Tasty Tech

Tasty Tech

Before you ask Clancy Semmler what her role is at Simplot, make sure you have a cup of coffee and a comfy chair because you are in for a long answer.

A Senior Culinary Technologist at Simplot, Clancy is one of the few people who really mean it when they say no two days are the same.

Yes, she helps create new product lines then writes recipes and cooking instructions with versions for both foodservice and retail customers, but that is only part of her diverse role.

Clancy joined Simplot after earning a Bachelor of Applied Science and began working in the Pilot Plant where she was testing products and using the chip cruncher meter. ‘We literally test the sound of the chips and the crunch that they make to see how good the crunch is.’

But when she was temporarily seconded into a Culinary Technology role, she was hooked.

Passion

‘I found my passion. I love it. It's such a great job - playing with food and food testing. It’s very creative, but then I get to have my spreadsheets and data, so I get the best of both worlds because I'm quite data and analytical focused as well.’

Clancy collaborates with food technologists and with nutritionists to create products and recipes that meet Simplot’s nutrition guidelines, a process that can take 12 months to get to market.

Her work has included assisting in the creation of Edgell’s popular 70g Snack Time range of beans in a no-drain, snack sized can, which was one of the winners of the healthiest lunchbox options in the Healthy Food Guide's 2024 Lunchbox Awards for Australia and New Zealand.

‘I was involved with coming up with the flavour combinations of that range, so I think that would be one of my proud moments,’ Clancy says.

Collaboration

Clancy also collaborates with the marketing team and the food stylists, photographers and videographers who create the promotional assets for the products, and sometimes even models for the shoot.

‘If you've seen videos on Instagram and there's someone's hands doing all the things, sometimes that's me!’

Then Clancy manages the digital assets, uploading them and tagging them so they are searchable in a database of thousands of assets.

‘That includes creating the tagging metadata, selecting product codes, product names, brands and everything that makes it searchable within this massive database of a hundred thousand images and assets.’

Tastings

You might also find Clancy running weekly blind taste testings of Simplot and competitor products with staff to rate their performance and recommend any changes needed to ensure Simplot maintains its leadership position leader in each category.

‘It’s a really good program that Simplot runs to make sure that we're the best that we can be with the best and tastiest products,’ Clancy says.

It’s the variety of culinary technology that is Clancy’s favourite part of working at Simplot.

‘I love food, I love working with food, I love eating food’. And if someone else does, then I'd say, ‘hand on heart, it's a great job to have’.