The Department of Biotechnology and Consumer Science recently hosted a Food Industry Seminar with two guest speakers to provide students with an opportunity to learn about the speakers’ careers, organisations and industry.

The event, which was hosted at the District Six campus, was attended by the Consumer Science first-year students. The Department of Biotechnology and Consumer Science Lecturer, Theloshni Govender said the seminar allowed students to learn about the career opportunities within the food industry. The students received firsthand information about the speakers’ career paths and their position with their current employers and their day-to-day workplace activities and challenges.

“Most importantly, what does the industry expect from its future employees.”

The guest speakers were Anton Van Wyk, General Manager at Woolworths Village Square, Durbanville and Marcia Perumal, Quality and Regulatory Manager at SK Chemtrade, who is also a CPUT alumna. Van Wyk, who delivered the first presentation, provided an overview of his company This included his views on effective business and data-driven decisions. He also talked about key internal and external challenges, including post Covid-19 recovery. Van Wyk also encouraged the students to “practise positive [positive] attitudes to become positive about their future”. “With your attitude-you can change the world… You must be the change that you want to see in this world.”

He also told the students the following:

• Listen to understand.
• Show empathy.
• Take action.
• Make a difference.

Perumal who holds a Diploma and a BTech in Consumer Science: Food and Nutrition from CPUT, delivered her presentation on Grain Milling. She also elaborated on her career path from her first employer to current one. The presentation also provided an overview of her current employer and effective business operations. Based on her experience, she highlighted that learning on the job is something that students must be prepared for. She said it was a great honour and privilege to be able to give back to “our young people’, and to assist in bridging the gap between the institution and industry.

The students engaged with the speakers in an open platform as this enriched the learning experience and this will make them better prepared for working in the food industry and understand the industry expectations.

Reflecting on the event, Perumal said: “I am very glad actually that Theloshni has incorporated this into the course. When I studied here, we didn’t have that, and I think the more the students can hear from the industry, the better. So, they’ll know what is out there, what opportunities are out there for them when they graduate because sometimes you are sitting in a classroom, you don’t know the different fields that you can go into, the different positions you can get into…”

She added that the class seemed like a positive group of young people. Govender added that the guest speakers bring in vast knowledge and experience within the food industry and that they plant seeds of inspiration, and the students successfully sow them. She said the Department works hand in hand with “our” food industry partners to ensure “our students” meet the academic and skill expectations of the industry.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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To allow students to broaden their understanding of prospective career fields and to illustrate the connection between classroom learning and the real world, the Department of Biotechnology and Consumer Science hosted a seminar with food industry guest speakers.

The guest speakers were Anton Van Wyk, General Manager at Woolworths Village Square, Durbanville, Carla van Rooyen, Chief Operations Officer at Kerston Foods and Keagan Canterbury, a CPUT alumnus and Product and Brand Developer at Excellent Meat.

The event, hosted at the District Six campus, was attended by the first-year mainstream and second-year Extended Curriculum Programme (ECP) students (Diploma in Consumer Science in Food and Nutrition). Department of Biotechnology and Consumer Science ECP Lecturer, Theloshni Govender, described the event as a success story.

Govender said: “The students completed a reflection task, and they were greatly appreciative by the talks presented by industry experts. The students have gained a perspective of the various key players’ roles within the food industry.”

She was also impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the Food Industry representatives to engage with the Consumer Science students. “The seminar was well received by the students and there was a great amount of excitement built around going into the food Industry as employees.”

Second-year ECP student, Lakisha Bruwer said: “It was great to have the opportunity to get some insight of the workplace and what is not only expected from us, but also what to expect. The experience not only inspired me but also made me realise to work harder because we are a lot of talented individuals in this course fighting for the same positions in industry.”

The event involved presentations from the three speakers, question and answer sessions. Govender added that the students illustrated that they have a better understanding of industry expectations and how the different subjects with the programme is value added in preparing them for future employment.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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The Department of Biotechnology and Consumer Science Programme: Consumer Science in Food and Nutrition recently invited industry personnel to assess the third-year Consumer Science project-based learning Fibre project.

The Fibre project is a collaboration of the two major subjects, Food: Science and Practice 3 and Nutrition 3 by two lecturers, Theloshni Govender and Madidimalo Tshikovhi. As part of the Diploma in Consumer Science in Food and Nutrition qualification the combination of the two major subjects allows for the students to apply both theoretical and practical application of skills in a scenario-based project. About 46 students from Food: Science and Practice 3 participated in the project with the same number of students from Nutrition 3.

Lecturer Theloshni Govender says the purpose of the project is to allow students to create a food product for the consumer based on the scientific evidence of a nutrition-related disorder which could lead to disease. “The fibre project was nominated according to local and international evidence-based research indicating children are not meeting the daily recommended fibre intake. For children older than two years, the recommended fibre intake is roughly their age plus 5g per day, by age of five years they should be taking in at least 10g fibre per day and by the age of 20 we should all be getting at least 25g to 35g fibre per day,” says Govender.

She states that the fibre-rich food product (biscuit) which was developed by the students could be used as a suitable fibre-rich snack by the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), which is a national school feeding scheme in South Africa that feeds over nine million learners nutritious meals every day at school.

“This is an opportunity for a future project for the Department of Biotechnology and Consumer Science… The end result of the project, provided the students an opportunity to understand how two major subjects can work hand in hand to create a food product (fibre-rich biscuit) suitable for the consumer based on a dietary need.”

The project-based learning brief was provided to the students with the following phases:

• Phase 1: Literature review on dietary fibre.
• Phase 2: Identify and compare three biscuit/biscuit-based snacks for school children that are currently available on the South African market.
• Phase 3: Identify at least one baked product recipe (i.e., biscuit or biscuit-based snack) that is suitable for a school lunch box that would contribute to the dietary fibre intake of school children.
• Phase 4: Nutritional information, compile a suitable food label for the biscuit.
• Phase 5: Provide a conclusion and make recommendations on the nutritional aspects of your recipe.
• Phase 6: Project showcase, create a display with your product, which you will market to the Consumer Science Food Industry partners.
• Phase 7: Compile a reflection report illustrating the highlights and challenges of the overall project. Provide suitable recommendations to improve the limitations you have identified during your project.

The adjudicators from the industry included, Enid Hinrichsen-Swart, a retired Consumer Science Lecturer, Maylene Matthews: Senior Product Developer (Protein area) for Woolworths SA and Jennifer du Plessis: Culinary Specialist at Mane Shared Services Africa, Deli Spices (Pty).

Reflecting on the project, Matthews says: “It was indeed a treat to see the future foodies in action today. There were a few students who stood out and captivated the audience and spoke with authority on their subject.”

She added that the key characteristics were passion for product, knowledge of product and process, presentation and flow of presentation.

Govender says the projects teaches students to go through the stages of recipe development to achieve a final packaged food product suitable for the consumer based on the project brief, project planning and final fibre-rich biscuit presentation to the Consumer Science Food Industry Partners.

She says it also teaches students to take ownership of their project, as well as celebrating their progress and accomplishments, self-confidence when presenting to the food industry partners and “how to turn challenges into positive solutions”.

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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