Food Consortium Collaborative Training Partnership

Campden BRI

Campden BRI runs a research portfolio utilising member subscription investments with an agile portfolio of current projects meeting member needs. Future research projects aligned to those within the CTP will allow direct access to members through our twice-yearly cycle of Member Interest Groups (MIGs) facilitating rapid dissemination to a broad industry community. They are currently involved in 7 EU projects, 11 projects funded by other agencies e.g. UKRI and the Foods Standards Agency and run ‘club’ projects, which provide a collective position in certain areas of relevant and current research areas. Campden BRI already sponsors and supervises PhD students drawn both from internal staff and external academic links. Involvement in the CTP expands Campden BRI’s opportunity to turn high-quality academic research into meaningful industrial insight and to foster the next generation of talent in the industry.

Mondelēz International

Mondelēz International empowers people to snack right in over 150 countries around the world, with iconic global and local brands such as Oreo, belVita and LU biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate; Sour Patch Kids candy and Trident gum. We have > 80,000 employees worldwide, with > 2,500 scientists and engineers within RDQ alone and 10 research and development centres across the globe.

The health and sustainability of the global food system is integral to Mondelēz’s business and our company has professionals working across all aspects of Food Systems often in partnership with academia, start-ups, suppliers and other businesses globally to make a positive difference. At Mondelēz International, we believe that developing the next generation of scientists, capable of working collaboratively across disciplines is critical to addressing the challenges facing the UK food sector. We are committed to developing our next generation scientists and have a long record in doing so, including extensive experience in doctoral training. Mondelēz currently have a successful CTP programme in place and we would look to extend learnings and apply these within The Food Consortium.

Nestlé

Nestlé is the world’s largest food company with a broad portfolio of food and drink brands, and a global R&D organisation employing around 5,000 people. Connections to the broader Nestlé R&D organisation will give a broader cross-category focus to the projects we are proposing. Nestlé scientists have a strong reputation, with an output of circa 300 peer-reviewed publications and close to 200 patent applications per year. NPTC Confectionery has a long record of doctoral training, having sponsored over 100 students since the 1980s, primarily at UK universities. For many years we managed an ICP programme – the fore-runner of CTP.

Pepsico

PepsiCo R&D centres are located around the world and leverage nutrition, food science, engineering and consumer insights to meet our strategy to continue to develop convenient foods and beverages as well as cutting-edge packaging and equipment. More than half of our team hold advanced degrees in areas including food science, microbiology, chemistry, physics, nutrition sciences, toxicology, agronomy, mechanical and chemical engineering, computational modelling and more.

To meet our 2025 goals and further accelerate PepsiCo’s expansion of more nutritious products, we use a set of science-based nutrition guidelines called the PepsiCo Nutrition Criteria (PNC). These criteria are based on dietary and nutrient recommendations from leading global and national nutrition authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Academy of Medicine and dietary guidelines from numerous countries. The PNC sets standards for nutrients to limit, and nutrients and food groups to encourage that are based on the latest science and country-specific dietary guidelines. Participation in the CTP allows these goals to be underpinned by rigorous scientific research.

Samworth Brothers

Samworth Brothers is a 4th generation, family-owned food manufacturing business employing over 10,000 people, with an annual turnover of >.£1bn. The majority of sales are in private label retail branded products sold through major multiple retailers. The categories serviced are Sandwiches (and broader Food to Go products), Ready Meals, Salads, Hot and Cold Eating Pies, Cooked Meats and Sausages and Savoury Pastry. Whilst a majority of products we sell are private label. The Business also manufactures a number of consumer brands including Ginsters, Soreen. Samworth Brothers therefore bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in the ready to eat foods sector to the CTP.

The Haydn Green Institute

Supported by the Haydn Green Foundation, the Haydn Green Institute is at the forefront of creating a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Nottingham. HGI provides a stimulating and supportive experience for the budding entrepreneur with an entrepreneurship education programme that combines theory and practice, taught by both academics and business experts, equipping students with "real-world" experiences. Their world-leading research covers entrepreneurship education, innovation, and inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurship, investigating a wide-range of topics, such as barriers to women becoming entrepreneurs and using social media as an entrepreneurial tool. They also provide opportunity for taking part in competitions such as the Young Entrepreneurs Scheme and PhD-level training and support around the topics of successfully commercialising IP and a Winning Business Growth Programme which can be adapted for bespoke upskilling of staff / cohorts.

Studying for a PhD with the consortium gives you a unique opportunity to work with top academics and world-class business leaders in the food industry. We are looking forward to sharing our passion for science with you!

Opportunities for PhD projects will be posted here as they become available.

Current PhD projects

Designing chocolate products with enhanced health, wellbeing and technical performance using artificial intelligence

Sponsored by Mondelēz

Oct 2024 | University of Leeds

Ecohydrological modelling for regenerative agriculture

Sponsored by Nestlé

Sep 2024 | Imperial College London

Characterising glycosaminoglycans in human breast milk and their role in microbial-diet-host interaction

Sponsored by Nestlé

Oct 2022 | Newcastle University

AI and Ensemble approaches to model transient lipid deterioration in particulate food systems

Sponsored by Nestlé

Oct 2023 | University of Reading

Key molecules derived from enzymatic treatment of wafer batter and their impact on batter rheology

Sponsored by Nestlé

Jan 2023 | University of Reading

Sustainable chocolate emulsifiers from cocoa sidestream materials

Sponsored by Nestlé

Jul 2023 | University of Birmingham

Is enhanced rock weathering part of the solution to net zero cocoa farming?

Sponsored by Mondelēz

Jul 2023 | University of Sheffield

Energy density and snacking: understanding of the drivers of satiation and satisfaction when mixing foods with different energy density

Sponsored by Mondelēz

Apr 2023 | Swansea University

Development of human gastric process computational models for the design of foods with optimised nutrient uptake and satiety

Sponsored by PepsiCo

Oct 2022 | Imperial College London

Optimising salt morphology and maximising oral perception of salt through DEM and DEM-CFD techniques

Sponsored by PepsiCo

Dec 2022 | The University of Edinburgh

Fat functionality replacement in baked product matrices

Sponsored by Samworth Brothers

Oct 2022 | University of Nottingham

Impact of fibre and nutrient bio-accessibility on the gut microbiota

Sponsored by Campden BRI

Quadram Institute Bioscience

Novel ingredients from wheat bran for improved sustainability of the wheat value chain

Sponsored by Mondelēz

Mar 2024 | University of Nottingham