What Anna says about the Master's in Food Technology and Nutrition

Anna from Italy, alumna of the Master's in Food Technology (2017), now Production Manager at Kvibille Mejeri, Arla Foods

Why did you decide to take this Master's at Lund University? 

"Before starting with my Master's in Food Technology and Nutrition at Lund University, I completed a Bachelor's in Biotechnology in Italy. Biotechnology is a really broad field where can go into many directions, but I spent the last half year of my Bachelor's as an Erasmus student in Portugal, working on my thesis in the field of food science and nutrition.

This experience made me realise that I did not just love eating food, but that I was also very excited about the chemistry and the processes behind it. Once I knew what I wanted to specialise in, I started to look around for universities in Europe offering relevant Master's. I found out that Lund University has a great ranking and is very easy to reach due to the great connection with Copenhagen airport." 

What do you think of the city of Lund?

"It turned out that not only the University has a lot to offer, but Lund is an adorable city as well, providing everything you need for an amazing student life and plenty of leisure options." 

How did you like your programme and its course content? Did you have a favourite course?

"I really liked the Food Technology and Nutrition programme, as it provides necessary knowledge through the mandatory courses and gives you room to dig deeper into subjects you are interested in through electives.

For example, I was able to take two courses in other departments where I learned more about packaging technology and logistics as those subjects are important for the production of food as well.

My favourite and at the same time also the most challenging course was the Product Development course, where we were able to create an innovative food solution to a current demand on the market. In our case it had to be a vegan product and our group developed a vegan and gluten free mud cake baking mix, as we knew we would have to try our product several times – and you can never have too much cake!"

When and how did you decide what you wanted to work with? How did you get your first job after graduation?

"Once our Master's batch was in the last semester, working on our Master's thesis, all of us started to look for jobs. Not only did we share job advertisements that might be interesting with each other, but our course coordinator also sent us job advertisements when he heard about something.

A former student from the programme forwarded information to our course coordinator saying that the application period for a Production Management Graduate Programme at Arla Foods was open. I therefore started to read about Arla and I liked the idea of working for a farmer-owned cooperative which produces healthy milk-based products and delivers those worldwide.

Many companies offer several trainee programmes which give young graduates fresh out of university the chance to work in different roles and countries in the beginning of their career, to gain experience in this way and be prepared to move on to a suitable role within the company afterwards."

How long did it take?

"I was very lucky to find a job before I had actually graduated. I knew in May that I would be starting my new job in September and felt a bit of pressure as I knew I had to graduate before that. Thankfully, my supervisor supported me and I graduated in June, so that I could enjoy the summer months before jumping into the working life."

What do you work with right now? How do you like it?

"I was really lucky to be chosen for one of the Production Management Graduate positions at Arla and not even one year after I finished this two-year trainee programme – where I worked in Germany and Denmark – I find myself back in Sweden as the Production Manager of Kvibille Mejeri, which is an Arla Foods cheese production site."

What's your favourite thing about your job?

"I like it to be able to work with so many different people having different points of view and backgrounds, making us a great team that is able to solve problems together, make strategies for the future and push for change."

How did the Master's prepare you for your job?

"The knowledge I gained during the Master's of course helps me during work, but the experiences gained during the Master's helped me to actually get into the graduate programme and kickstart my career.

All the group works throughout the two-year Master's were not always easy, as you would face some challenging situations. Sometimes the workload is unevenly split due to several reasons – often group members have varying ambitions, where one person might just want to pass and another person wants to have the highest grade.

If the group does not work well together, it might even end in a fight and you have to react, cope with it, communicate, take decisions and deliver anyway. Most of the time, there is also some time pressure involved, which does not make the situation easier, but it helps you to learn how to handle critical situations.

Depending on which position you want to take on after your Master's, you will not only need knowledge in the field, but you will also always have a certain amount of responsibility, you have to show that you can deliver on time, handle stress, and most jobs involve team work. With this Master's, you get some experience in all those things and besides the knowledge I gained, it helped me get to know how I react in certain situations, so I could present several examples in my job interview."

What do you miss most from your time at Lund University and LTH?

"I miss all the colleagues from all over the world that shared the experience of two unforgettable university years with me. I even miss the long evenings at the University where we tried to get our thesis experiments to work, and I miss having some really great discussions and an exchange of ideas during the courses."

How international was your programme?

"We represented over twelve different nationalities in our batch, so the group work was definitely never boring."

Do you have any tip for current or future students of the Master's? 

"If you join this Master's programme, you will be part of the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University, where the University, the students and the union are involved to give you the best start of those two years that you could wish for. Take a chance and join the introduction weeks (the 'nollning'). I had some of the best weeks of my life while making new friends, being part of a team, competing against other guilds – once you are there you will understand this – and creating unforgettable memories."

Why do you think prospective students should choose the Food Technology and Nutrition programme?

"I probably would have answered this question in a very different way half a year ago. But having experienced a pandemic, I can say that I am more than happy that I chose this Master's in Food Technology. Not only did we learn how important it is that the food supply is secured, it also showed us that innovation in the food industry is necessary and will be invested in the future. So many interesting job opportunities will be waiting for you after this Master's programme."