International Flavours and Fragrances (IFF) is a 125-year old company that develops flavours for the food and beverage industry. The author is completing their placement year working as an application technologist at IFF's site in Haverhill, UK, where they test flavours for suitability and assess substitutes. They have been given responsibilities like managing stock and contacting customers, and have enjoyed participating in tasting sessions that apply concepts from their university studies. Their favorite part has been independently developing a new range of soup flavours for a project. Overall, the placement year has been educational and expanded the author's skills in preparation for their final year of university studies.

1. My PlacementYear
As myplacementyearIam workingat a companycalledInternational FlavoursandFrangrances.IFF
was foundover125 yearsago and isbasedinthe flavourandfragrance industry.Situatedall over
the world,IFFhas 31 differentsites.I ambasedinSuffolkinatown calledHaverhillandcommute in
daily.AtHaverhill there are Savoury,Sweet,Beverage,SCI(SensoryConsumerInsights) andDairy
teams.I am workinginthe SavouryApplicationTeam.
As an applicationtechnologistmy jobrole istoapplythe flavoursthathave come through fromthe
Flavouristsandassesstheirsuitability.There maybe differentreasonsastowhywe needto testa
flavour.Forexample the flavourindustryhashadtoovercome a lotof issuesconcerningthe use of
certainresources.Forthisreason,we findourselvestestingalotof productsto compare an original
flavourthatmay containa restricteduse toone that has beennewlydevelopedandcheckingthatit
still works. One of the restrictedproductsmaybe palmoil.Palmoil doesnotwantto be used
because itsextractionrequireslarge amountof deforestation(asitsoil isderivedfrompalmtrees).
Obviouslythisaffectsthe environmentsosubstitutesforpalmoil mustbe found.Companiestryand
use an alternative to where possible.Anotherreasonwhyaflavourmightbe testedistomake a
productthat has beenalteredtofita dietaryrequirement(forexample reducedsaltproducts) tastes
the same as the original.Thisrequiresme touse taste analysistomake sure that the consumercan
see little ornodifference.
The reasonswhyflavoursare usedare generallyforefficiency.If aproductwere torelyon natural
resourcesforflavour,itposesagreat risk.It isof greatrisk because natural resources are notalways
widelyavailable.Forexample,vanillacanonly be naturallyharvestedwhenitis inseason,meaning
that for mostof the year,companieswouldeitherhave tosettle foranalternative,orperhapsa
lowerqualityproduct. Flavoursmayalsobe usedtoenhance currentflavoursthatare natural tothe
product.Thisis cost efficientasitmeansraw materialscanbe usedinlowerquantities,asadded
flavourscanembellishthe natural taste.
Duringmy placementIhave beengivenmanyresponsibilities.Ihave beengivenfree reintoadapt
the lab insuch a way thatit worksbestfor everyone.Anexampleof thisismanagingstock.Ialso
have the responsibilitytoorderinflavoursfromoverseasandmakingsure thatsamplesthatare
sentabroad are correct. Notonlyhas thiscontact beeninhouse (withinIFF),butIhave alsobeen
contactingcustomerstorequeststock.Thisfreedomhasdevelopedmypersonalskillsonsucha
level thatIam comfortable andconfidentwithinthe workingenvironment.
As part of my job,I am requiredtoparticipate inregulartastingsessions.Theseare interesting
because yousee whattheoryyoulearnat Universitybeingputintopractice (forexample,triangle
tastings).Itgivesyougreatskill asitmakesyou think,andutilise theoryskillsyouhave already
learned.
The bestpart of my experience hasbeenworkingonmyownproject.Iwas givena brief toproduce
a newrange of soups,andwas able to developthese myself.Itwasan incrediblyinterestingproject
as I became familiarwiththe flavoursandthe impacttheyhave,andalso allowedme touse
analytical flavouringskills.Thisprojectwasa greatpersonal successandmy managerwasconfident
and allowedme toshowthese toa leadingbrand.

2. Overall,doingaplacementyearhasbeenintriguing,beneficial,enjoyableandeducational.Ibelieve
IFFhas beena fantasticplace to workfor.It has suitedmyworkingabilitiesandexpandedmyskills.
There have beenseveral thingsthatIhave learnedwhichIknow Iwill take backto Universityformy
final year,andit hasalso givenme the determinationtocompletemyUniversitylifesuccessfully.