R&D Internship - Shelf Life & Nut Fillings

Job description

About Us As a leading provider of high-quality food and beverage ingredients, we work with farming communities across the globe to grow, source and produce ingredients that are good for consumers, farmers, and the world around us. We supply household food brands and manufacturers worldwide with cocoa, coffee, dairy, nuts and spices ingredients which are often grown on our own farms and estates and sourced from hundreds of thousands of farmers across ~50 countries. Along with our diverse manufacturing and innovation capabilities, this means we can provide ingredients for a range of products, from a plant-based latte mix to an almond based snack bar or a dairy-free ice cream. Making a positive impact on people and planet is a core component of our Purpose, to be the change for good food and a healthy future. With a deep-rooted presence in the countries where our ingredients are grown, we are closer to farmers, enabling better quality, and more reliable, traceable, and transparent supply. And whoever we’re with, whatever we’re doing, we always make it real. Product Information Food & Beverage Solutions We have launched a new platform called Food and Beverage solutions, part of our ingredients and solutions reporting unit. This platform consolidates our current category solutions capabilities and innovation infrastructure. We support customers in developing new consumer concepts and application solutions at our four customer solution centers in Amsterdam, Bangalore, Chicago, and Singapore. Food and Beverage solutions leverages the strengths of our five product platforms, including their global and sustainable supply chain capabilities, a complementary portfolio of high-quality food and ingredients, and extensive ingredient expertise. This enables us to address a diverse range of customer requirements in the rapidly evolving Food and Beverage industry. Built on deep consumer, category, and application understanding, we are enhancing our application and R&D capabilities to provide an end-to-end integrated customer experience. This opens up more on-trend and inspired product ideation opportunities. Together, we can co-create product innovations that delight consumers and make your ambitions a reality. The internship We are offering an exciting R&D Internship focused on understanding the impact of critical ingredients on the shelf life and quality of nut fillings. In this internship, you will work hands-on in a laboratory and application-driven environment, contributing to product quality, stability, and performance. The objective of this role is to evaluate how key ingredients influence shelf life , taking into account different starting points of raw material shelf life. You will collaborate closely with R&D, Application, and Sensory teams to generate actionable insights for product development. Responsibilities During your internship, you will be involved in the full shelf‑life evaluation process, including: Preparing nut fillings at lab scale and measuring key baseline parameters immediately after production. Supporting application testing, working closely with the Application team to evaluate product performance. Designing and validating shelf‑life storage protocols, including ambient, accelerated, and cold storage conditions. Preparing, labeling, and managing samples under controlled storage conditions, including day/night temperature cycling where relevant. Conducting periodic shelf‑life evaluations, including: Sensory analysis (with guidance from a sensory technologist) Appearance, texture, and physical assessments Chemical and performance evaluations in final applications Consolidating data, interpreting results, and summarizing conclusions and recommendations. About you You are: A Bachelor or Master student in Food Technology, Food Science, Chemistry, or a related field. Interested in product quality, shelf life, and ingredient functionality. Comfortable working in a lab and structured testing environment. Accurate, organised, and detail‑oriented when handling samples and data. Able to work independently while collaborating effectively with multidisciplinary teams. Curious, proactive, and motivated to understand how ingredients impact real food applications. Interested in the food & beverage sector—and ideally enthusiastic about nuts, cocoa, and chocolate. What you'll gain Hands‑on R&D experience across shelf‑life testing and product evaluation. Exposure to real industrial product development challenges. Close collaboration with R&D, Application, and Sensory experts. Ownership of experimental work with clear deliverables and conclusions. Are you passionate about food science, product quality, and shelf‑life performance? Join ofi and contribute to better, longer‑lasting food solutions. ofi is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to racial or ethnic origin, color, age, religion or belief, sex, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Applicants are requested to complete all required steps in the application process including providing a resume/CV in order to be considered for open roles.