Mikael brings his expertise to product development

5.11.2021

Mikael Smolander started working at Maustaja in fall 2021 and has worked in his position as a product developer for a few weeks.

“The first couple of weeks I spent mostly getting to know the production and ways of working. My new colleagues have been nice and working with them in quality and product development during the last weeks has been very exciting. It has been great to see how much expertise the team has,” Mikael says.

Mikael will soon graduate as a Master of Health Sciences from the University of Eastern Finland’s department of Food Sciences, where he has specialized in food biotechnology. In his almost complete master’s thesis, he compares the effects of two different cooking methods on cooking waste, organoleptic quality and microbiological preservation of chicken products.

“Combining sports and nutrition is what first got me interested in the field. I was interested in how nutrition affects sports performance and overall health. I gravitated towards food studies because I didn’t find work as a nutritional therapist as my cup of tea,” Mikael says. Mikael has previous experience as a manager in meat industry.

In his role as a product developer, Mikael complements and updates the technical information of products, reviews the drafts of product etiquettes and improves recipes. Each product developer has their own clients, for whom they deliver the best possible results.

“It is important that you’re able to keep up with changing situations and be flexible when needed. Work is usually autonomous, but we also cooperate with other stakeholders such as quality control. It is important to remember that theory doesn’t always directly apply in reality. You have to account for the features of manufacturing and usually try out the idea in practice first before you make your final decisions,” Mikael says.

Mikael’s hobbies include working out at the gym, skiing, and hiking outdoors. “I don’t know if it counts as a hobby, but when you happen to own a car from the 80s you also have to learn to tune it,” Mikael says wryly.