Food and Beverage Manitoba

4 Food for Thought Career opportunities abound in food manufacturing By Jim Timlick R inal Chaudhari and Marina Oirik grew up worlds apart, but their stories share many similar elements. Both grew up elsewhere before emigrating to Canada: Chaudhari in India, and Oirik in Ukraine and later Israel. Both also studied biotechnology and quality assurance while attending college or university. And they both share a love of food that led them to pursue careers in the food manufacturing sector. Chaudhari is quality assurance and project head for Winnipeg-based Medallion Milk, while Oirik is food safety and compliance manager for Bee Maid Honey. "I've always loved food and I wanted to have an impact on something important and something that people use," Oirik says. "When I go to the store, see my products on the shelf, and they look good, and they're good quality, it's really rewarding." It's a sentiment shared by Chaudhari. "I'm a foodie and I understand the value of ingredients," she explains. "I've always had a habit of looking at labels. If there was a recall of something, I wanted to know why it happened. That's why I wanted to explore a career in the food industry. Once I started there was no looking back." Chaudhari joined Medallion Milk about four years ago. Today, her primary responsibility is ensuring the safety of all products produced at the dry dairy producer's manufacturing plant on Sheppard Street. She also oversees new product development, supervises labelling to ensure products meet domestic and foreign label requirements, and assisted with the start-up of a new, fully automated production line last year. "I don't get bored. That's one of the things I enjoy the most about my job. There's always opportunities to increase your horizons here," she says. "The other part I love is getting to be part of all the different teams here." Oirik was hired by Bee Maid three years ago. Her principal responsibility is to make sure all the products that leave the company's Roseberry Street facility are safe for consumers to consume (i.e., they don't harbor any harmful bacteria or foreign materials). She also ensures that products meet all federal and international labelling requirements, reviews lab analyses, and audits the company's operations for safety and quality standards. "One of the things I like most about my job is that it's never boring," she says. "There's never a single day that's the same as the previous one. There's so much to learn all the time. The industry is always changing and improving. It's a lot of different things all the time. That's what makes the job interesting." Oirik says there has never been a better time than now for people to consider a career in the food manufacturing sector. "Food manufacturing is an industry that keeps growing and it's getting more and more innovative," Oirik says. "It's an opportunity to be part of something big and make an impact on the food industry." Chaudhari concurs. "Consumers have become much more knowledgeable about food and companies are trying to keep up," she says. "The opportunity to grow in the food industry right now is limitless. I don't think there are the same opportunities or options in a lot of other industries." Type of Job: Quality Assurance Tech - Food Science Starting Salary Potential: $40,076 - $53,218 Educational Pathways: High School, Community College Post-Secondary: University of Manitoba, Pharma-Medical Science College of Canada Rinal Chaudhari Marina Oirik

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