Plant based food can drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decrease the use of cropland, save water and improve water quality, and decrease pollutants leaching into water and soil.

Apoorva Prasanna, our next pathbreaker, Food Scientist at Impossible Foods (San Francisco), works on food processing principles and engineering techniques to make plant-based meat!

Apoorva talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about being exposed to the world of alternate proteins (proteins that are made from plants, through fermentation or cellular agriculture) that can be used to replace conventional proteins like dairy and meat.

For students, try to get out of the herd mentality, think differently and act wisely. Dreams don’t get fulfilled easily, it requires time and effort !

Apoorva, what were your initial years like? 

I was born and raised in Bengaluru, India. As a high school student, science was my favorite subject and I eagerly waited for my lab classes every week to learn and explore something new. I still remember the chemistry experiments that kindled the curiosity in my 12 year old brain. Another area that I was always attracted to was cooking. I participated in multiple inter-school cooking competitions which boosted my confidence and my interest in food. Also, coming from a family of great cooks exposed me to a wealth of traditional Indian cooking right from my childhood. Other than academics, art, especially painting held a very special place in my heart. It was a way of expressing my ideas through colors without the need of words. Swimming was one sport that I enjoyed the most. 

Being the only daughter of working parents helped me grow independently and understand the importance of hardwork and commitment. My mother was a school teacher and father runs his own business. I think the biggest reason for me to pursue an unconventional career path is their support. I was taught to do things that I enjoyed the most and carve a path for myself instead of following what others are doing! 

What did you do for graduation/post graduation? 

After my 12th grade, I knew that I wanted to do something related to biology and applied sciences rather than pursuing mainstream engineering subjects like computer science or electrical engineering. That is when I found out that there was an emerging field in engineering called biotechnology and it is a combination of biological sciences and application of those technologies to solve industrial problems. Back then it was one of those areas which was not as popular as the rest of the conventional branches of engineering. After considering the research opportunities and faculty profile, I decided to join Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering to complete my 4 years of undergraduate course in B.E. Biotechnology. During my engineering, I had the opportunity to work on multiple research projects, one of which was using edible mushrooms to decolorize the textile industry effluents and also understand its importance as a therapeutic. 

After completion of my engineering, I decided to pursue my masters in Food science in the US. Back in 2014, there were very limited opportunities to study food science in India. I was offered an admission in Drexel university, Philadelphia with a fellowship and I decided to take up that opportunity. I started my masters (Food Science) in 2015 with a focus on alternate proteins. 

What were the influences that led you to such an offbeat, unconventional and uncommon career? 

The main reason for choosing this career was my curiosity for science, passion for food and love for art. Being a food scientist meant that I could combine all of those into a profession that keeps me excited every single day.I am fortunate to have had many mentors who have guided me through this journey both professionally and personally. I am grateful to the professors and faculty of Dayanada Sagar College of Engineering, Dr. Sinosh Skariyachan, Dr. Kiran Vasist and Dr. Rajeshwari Narayanappa. On the professional front, Ravi Jhala, Pradeep Suriya and Anil Komeneni have been great mentors and managers that have given me the opportunity to learn and grow. 

The turning point to choose this career was in the last year of my engineering, when some of my peers/friends from Biotech were ready to take up jobs in the IT sector as there were not many career prospects for an early biotech undergrad back in 2014. I was not willing to compromise and take up a job that I was not interested in. I knew that I wanted to study further, but I was not sure about the area of expertise. That is when I came across the IFT (Institute of Food technologist) website, where I was introduced to the world of Food science. I instantly knew this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life! 

How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Or how did you make a transition to a new career? Tell us about your career path 

During my masters in the US, I had an option to do a 6 months of internship in the field of food science, but the challenge was finding an opportunity in a new country. Even though I had relatives in the US, none of them had contacts in the food industry. I knew that I had to find an opportunity on my own and I was not going to give up easily. Luckily, I found LinkedIn. I started reaching out to all the food industry professionals with my resume and sending them messages asking for internship opportunities. After reaching out to a few hundreds of people, a couple of them responded and out of those, Pradeep Suriya (Senior manager at Danone) referred me to one of his contacts and that’s how I landed my first internship at Perfect day foods. 

During my internship at Perfect Day foods, I had an exciting opportunity to work with milk proteins derived from precision fermentation. This was my entry into the world of alternate proteins (proteins that are made from plants, through fermentation or cellular agriculture that can be used to replace conventional proteins like dairy and meat). My job was to understand the functionality of these proteins derived from fermentation and use them to make dairy alternatives like milk and yogurt. 

After my internship, I completed my master’s in Food science at Drexel university with multiple scholarships and awards for my academic excellence. 

