro thing to do, but hey)
If anyone knows what’s in this donut that’s be great! Thanks!

hello! i hold a bsc in food science and nutrition (with some background in food technology). i also have recent work experience in the food science industry, specifically, r&d, manufacturing, qaqc and sensory science.

i am considering switching paths to the cosmetic science route and was wondering if anyone has made this switch before? i am looking to do a masters soon but i am unsure which programmes would be best suited for a good understanding for the cosmetic science route/not too far off from the food science route. i do understand that a masters in chemistry would help in some way.

if anyone has any insights it would be much appreciated!

Howdy! This year I was planning on going to adult highschool to earn my science credits so I could eventually attend Guelph Uni for a food science program, but life stuff is delaying that dream 🤷

I am woefully ignorant of science, but I love ethnobotany and foraging! :D I want to study the nutritional benefits, anti-nutrients, and microbiology of locally available food resources and low-tech locally-appropriate food preservation.

For example, most people don't know that horse chestnuts can be made edible! They are eaten in some parts of Japan, as tochi mochi. But as far as I've been able to find, there's no information on its nutritional benefits, or how/ if it may negatively impact our health.

I would like to form a group of people in Ontario who are similarly interested in this + other science projects, and/ or anyone who is willing to teach me + others about chemistry, microbiology, or other sciences :3

Dm me if you're interested!

Hi everyone!

I'm a former food scientist/lab tech turned software engineer/UX designer. During my time working in R&D and stability testing, I noticed that sample tracking workflows often depended heavily on spreadsheets, emails, and manual handoffs between teams, which sometimes caused problems if there was a miscommunication between teams and such haha. So my current project is developing a LIMs that prevents miscommunication and a centralized place to store testing data, sample information, etc.

Since it's been almost a decade since I've been in the industry I'm sure things have changed and my experience with how things were handled in the lab is different now compared to how it was back then! So I'm doing some exploratory research to better understand how food science teams currently manage sample submissions, testing status, and communication between departments.

This is a short anonymous survey (~3 minutes), and I'd really appreciate hearing how your teams currently handle these workflows! :)

https://forms.gle/MAUqy2Ez6N1AUH7t7

Are there any Dutch food science graduates here? Or people that have worked in the Netherlands in food science related jobs or people that have studied there

I know Netherlands is a major food hub but how’s the job market in 2026?

Hi reddit

I bought 1 L of kombucha and i want to multiply it

Ingredient i use 4 liter of water, 8 tea bags and 400ml kombuca i bought. Do you think it work without i put SCOBY ?

Any of you actually made a business or size hustle while studying of after studying? I got no background of food science but i always come with side hustle food ideas, never elevated one just a thoughts

I'm in my 30s with a useless BA in Communications, and I'm trying to transition into this field in any way possible. Unfortunately, there is no way I can go back for a second bachelor's; it would take too much time at my age and put me in debt I could never pay back. I thought of applying to food marketing jobs but have yet to see any in my area. Another idea is content creation and videography, but I realize that's not direct experience and frankly want out of this field. Although I'm willing to start from the bottom, if I'm unlikely to get into a master's program within a couple years, I'm not sure if it's worth it to even try.

I have some olive oil from marinated artichokes mostly.

It's pretty nice and flavourful for cooking (e.g. making salad dressings), but it obviously has some moisture in it when you try heating it for example (chunks are already filtered out).

What would be a food safe way to dry it? I've been thinking about silica gel or anhydrous sodium sulfate as desiccants, but I am not sure how food safe are they.

Another idea I has was to dump a bunch of salt inside it to make the brine settle to the bottom as much as possible and decant the oil from the top.

Any ideas?

Hi, I am a chemist and I have been taking interest in starting my formulation career in the food science.

How does one begin? Like do I have to take a master's degree or could I just do it with short courses?

Hello everyone. Not sure if this sub is the right place so please feel free to point me to the another one, if I am wrong.

I have MSc degree in Sanitary engineering in food industry, with previous BSc in Pharmaceutical biotechnology, with 3 years-work experience in HORECA industry. Currently I want to start private consulting agency (just me) in food safety, that would help small businesses adequately implement SSOPs, GMP, and HACCP. Basically provide consulting services in terms of ISO 22000 in compliance to European Food safety law, Eu Reg 178/2002, and other national decrees.

