Nearly 30 years ago, Ana Rojas joined our company as a Laboratory Assistant, where she began to build a career as a Development Laboratory Technician, Junior Flavor Specialist and Senior Flavor Specialist. Today she is the Head of the Flavor Chromatography Unit. In retrospect, she recognizes that her academic training as an industrial chemical lab technician with a specialization in pharmaceuticals and food has been a valuable, albeit not determining, factor. “As a foundation, what I studied helped me more than anything with calculations because we had to take Quantitative and Qualitative Chemistry, for example. But this job is really a trade. One learns here, through practice, through day-to-day operations, in training sessions,” she explained.

Fernanda Amiama, Head of Chromatography and Research since 2019, originally joined CRAMER eight years ago as a Chromatography Analyst and then became part of the Fragrance Research group. She agrees with her colleagues in that her academic training as an industrial chemist is fundamental to her daily responsibilities. But she considers equally valuable her experience in the lab, teamwork with other researchers and the ongoing spirit of self-improvement. According to her, “you always have to study, see new things, the latest raw materials, the most recent chromatography spectra, in order to learn more and more, to conduct better analysis and to be able to successfully achieve your objectives.”

Carolina Caballería, who will celebrate her 15th anniversary with the company on May 8th, comments that since her arrival she has taken on diverse challenges like implementing the Microbiology Lab in the Quality area. Trained as a food engineer, she began as the Quality Control Lead, a newly created position, which also meant leading the Savory and Microbiology Lab. From there she moved on successfully through diverse roles like Head of the Spray Drying Plant and Head of Quality Management and Industrial Hygiene, where her efforts to implement the FSSC 22000 program helped certify the company under this food safety standard. In late 2017, she was promoted to her current role as Head of Quality Control.

Daniela Piderit, a biochemist with a master’s degree in food science from Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium, joined the company 11 years ago as a Research Specialist and was named Head of Research and Sensory Evaluation three years later. She explains that her role is two-fold. On one hand, she is responsible for generating and optimizing processes related to new cutting-edge technology, such as the extruders used in the Grainseal product line, and for training people from all areas (Beverages, Savory, Sweet, Samples). On the other hand, she is also in charge of product evaluation using a scientific method that involves training panelists and testing consumers for the category being studied. Thanks to these contributions, the company has even been awarded CORFO projects.

The case of Paola Cárdenas is different. Before joining our team, she was employed by one of our industrial fragrance clients in the cosmetic and home care industry. For personal reasons, three years ago she moved from her native Ecuador to Chile, at which time she joined our company as a Fragrance Application Specialist and later became an Applications and Research Specialist. Trained in pure chemistry with graduate work in cosmetic science and lean manufacturing, she loves her job because she gets to “find innovative ways to improve how fragrances perform in a given substrate or application, in addition to developing evaluation methods using the E-Nose (Electronic Nose).”

Lastly, since being hired in 2012 as a Quality Control Analyst, Valeska Serrano recognizes her professional growth with positions of greater responsibility as the Finished Product Quality Control Lab Lead and, since December 2020, as the Raw Materials Quality Control Lab Lead. “This is a practical, administrative job and I support my team 100%. When there is a difference I have to decide whether that difference is significant or insignificant. If I have to conduct a test, I coordinate it with the different areas like Production and Development,” explains this food technician and food science engineer, a degree she completed while working at the company.