Soon after graduation, I started looking for a full-time job. That’s when my manager from my previous internship referred me for a job at Danone. I was able to clear multiple rounds of interviews with Danone and started working as a Food scientist in the R&D department. I was able to create numerous plant-based yogurt products using soy, almond and coconut. My next job was at MALK organics, a plant-based milk startup in Texas. The co-founder of MALK reached out to me on LinkedIn as the team was looking at someone who had expertise working with plant-based ingredients. Being one of the early employees of the company, I had the opportunity to develop the first plant based (oat and almond) milk and creamer alternatives using High pressure processing technology. 

As I was looking for an opportunity where I could learn high end research and technological innovations in the plant-based sector, I came across an opening at Impossible Foods. This had been my dream company since I started my career, so I was super excited and applied for the position of Senior Research Associate. After 4 rounds of interviews, I was selected for the position. I have been with Impossible foods for the last 3.5 years and I have had the opportunity to work with the biggest scientists in the field of applied science. 

From my experience, LinkedIn is the most useful tool for job search and networking with the professional community. I would highly recommend making the most out of this platform.

How did you get your first break? 

I got my first break in my career early on during my internship, as I was able to work on alternate proteins back in 2016 when it was a very new concept in the food industry. With the help of a small team, we were able to show that milk proteins can be produced using fermentation and these milk proteins can be used to make products that taste just like dairy without the need of a cow! 

What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them? 

Challenge 1: 

The biggest challenge I initially had was to leave home (India) and pursue my education abroad. I was very hesitant to leave my comfort zone and settle in a new country with unknown people. I think it was my courage and confidence that pushed me out of my comfort zone. In retrospect, I am very thankful that I took that first step! 

Challenge 2: 

Finding an internship or a job as a fresher is challenging and being an immigrant in the US made the process even more challenging. I think building a network of people through conferences, linkedIn connections and professional events was very important in getting my foot in the industry. Once I proved myself through my first internship and job, that experience helped me land other jobs easily.

Where do you work now? What problems do you solve? 

As a food scientist in the Product innovation team at Impossible foods, my role is to understand the chemistry and dynamics of animal meat and then use food processing principles and engineering techniques to make plant-based ingredients behave, look and taste like meat! 

What skills are needed in your role? How did you acquire the skills? 

The skills required for my job include formulation development, food chemistry, sensory science, data analysis and engineering. I was able to acquire in-depth scientific research skills during my undergraduate course as I had an opportunity to work on a research project and publish a couple of scientific papers in leading journals. Few of the skills were developed through the research work during my masters and rest of the skills were developed as I gained experience innovating new products. Also, constantly being updated with the latest scientific research and technologies has helped me apply them in my work. 

What’s a typical day like? 

A typical day in my life looks like troubleshooting problems and finding answers by running experiments with food. Most of the time, I end up tasting my own experiment to understand the challenge so that I can design the next set of experiments. 

What is it you love about this job? 

The first thing I love about my job is that it keeps me excited and curious throughout the day as I can bring my innovation and ideas to life. It’s a process of learning and unlearning that I enjoy the most. Next reason to love my job is the impact it’s having on this planet. Being in the alternate food space has made me realize that it is the most impactful way to reduce the carbon footprint and also create a sustainable food system for our future generations. 

How does your work benefit society? 

My work benefits society in multiple ways. Impact on the environment is huge, plant based food can drastically reduce the greenhouse gas emission, decrease the use of cropland, save water and improve water quality, and decrease pollutants leaching into water and soil. It can also cut down factory farming which reduces animal suffering. Research has shown that consumption of plant based food is beneficial for health reasons as well, it reduces the risk of heart problems, high blood pressure and obesity. Overall, my work towards creating sustainable, healthy, delicious plant based meat and dairy is not only helping our generation but also our future generations. 

Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you! 

The most memorable work that I did was creating a coffee creamer using only 3 ingredients (oats, water and salt) without the use of any heat treatment (used High pressure processing). It was the first project in which I led the entire formulation efforts from ideation to scale up. 

Your advice to students based on your experience?

Firstly, when it comes to work, it should be driven out of passion and interest, not just based on scope or job prospects. You should wake up every morning feeling excited and energized to start your workday. If you love what you do, you will get good at it effortlessly. Next, don’t let others’ words or decisions affect your actions. If all your friends are taking up a course/subject, it doesn’t mean you should too. Try to get out of the herd mentality, think differently and act wisely. Lastly, please believe in yourself and don’t give up easily. Dreams don’t get fulfilled easily, it requires time and effort, so be patient, work hard and stay humble! 

Future Plans? 

I plan to continue my research and grow my expertise in the field of alternate proteins. I would like to see many more of my plant based innovations in the market. I would continue helping and mentoring the students in the food science/biotech communities in India and the US. In future, I want to extend this collaboration with students across the globe!