Andrea Zeng's guest appearances

Andrea Zeng

PeasOnMoss Podcast

My Food Job Rocks!

Kimberly Schaub

Rachel Zemser

Alan Reed

Jessica Goldstein

Rachelle Boucher

Lindsay Wisener

Dan Follese

Deepak Kumar

Mark Crowell

Katie Jones

Michael Bunn

Graham Kerr

Philip Saneski

Abe Cohn

Thom King

OwlTail

Food technologist Andrea Zeng and I worked together as the product development team at Lundberg Family Farms renovating their snack line, creating new rice meal kits, and developing frozen items for them. Andrea has since moved into chocolate product research and development, drawing on her time managing the Cal Poly Chocolates Food and Nutrition Science student product development and management program. Now a chocolate technologist, she joins us to talk about product development across different brands and the similarities and differences among them. We recorded this episode last fall, so Andrea is not the newbie any more.  This podcast is sponsored by Icon Foods. Get information about their non-sugar sweeteners at . Join them and sponsor the show.

S3E13: Ghirardelli Chocolate R&D with food technologist Andrea Zeng

Andrea Zeng worked with me in a past R&amp;D role, and although she crossed food categories when she moved to a new job at Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, she had past experience working in chocolate science. Here she gives some foundational advise on how you could cross from one category to another and how passion for the category is the key to cross-over.  Thanks to Icon Foods for being the founding sponsor.   Check out other episodes at

Preview: Chocolate technologist Andrea Zeng's tips on crossing into a different food category

Today I interview Andrea Zeng, long time friend, some time rivals. This is a great episode about choosing between culinary school and a degree in food science. Note that you can always have both (as you will find out in a future episode!). We're going to be talking about a lot of cool food science terms like enzymes and retro-gradation. Hang on!! If you would like to listen to more of our episodes, make sure to  check us out on iTunes. If you like them, we'd appreciate it if you could rate and review them. Thanks! About Andrea Andrea is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science and a minor in Packaging. She currently works as a Food Technologist at Lundberg Family Farms, developing new consumer packaged goods within the natural and organic category. During her time at Cal Poly, Andrea was a Student Lead Product Developer at Cal Poly Chocolates. With Cal Poly Chocolates, a student run business through the Food Science Department, Andrea was able to turn ideas into new products and ultimately onto shelves of stores in the local community. By working in a student run business Andrea helped with order fulfillment, inventory management, student management and special events. Currently located in Richvale, California, Andrea works with products ranging from chips, to rice cakes, rice and risottos. Using her experience with quality at Earthbound Farms, her practice in the lab at university and innovation with chocolate, Andrea has been able to create new (and I might say "yummy"!) rice entrees, rice cakes and puffed snacks.  Outside of the test kitchen Andrea also works with sensory testing and food styling and recipe suggestions for the Lundberg website (how cool is that!?). Check out some of Andrea’s creations at most major grocery stores! About Lundberg Family Farms Lundberg Family Farms, based in Richvale, California, in the United States, produces rice, chips, packages, and markets organic foods. It is family owned and has been a pioneer in organic farming, especially rice products. It was the first business to produce and market a brand of organic rice in the United States. Today it is one of the United States' top brands of organic products, with 14,000 acres (57 km2) under management. Key Takeaways  Why Andrea (and I guess, me) chose majoring in Food Science over Culinary School How Food Science might enhance your cooking skills The frustration of targeting timelines and waiting for product success  What we talk about Lundberg Family Farms IFT16 Ridgeview California Heat and Eat Cal Poly  Peach Cobbler Enzymes Denature Food Chemistry Retrogradation Vending Machine Restaurants Food Network Giada DeLaurentiss Ina Gartner Alton Brown  Victorian Nox Chef’s Knife  Zoodle thing Box Grater Quest Noodles  Savory Granola Bars  Vietnamese Spring Rolls Just Do It Download Episode

