Busting manufacturing myths: Petya illuminates potential in food & drink
“If you mention working in food manufacturing, people’s minds instantly go to working on a production line and I want to get across that there is so much more to it than that.”
And Petya Dimitrova should know. She is now a QHSE (quality, health, safety and environment) manager at Lazy Day Foods, producers of high-quality free-from and vegan treats, but started delivering STEM Ambassador activities a couple of years ago in her previous role as technical manager at potato supplier Albert Barlett.
Petya signed up as a Scottish Food & Drink Ambassador towards the end of last year and talking about the industry is something she really enjoys.
“The way I look at it, everything is inter-related,” she said.
“Speaking to school pupils, you can’t look at single subjects. I’m not an engineer or a scientist but I do use maths, science and technology all the time in my everyday life.
“And I like to relate it in a practical way. If a young person says they are interested in maths and numbers, I explain that in manufacturing we need to know how much to produce, how much to send out, we need to know how much we can charge and how much money can we make.
“All that is working with numbers. It's really how we present that to kids and how that chimes with them.”
“Sometimes you have to think outside the box, but that’s how you’ll engage the next generation in food & drink.”
“If a young person says they are interested in maths and numbers, I explain that in manufacturing we need to know how much to produce, how much to send out, we need to know how much we can charge and how much money can we make.
All that is working with numbers. It’s really how we present that to kids and how that chimes with them.”
Petya at a recent careers event at Bathgate Academy
Variety of activities
Petya started as a STEM Ambassador, driven by a desire to inspire her own son as well as in the hope she could encourage her engineer partner to share his knowledge with the same enthusiasm he did with their son.
She’s yet to persuade her husband but her own experiences have honed her skills in engaging with different audiences.
“I’ve learned so much from when I started as an ambassador. Initially, the activities were organised through work rather than me engaging with the experience. Now I offer my help rather than waiting to be asked,” she said.
“Sometimes you have to think outside the box, but that’s how you’ll engage the next generation in food & drink.”
Another example Petya gives is speaking to a young person interested in photography, which at first glance has nothing to do with food manufacturing. But she find a corresponding role, for example in marketing creating the visuals for packaging and advertising, and suddenly it makes sense.
She ruefully remember one of her first experiences as going along to a football event sponsored by Albert Bartlett.
“It was a cold and snowy day and we had no idea to expect when we turned up with some leaflets and a bag of potatoes. However there were only about five children and two parents who weren’t terrible interested in career opportunities – but they were happy to have some potatoes!”
Now she tries to have more conversations around food manufacturing, food science and food in general. Sometimes she gets pupils to come up with their own recipes, or asks them to identify the ingredients in shortbread.
“It’s totally different being on a stand at a careers fair to presenting in front of a class, and in a lot of ways there’s much more freedom.”
Mentoring matters
In fact, Petya’s activities have expanded beyond explaining the food & drink industry and she is also involved in mentoring young people.
One of the projects is acting as a mentor for secondary school Industrial Cadets taking part in the Challenger Experiences. One of her qualifications is in project management, so she likes to take what can seem a very theoretical subject and help young people apply it in practice as they manage budgets, timelines and resources.
She also mentors through the Stemettes programme, which supports young women and non-binary people to pursue careers in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths).
“I’ve a 16-year-old mentee at the minute, who is doing her exams and wants to go to university so I’m supporting her with things like interview skills and building her confidence,” she said.
Exploring cultures
Other unexpected direction her ambassador activities have taken include a recent session at her son’s primary school. Although she’s been in Scotland for more than 10 years, Petya is originally from Bulgaria and was thrilled to be able to share her homeland’s history and traditions as part of a Language Week.
“It was a creative way to give pupils some more knowledge about the world by talking about geography and different countries,” she said.
“We started with the primary one pupils and worked up to primary seven. I got to introduce different cultures – quite literally when we were talking about yoghurt, and the role Bulgaria played in identifying the bacterium that gives it its distinctive sour taste and health benefits.
“We compared the populations of Bulgaria with those of Scotland and talked about the highest peaks in the country and compared them to Ben Nevis.
“We did it in terms they could relate to - like how many bottles it would take to measure the heights. It was quite an interactive session and it was so interesting to see how the conversation changed with the different age groups.
“I didn’t think much more about it until a mum came over to speak to me a few days afterwards. I’d never met her before but she started telling me how excited her son had been when he came home telling her all about Bulgaria and bacteria, the invention of yoghurt and how many bottles it takes to measure mountains.
“It is lovely to hear you’ve made an impression on someone.”
Petya’s passion to illuminate food & drink careers and support STEM learning as an ambassador is very evident. She is eager to challenge the perception of food manufacturing and underline the exciting, diverse and innovative opportunities it can offer.
As she continues spreading the word, it’s clear that it’s not just her son she will be inspiring but a whole new generation of the food & drink workforce.