Vivek Upadhyay
Q: What in your background prepared you for your current role?
Dairy runs in our family. My father has been associated with dairy academia and industry for over 40 years. Since my early childhood, dairy and food science has fascinated me, and it’s that passion that led me to pursue a career in the industry, an undergraduate degree in dairy technology and a PhD in food chemistry.
Q: How has the functionality of dairy ingredients changed over the last few years?
The most important functional attribute of dairy ingredients remains unchanged; which is the ability to deliver great taste and quality nutrition in a variety of formats. What has changed, though, is our ability to isolate and efficiently deliver the elements of dairy required for different purposes – be it flavour profiles, proteins, fats or lactose. This means that better balance is achieved in the final products produced, in terms of nutrition, taste and cost.
Q: What do you think contributes to their popularity in all product areas?
I think it’s the taste and nutritional aspects of dairy that make it so popular. This can clearly be seen by that fact that, worldwide, as incomes rise and food purchasing power grows, more dairy is consumed. The versatility of dairy also makes it a great product with which to innovate and create, across many formats from nourishing infant formula to indulgent ice cream and everything in between. It also works so well in combination with other foods and flavours; it is perfectly customisable.
Q: Where do you think the next big breakthrough will be for dairy fractions and ingredients?
There have been many exciting product innovations arising out of dairy component fractionation in recent years. It is difficult to say where the next big breakthrough will be, but I believe as an industry we need to create dairy ingredients that allow us to improve the targeted nutritional benefits of our foods and beverages, and deliver functional benefits in clean label products, without compromising on taste.
Q: What do you consider your greatest achievement? Greatest challenge?
One of the biggest challenges for the food industry is to reduce the total and saturated fat in food products, without compromising taste. Our team at Kerry is working on enhancing the nutritional value of foods and beverages while using ingredients that consumers know and trust. Recently, one of our customers asked us to reduce the saturated fat in a very challenging application by more than 30 per cent using a clean label dairy ingredient. After significant research, development and application work, we were able meet the challenge, delivering a clean label dairy solution and a great tasting and nutritionally improved commercial product.
Q: What does a typical day look like for you?
A typical day comprises of planning, ideation, trials, review with team and yes, lots of tasting and sensory.
Q: Outside of work, what are your hobbies/interests?
Spending time with family particularly my daughters, photography and travelling. If time permits I enjoy cooking.
