Nutrient Rescue is borne out of the realisation that 60% of New Zealanders are not eating the recommended five serves of fruit and vegetables per day…let alone the 10 serves believed to be needed for optimum health. It’s lucky, then, that Nutrient Rescue food technologist Glenda Ryan is on the case. As we all know, there’s no shortage of fruit and vegetables in New Zealand. The trouble is that humans are confused about what they should or should not eat…and it’s a challenge Nutrient Rescue food technologist Glenda Ryan is worried about. On one side, you have internet misinformation and the popular media’s penchant for spreading consumer doubt and mistrust of food companies; on the other, new health claims legislation is designed to foil sellers of ‘snake-oil-type’ products. “It’s making it very hard for small start-up companies with integrity and good intent to talk about what their product could offer consumers,” she says. “It’s a real barrier to success.” Not that those challenges have stopped her achieving. Developing from scratch a range of nutrient-rich whole plant food powders from entirely New Zealand produce has resulted in a 2017 NZ Food Awards nomination, to hopefully add to earlier wins. Making it easy, affordable and fun for people to add to the fruit and vegetables they are currently eating is a great way to spend a career, she says, and the Nutrient Rescue range - Red Shots made from red berries for anthocyanins, antioxidants and vitamin C; Green Shots from micro-nutrient rich green plant food with chlorophyll, carotenoids and folate; and Double Shots which are the ultimate combination of both – are some of her best work. “Start-up work is exciting and attracts positive people with a can-do attitude that makes for a great team to work with. It’s an ever-changing environment as the company grows and options open up,” Ryan says. “I love being part of a dynamic team, involved in company decisions and wearing many hats, whether production and purchasing, food safety and law, or product development and marketing.” Ryan graduated from Massey University with a food technology degree, and an interest in fermentation technology saw her working as a brewer for a boutique brewery in Auckland and at the Hahn Brewery in Sydney. On returning to New Zealand, she took on the role of sole food technologist for Cookie Time in Christchurch, with responsibility spanning quality, product development, trouble shooting and technical support as well as being part of the management team for the dynamic, successful, privately-owned company. Her return to work after maternity leave coincided with the introduction of the new Food Standards Code, with labelling requirements suddenly far more complicated and prescribed, resulting in improved consumer information and new labels and packaging for all food products sold in New Zealand. Her product development projects provided an outlet for her longstanding interest in the link between nutrition and health…resulting in the ‘Smart Cookie’, a re-engineered chocolate chip cookie with a healthier nutritional profile, low Glycaemic Index and Omega 3-rich vegetable oil. It gained the Heart Foundation Tick and the approval of the Parent Teachers Association, plus a NZ Food Award. Ryan’s next project - to develop the most nutritionally balanced single food in the world - produced One Square Meal and won three NZ Food Awards and international patents. It was, however, as innovation manager for Champion’s flour mill and bakery premix plant that Ryan got a call from former Cookie Time boss Michael Mayell wanting help with his start-up company Nutrient Res- F O O D T E C H N O L O G I S T : Nutrient Rescue B A C K G R O U N D : Hahn Brewery in Sydney, Cookie Time food technologist, One Square Meal developer, Champion flour product innovator, Nutrient Rescue. C O M PA N Y : Start-up enterprise developing nutrient-rich whole plant food powders from NZ produce. cue. “I’m not afraid of a challenge,” she says. “But I’m not about to give up working in bringing healthier offerings to consumers. While the industry recognition and the many NZ Food Awards have been nice, it’s the feedback from customers grateful for the difference a product has made to their lives that is the best reward.” Ryan credits her Massey degree as a major contributor to her success. “This course provides a thorough grounding in rigorous sciences such as process engineering, food chemistry and packaging technology, blended with the consumer sciences of marketing and developing products to meet consumer needs,” she says. “It has a strong practical focus and by covering many aspects of the food industry, the degree allows graduates to have a wide variety of career options across production, marketing, product development, food safety and management, and to move between or speak the language of many different disciplines.” With boss Mayell describing her as worth her weight in gold, being a woman of many disciplines looks like Ryan’s in for a stellar future. Glenda Ryan C H R I S T C H U R C H www.foodtechnology.co.nz 15
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