Knowing the details – the fat truth about development

Kerstin Christensson, development manager, has always worked with fat and product development in one form or another. Indeed, 18 years ago, it was her knowledge of fat that landed her the job as development manager with Ellco Food in Sweden, one of the BHJ Group's largest production sites.

"Day-to-day, I spend my time developing new products as well as implementing processes and products in production. One could say that a development manager is an inventor over and above anything else, joggling ideas and challenges and pondering possible and impossible solutions. I do spend a lot of my time in meetings, communicating with other companies and exchanging knowledge and experience. Lately, I also took on being a mentor to a student to share with a new generation my many years of experience in the world of business", tells Kerstin.

"Irrespective of whether you work on development projects with long or short time frames, what makes development so exciting is that it is always a challenge. You are always looking for a solution" says Kerstin.

Being a part of a team

Kerstin works very closely with the laboratory staff. There are three or four technicians working in the laboratory and in this way Kerstin feels part of a team within BHJ. She regards her position as privileged, because she feels that the rest of the organisation takes such a positive view of her role. Other employees come to her and ask for help in solving their own concrete challenges.

"It is great to watch how happy people get when I can play a part in solving their problems. As a consequence, it is a very positive experience for me," says Kerstin.