Today I interview Andrea Zeng, long time friend, some time rivals. This is a great episode about choosing between culinary school and a degree in food science. Note that you can always have both (as you will find out in a future episode!). We're going to be talking about a lot of cool food science terms like enzymes and retro-gradation. Hang on!! If you would like to listen to more of our episodes, make sure to <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/my-food-job-rocks!/id1123293249?mt=2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> check us out on iTunes</a>. If you like them, we'd appreciate it if you could rate and review them. Thanks! <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-zeng-01b9a930" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">About Andrea</a> Andrea is a graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science and a minor in Packaging. She currently works as a Food Technologist at Lundberg Family Farms, developing new consumer packaged goods within the natural and organic category. During her time at Cal Poly, Andrea was a Student Lead Product Developer at Cal Poly Chocolates. With Cal Poly Chocolates, a student run business through the Food Science Department, Andrea was able to turn ideas into new products and ultimately onto shelves of stores in the local community. By working in a student run business Andrea helped with order fulfillment, inventory management, student management and special events. Currently located in Richvale, California, Andrea works with products ranging from chips, to rice cakes, rice and risottos. Using her experience with quality at Earthbound Farms, her practice in the lab at university and innovation with chocolate, Andrea has been able to create new (and I might say "yummy"!) rice entrees, rice cakes and puffed snacks.  Outside of the test kitchen Andrea also works with sensory testing and food styling and recipe suggestions for the Lundberg website (how cool is that!?). Check out some of Andrea’s creations at most major grocery stores! <a href="http://www.lundberg.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">About Lundberg Family Farms</a> Lundberg Family Farms, based in Richvale, California, in the United States, produces rice, chips, packages, and markets organic foods. It is family owned and has been a pioneer in organic farming, especially rice products. It was the first business to produce and market a brand of organic rice in the United States. Today it is one of the United States' top brands of organic products, with 14,000 acres (57 km2) under management. Key Takeaways <ul> <li>Why Andrea (and I guess, me) chose majoring in Food Science over Culinary School</li> <li>How Food Science might enhance your cooking skills</li> <li>The frustration of targeting timelines and waiting for product success</li> </ul> What we talk about <a href="http://www.lundberg.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lundberg Family Farm</a>s <a href="http://am-fe.ift.org/cms/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IFT16</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridgeview_Village,_California" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ridgeview California</a> <a href="http://www.lundberg.com/products/entrees-sides/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Heat and Eat</a> <a href="http://www.fsn.calpoly.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cal Poly</a> <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/peach-cobbler-recipe.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Peach Cobbler</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_(food_process)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Enzymes</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanching_(cooking)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Denature</a> <a href="http://www.journals.elsevier.com/food-chemistry" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Food Chemistry</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrogradation_(starch)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Retrogradation</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8Z80J3jOao" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vending Machine Restaurants</a> <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Food Network</a> <a href="http://www.giadadelaurentiis.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Giada DeLaurentiss</a> <a href="http://www.barefootcontessa.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ina Gartner</a> <a href="http://altonbrown.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alton Brown</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Fibrox-Straight-Chefs-8-Inch/dp/B008M5U1C2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Victorian Nox Chef’s Knife</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Zoodle-Slicer-ZS001-Vegetable-Spiral/dp/B00M6I6MG0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Zoodle thing</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Box-Grater/dp/B0007VO0CQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Box Grater</a> <a href="https://www.questnutrition.com/quest-pasta" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Quest Noodles</a> <a href="https://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-1017820-mediterra-savory-bar-kale-and-pumpkin-seeds-12-bars?utm_source=googlebase&amp;utm_medium=fpl&amp;utm_term=MediterraSavoryBarKaleandPumpkinSeeds12Bars&amp;utm_content=151792&amp;utm_campaign=googlebase&amp;site=google_base&amp;sc_intid=151792&amp;scid=scplp11729249&amp;gclid=Cj0KEQjw8pC9BRCqrq37zZil4a0BEiQAZO_zrBY4aoAcetxRHRRz5ASp7tw-9RCyq5F4-pwgi__pCZQaAloN8P8HAQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Savory Granola Bars</a> <a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/24239/vietnamese-fresh-spring-rolls/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Vietnamese Spring Rolls</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Just Do It</a> <a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/myfoodjobrocks/Ep.011_-_On_Cooking_and_Science_with_Andrea_Zeng_Food_Technologist_at_Lundberg_Family_Farms.mp3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Download Episode</a>

Ep. 011 - Cooking and Science with Andrea Zeng, Food Technologist from Lundberg Family Farms