Canada’s Agri-Food sector is a significant contribution to our nation’s economy and was recently identified as one of Canada’s top growth industries over the next 10 years. Despite this, the sector continues to face a critical labour shortage that, if left unresolved, will impede the industry’s growth, employment opportunities, and overall sustainability.
To address this shortage, Food Processing Skills Canada (FPSC) has embarked upon a landmark Labour Market Information Study (LMI). In its finality, the LMI will provide government and decision-makers with the research needed to make regulatory change that will bring both prosperity and opportunity to the sector.
Understanding Your Career Pathway in Product Development lays crucial groundwork for the LMI by defining occupations and career pathways in the product development function of food and beverage processing. Utilizing this data, the LMI will take in-depth reviews of each career path, and their specific challenges and opportunities.
This document provides practical information about the career pathways available for workers in product development in the food and beverage processing industry. In a time when attraction and recruitment of workers is important to keep up with demand, the career pathway can be helpful to educate potential workers about the opportunities and career pathways within the innovative area of product development. The career pathway is a helpful tool for employers to attract, recruit and retain productive and skilled workers.
To learn more about the career pathways in product development in food and beverage processing, we conducted extensive research to learn about the various job positions and skill levels, including interviewing subject matter experts in the industry, collecting, and analyzing job descriptions, job advertisements, and other occupational information from a variety of food and beverage processing facilities.
Our research helped to identify key factors that are unique to product development in the food and beverage processing industry:
Product ideation can be driven by different sources, including
Product development is not limited to new concepts and ideas. In fact, product development can be a tweak to an existing formulation, swapping out an ingredient, or modifying the packaging of an existing product, just to name a few projects. The nature of the initiative dictates the process and the subject matter expertise that needs to be involved. The scope of product development ranges from small fixes that can take as little as 2 weeks, to large-scale development projects that can take 12+ months to come to fruition. It should be noted that not all product development projects are successful. Some projects don’t make it past the concept stage if the project is deemed too risky or not feasible for the company.
Product development is managed differently depending on the type of organization. Key hubs for product development include food and beverage processing facilities (i.e., inhouse product development), third-party consultancy services, and innovation centres/ incubators:
In-house Product Development: Some facilities, particularly large processors, have their own research and development departments that oversee and complete product development activities. In these cases, teams are typically multi-disciplinary, representing expertise from food science, sales and marketing, production, quality control and regulatory affairs. Within these organizations, product development is a process that is managed internally on a continuous basis. Product development can include new product ideation and development, formulation changes, product enhancements or expansion of existing product lines.
Third-party Consulting: Subject matter experts and food scientists often serve as consultants (as sole proprietors or as part of a consulting firm/ team) that provide fee-for-service product development support. In many cases, individual consultants, as well as consultancy firms, specialize in specific projects and product types based on their knowledge and expertise
Innovation Centres / Incubators: Innovation centres and incubators are often linked to educational institutions or government- funded associations. These facilities often provide wrap-around supports for product development which is subsidized or based on a fee-for-service model. Innovation centres are typically staffed by multi-disciplinary teams to ensure that all aspects of product development are managed. Depending on the product, multiple innovation centres or teams may be involved in the development process.
The career pathway for a Product Developer (with a food/science background) working for a food/beverage processing facility (typically within the Research and Development department).
However, Product Development Consultants (working on their own or as part of a consulting firm) have varied backgrounds and specialize in their own areas of expertise.
Some Product Developers come from a culinary background (e.g., chefs, bakers, butchers), while others have expertise in marketing and communications. Consultants may collaborate on projects to expand their areas of expertise. Similar to consultancy work, developers employed by innovation centres/incubators often have varied skillsets to provide holistic support during the product development process. These developers are brought into the project at various stages based on their expertise. In these settings, projects are typically varied and ongoing, and the breadth of product types that can be explored is heightened based on the varied skillset of the product development teams.
Depending upon the product being developed, differing expertise is required. Throughout the product development process:
It takes a whole team to bring a project from idea to market.
This career pathway is for Product Developers working in an organizational setting within food/beverage processing industry manufacturing, comprised of five (5) levels. The pathway begins with Entry Level positions (which are skilled positions), and progresses upward, typically with an increase in experience, skillset and specialized knowledge and expertise.
The typical entry point within a product development team is a scientist who has completed their training in food science, microbiology, biology, or chemistry. Unlike other occupational areas within the industry, ‘entry level’ positions in product development are skilled positions, that have a typical education requirement (minimum) of a Bachelor’s degree or a technology diploma.
Applicable NOC Code(s)
NOC 21110 – Biologists and related scientists
Sample Titles for Entry Level product development positions include:
Advanced Entry Level positions typically have the same educational requirements as entrylevel positions; however, career advancement is often based on gained experience in food product development. In most cases, individuals who have gained experience and show potential are promoted to more advanced technical positions (with enhanced leadership and decision-making capabilities) but are still part of the technical development team.
Applicable NOC Code(s)
NOC 21110 – Biologists and related scientists
Sample Titles for Advanced Entry Level product development positions include:
The transition to supervisory level positions typically involves moving from the technical product development activities to the supervision of product development teams and interaction/collaboration with other departments throughout the product development cycle. At the supervisory level, individuals still maintain a close connection to the technical work being completed.
Sample Titles for Supervisory Level product development positions include:
Management Level positions require further people and process management skills associated with product development. Most often, management level personnel are no longer completing or overseeing the technical tasks associated with project development but are involved in the higher-level strategic management of product development processes.
Sample Titles for Management Skill Level product development positions include:
Executive Leadership Level positions typically require extensive experience (e.g., 10+) years in product development as well as advanced degrees in management (e.g., MBA) or in a technical background (e.g., PhD in food science). Executive leaders are responsible for managing corporate product development initiatives and programs and lead the strategic direction and vision of product development and/or Research and Development department. Skills in organizational management and business administration are critical.
Sample Titles for Executive Leadership Level product development positions include:
SAMPLE TITLE
EXPERIENCE / EDUCATION
The Food Skills Library outlines a range of competencies (i.e. skills and knowledge) associated with the stages of the production development cycle. Competencies are performed by employees of varying skill level and responsibility within the facility. While product development also invovles additional competencies such as Sales, Marketing, Quality Control, Production, competencies specific to the development of new products within the Food Skills Library include:
The product development process is multi-faceted and involves a range of disciplines and skillsets. The following table illustrates the range of organizational departments/areas of expertise that may be involved at various stages of the project development cycle. The identified responsibilities are merely examples of the tasks completed by each department/ area of expertise. The responsibities will vary based on the product and the organization.
RESPONSIBILITIES
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
SALES
PROCESSING / PRODUCTION
PROCUREMENT
REGULATORY / COMPLIANCE
QUALITY ASSURANCE / CONTROL
Product development is a step-by-step process. While the steps are presented in a chronologial or sequential order, it is not uncommon for repeat steps, throughout the process as needed and issues arise. In some cases, the product development process will be put on hold or stopped completely if issues or challenges cannot be solved or the product is deemed unfeasible.
Each organization will have a slightly different approach to product development. In fact, some organizations have developed proprietary processes that meet their own individual needs. Product development can occur within a food and beverage processing facility (most typically within the Research and Development department), supported by fee-forservice food product development consultants/consulting agencies, or non-profit/for-profit food development and innovation centres and incubators. While there are many different approaches to product development that can be used, the process below presents a synthesize of varous examples found through secondary research:
IDEA / CONCEPT
PROTOTYPE
PROTOTYPE TESTING
PILOT TESTING WITH CONSUMERS
PRODUCT SCALE-UP
PRODUCT LAUNCH