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Welcome to another episode of my 30 days podcast challenge. And today I'm going to explain my story and why I left the corporate world to become a solopreneur. I became a food scientist because I wanted to express my creativity, working on innovative things and create product that people will remember because I have such an attachment for food and I'm sure most people will have exactly the same.
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I always remember when I was a child having this specific biscuit or this bread or there is something so deeply emotional about food when we have some food that are very surprising and we can't stop talking about it.
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This new restaurant, this new product that came out, how good it is also sometimes how bad something product, food for me always have been about creating memories and sharing exceptional moments with people, with friends, with family, with partners.
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It connects people, we talk about it, we describe it. So that's why I became a food scientist and wanted to work in the food industry. Because I wanted to create this kind of product, incredible product that tastes amazing and people remember like, "oh my God, this biscuit is amazing".
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And the part of me like I've helped creating this baby and I came in the food industry and you know, I work in the flavour house, so I work with a lot of different clients there and then I work directly at a brand called Pladis.
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So because I was their flavor, specialist, I work with a lot of different brands to help them again select the best flavours, flavour profile, etc. Etc. It's not just about my experience. I have a dozen of friends who worked in different food industries and across the board it was exactly the same feeling that I'm sharing.
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I think along the way the food industry lost his way and his purpose. And again, it may not happen only in the food industry and maybe all industries, but obviously I'm just talking about my experience and all of my friends experiences as well.
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So when I, started to work in the food industry, I started to completely feel that my dream will never become a reality. I was expecting to use my creativity much more almost every day and my food science knowledge as well, which wasn't the case at all.
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And again, it was the same when I was talking to my friends in the food industry and they told me exactly the same thing and I started to have a look. My job was research and development and the more I was in the industry, the more I realized research had become secondary.
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For most of the food industry it's all about development and developing. Quick, quick, quick, quick. In a year you have to develop I don't know how many products the product development team, has very little time in all of this process to be able to create incredible product.
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It's all about developing something that is very quick is obviously I can understand, but it's always about cost. And when you are a foodie and you are, you want to create the best product for your consumers, you are willing to make this sacrifice because you want your product to taste amazing.
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Unfortunately, I've noticed that most of the directors, the CEOs in, in these big brands, they are not foodies. They don't even sometimes consume their own products. And they are the ones taking sometimes decision if a product will go to market or not.
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And I understand it's a business and cost is important, but the food industry across the board has become let's make, make more money.
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They earn billions per year and they still want more. But the food industry I think became way too greedy and now with the UPF scandal is biting their ass. Because when you look at some brands that have been there for decades, sometimes like a century, the size of the product have decreased and decreased and decreased sometimes from where it started to now the product has halved in size, but really doubled in cost.
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And I've been there, I've been inside the factory and it's all about how can we make it as cheap as possible, but increase the cost. You launch a product a year later, yeah, we have to do a cost reduction on this and just finding the cheapest, poor quality ingredient you can find so your margins become so much bigger.
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And again, I'm not saying that it's only in the food industry. I'm probably certain it's going to be every industry. But I can tell you right now it is in the food industry for sure. I still remember like the first time I had Nutella and you know, we French love our Nutella.
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I can still remember the first time I had Nutella and the feeling I had that that was the, the best product I ever tasted at that time. So when you compromise that and taste because it's too expensive, because this and because that, consumers start to see the difference.
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They are not stupid. Even internally. We always know how the size shrunk, how there is less chocolate, how this product tastes almost nothing. And to be honest, it's the same for me and Nutella. I can't eat Nutella nowadays because I have noticed so much changes in the recipe.
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It used to taste so much more hazelnutty and roasted and now it tastes only fat and a little bit of cocoa. Sometimes I even wonder if there is any hazelnut left in this product. So I can't eat anymore. So basically I was in the middle of all of this and I lost completely my purpose.
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So I decided to stay stopped to all of this and becoming an independent consultant. And now it's just a dream. I work with food and drink businesses that want to do something that is so much better for the planet, for the people.
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They are very mindful and they have to survive. So they have to create amazing products. They have no choice. They can't relate on a global brand that have been known to everyone for decades, even though centuries.
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They can't rely on that brand identity that everyone knows they have to survive. And I love this thrill that they drive that they have. Like they want to create very good product but they don't want to compromise on things.
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For example, having products that are clean label. They do a lot of research like I don't want this ingredient, I want this ingredient instead. I don't want additives. I'm happy to compromise on shelf life, but I will educate my customers. It's not a problem. But I don't want this and this and this and this and, and I love that this is my purpose is to help food and drink brands achieving this amazing product that are clean label that for the, the planet.
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And I also can do things that are different every day and I love that I get bored if I always do the same thing. So working on different products, challenging, myself as well, like oh my God, how am I gonna do that? I need to do some research.
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Who can I contact that can help me out again? Even if I'm a solopreneur, I will always reach out to have that collaboration and help from the outside. Because I always think you can't function on your own. And being a solopreneur taught me so much about myself, so much I can take all of my decision.
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I have this freedom. But I understand it's not for everyone because you need shitload of organization. The stress is high. You have to be able to deal with indeed not knowing, how much or when you're gonna get paid.
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It's not on a regular basis. You have to hustle a lot. You have to find your way, find what is working, what is not working. So it's a lot of worrying and you need to have so many skills someday. You are a content creator and a marketer, and then you are prospecting and selling and doing your job.
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It's having all of these different hats as well but for me personally it has been the most extraordinary experience. I also do self defense so that is also something that it is incredible in my life and I can't live without it especially since I teach it to women having creating my business, being an independent consultant and I will say being in another country and doing self defense these three have been the most thrilling experience.
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That's it for today. Another episode about my story. What I see from the inside, what I think about the food industry and what's going wrong with the food industry and what can be better. I'm so proud of all of these food and drink brands that do something different from what the food industry, the classic let's say food industry is doing.
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So well done Kida, To all of you that listen to this episode and want to do something different that's all for today and I will see you tomorrow for another episode. Bye.
