From Aroma to Insight: My path through flavor analytics

Three decades. One exciting career journey.

Is it boring to work for the same company for 30 years? Not when that company is dsm-firmenich. During my three decades here, I’ve been able to experience lots of different roles, to contribute to a wide range of fascinating projects, and to grow and develop in the area that is of most interest to me. And I feel very lucky I have had that opportunity.   

Analyzing where tastes and odors come from

The discipline I work in is flavor analytics, which is all about trying to understand which molecules are responsible for which flavors. Flavor analytics is very important for our business because it helps us develop products that taste and smell good. 

For example, which molecules make yogurt taste like yogurt? This is a question I have been trying to answer over recent months together with my colleagues. Of course, there is already a lot of literature on the subject, but we have been engaged in our own studies, analyzing the specific yogurt cultures we use in-house and are most relevant for our company.

How I found my scientific niche with dsm-firmenich

I haven’t always worked in flavor analytics. Earlier on in my career, I analyzed all kind of samples for different projects and purposes but over the years I noticed I preferred the projects that have to do with understanding the smell of a product. Why does it smell this way? What’s causing this specific odor? Which analytical tools do we have to develop to be able to understand it? Those were the sorts of questions that really intrigued me. My previous manager could see how interested I was, so encouraged me to explore my passion in more depth and to team up with flavor chemists, data scientists and application experts And that’s when my journey to becoming a flavor analytics specialist really began.

Collaboration opportunities are everywhere

To thrive in flavor analytics, you have to enjoy working in a multidisciplinary team. I like to think of myself as a kind of ‘translator’ between the analytical team, the other disciplines and the project. To be effective, I need to collaborate with experts in a wide range of other disciplines, including project managers, sensory scientists, data-science experts, product designers and more. Luckily, having the opportunity to connect and communicate with so many different people is one of my favorite aspects of the role.  

Where next?

Even after 30 years with the company, I’m still excited about what the future might have in store. Our growing business creates lots of new opportunities for collaboration and knowledge-sharing, and that’s something I am very keen to explore. I’m also interested in developing my skills in project management and people management – two areas where I’ve been building more experience in recent years. 

The most important thing is that I know there are a lot of different roles and options in the company. If there’s one thing my long career here has taught me, it’s that you will get the freedom and encouragement you need to progress in whatever direction suits you best.