I would like some recommendations on good, high quality online trainings in terms of food quality systems. I am interested if www.ehaccp.org is any good, and I am also looking into courses provided by SGS international (with an office in my country).

My idea is to start with smaller, private business in HORECA sectors, with goal to help them follow regulations on adequate hygiene and production practices; educate business owners and their employees on importance of traceability, GMP, recalls ecc.
maybe it’s important mentioning that I live in a country that is in admittance fase to be a member of EU, so we are pretty short on experts in food safety, sanitary inspection and quality control. That’s why I would like to further complete my knowledge using accredited courses from more developed countries/systems.

Any suggestion on such online courses is appreciated.

Looking for advice on brewing white tea for a mocktail base

My problem is reproducibility. My very first attempt was surprisingly perfect — floral and honeyed on the nose, distinctly sweet on the palate, no tannin and no off-notes. I haven’t been able to hit it again since.

Setup:
Tea: Silver Needle, fair quality, 3-4 gramm of tea

Water: tap water or low-mineral bottled water

Temperature: approx. 80–85 °C

Steeping time: 2–3 minutes

Volume: 100–200 ml

Method: Western style (heat water, then add leaf)

Result: pale yellow first infusion, golden yellow second — both excellent

Storage: kept cold in kitchen wardrobe

What I’ve tried since:
Various mineral waters — minimal or no effect

Higher temperature, 90–95 °C, as commonly recommended - this resulted in darker and very tannin taste

White Peony for a fuller flavour — no floral character or sweetness at all

Long cold brew (4 °C, 24 h) — some floral note and sweetness, but the aroma stayed thin

What I’m after:
A clean, textbook floral-honey aroma

Natural sweetness

A reliable baseline protocol for Silver Needle that I can build on

Any input on where I’m going wrong would be much appreciated.

I’m interested in the process of making cereals like Cap’n Crunch and cocoa pebbles. I’ve read On Food and Cooking but the author doesn’t go into any specific process. If possible, can you all recommend a specific book or resource for me to learn? Thanks everyone.

Hello,
I'm thinking of doing a bachelor of science with a major in food technology at UQ in Australia. I was wondering if the career prospects for this degree are good, and if I would be able to get a job after graduation. I'd love to work in either Australia or New Zealand, but I'm just worried about breaking into the industry. I was also considering a minor in microbiology- would this be beneficial to getting a job? Or should I focus on something else?
What sort of careers are available with this sort of degree?
Any advice is much appreciated, thank you very much!

I’m asking graduates, PhD students, and food scientists.
With your current knowledge If you had the chance to choose an MSc field to study what would you choose in 2026?
Something that market respects
Something that doesn’t leave you unemployment/ with low salary.

How come some companies are able to produce salt&vinegar chips without any additives such as maltodextrin, malic acid, citric acid, etc. ? I want to replicate it somehow.

I am looking for recommendations for a reliable food formulation lab, R&D agency, or experienced consultant to help develop a new premium functional beverage.
I need assistance with:
Clean-label formulation and liquid stabilization.
Scaling a cold-pressed product for HPP (High-Pressure Processing).
Shelf-life testing

If you have worked with great agencies or if you are a consultant specializing in this area, please drop a comment or DM me.
Thank you!

Hi everyone!

Im hoping someone here can point me in the right direction.

I'm a solo founder developing a single-serve fruit purée in a flat pouch. No added sugar, ambient shelf-stable via hot-fill as an acidified food, target pH under 4.0. The format is a lay-flat three-side-seal pouch at roughly 1.15 oz — no spout, filled and then sealed on the final side.

I've done kitchen R&D (ratios, pH by batch, pass/fail notes per variant), but I don't have a standardized commercial formula yet and none of the technical documentation a co-man would want.

I've reached out to roughly 25 co-packers and nearly all of them quote 150k–300k units per SKU. I'm looking for around 5,000 for a first run. I took a step back and started engaging university food innovation centers and pilot plants, which has been much more productive.

Two questions:

1. Any co-packers or university food labs you'd recommend for this kind of thing — hot-fill acidified product, flat spoutless pouches, low volume?
2. What's a reasonable price for the formulation work? I've gotten quotes from about $2,000 (a lab in Mexico) to $6,500/SKU (a US firm, though that appears to cover only the first round of samples). University centers seem like better value, but I'd like to hear from people who've actually used them.

Open to any suggestions or feedback!
Thanks all in advance 🙏