When one thinks of firms who have blazed a trail in human nutrition on a global scale, Nestle immediately springs to mind. Nestle has been investing in R&D in food science and nutrition for over 150 years and they are the world's most preeminent corporation in this area. Since 1860, Nestle has been developing world leading brands like Nescafe, Aero and Kit-Kat.
Our MScDI (Food) students got the chance to go back-stage right in the nerve centre of Nestle’s R&D operation. A rare privilege and one Nestle bestow only on one university per year. This is the very first time the university is an Irish one and our students went on an historic journey breaking new ground and making history.
Bernhard Maier, Head of Business Development and Operations presented our students with a golden opportunity to find out how Nestle generate ideas: how they test them: how they make the decisions about which ideas to resource. It was fascinating to observe the nexus between marketing and R&D and how they work together.