Next Generation:
Our interns report on their 6 months with us!

and I am a student in Food Technology at the Wageningen University. I am currently at the end of my 6-month internship at Bosch Boden Spies in Wageningen, where I was part of the R&D team focused on functional ingredients. The goal of my research was to develop new innovative concepts with functional ingredients from Nexira, Butterbuds, and Borges in the dairy and dairy alternative sector.

I mainly worked on four different concepts: the formulation of a plant-based ice cream, the replacement of coconut fat with Borges fat in plant-based spreads, flavour enhancement in young cheese with Cheese Buds from Butterbuds, and the formulation of a vegan cashew yoghurt. I mostly enjoyed working on the vegan yoghurt, as this product was developed on request of a customer, and later another version of this product was also presented at the Intrafood fair.

The R&D team in Wageningen is a small team, meaning that I learned to work independently and proactively on my own product concepts. I spent most of my time in the innovation kitchen, where I was free to show my creativity in recipe development. Measuring some key properties of the developed products was a challenge, because, in contrast to Wageningen University, the innovation kitchen does not contain all the expensive measurement machines, like a texture analyzer. However, by setting up my own, simpler protocols, I was still able to determine certain parameters, for example the spreadability and hardness of certain samples. I also enjoyed sitting in on a sales meeting and experiencing how my own developed product concepts can be used to showcase the unique selling points of BBS ingredients to potential customers.

All in all, I really enjoyed my time here at BBS and I have learned a lot, which I intend to show at my future job in product development hopefully soon!

and I am currently at the end of my study Food Technology at Wageningen University. Part of the study involves an internship at a professional company which I have performed at Bösch Boden Spies. During my internship, I have focussed on the application of our functional ingredients in the baked goods and cereal segment. In the past six months I have worked on a variety of different projects within this segment to investigate potential applications.

During these projects I have mainly worked with the functional ingredients offered by our partner Nexira. I have for instance verified the functionality of the acerola extract in white wheat bread. Confirming that it is a natural alternative to other sources of ascorbic acid. Here, I developed a method that to analyse the crumb hardness.

Another project that I worked on was the development of a sugar reduced granola. Granola is typically made using honey as a binding agent. Other sugar reduced alternatives use inulin. However, an overconsumption of inulin can result in gastro-intestinal discomfort. Using acacia fiber from Nexira, I was able to create a granola that would bind the ingredients together, while also providing a crunchy texture.

Another interesting project I worked on was the development of a gelatin-free pastry cream. In one formulation I used a hydrocolloid blend called Vidogel MS50, this uses the synergetic interaction between carrageenan, tara gum and guar gum to from a firm gel. The benefit to using Vidogel MS50 over gelatin is that a lower quantity is required to obtain a similar result. In another formulation I used guar gum and xanthan gum combination, which are both offered by Nexira, to also make use of the synergetic interaction. Both formulation were able to create a pastry cream without compromising on mouthfeel and functionality.

Overall, I learned a lot during this internship, from knowing the ingredients to project planning, but also how a B2B company works and how the R&D department can support sales. During our visit to the Hamburg office, it was interesting to see how the different areas of the company work together.