The Aberdeenshire-based food ingredients firm welcomed Jamie for a three-month summer placement and has since offered him the full-time role of product designer where he will work within Macphie’s new product development team.

The 26-year-old chef-by-trade will work at Macphie to review fat, salt and sugar content across its product line, perfecting recipes, while ensuring its products maintain high-quality taste.

Jamie said: “I was always certain that joining the summer placement programme would provide me with great experience and important skills, but I never thought it would result in me landing a full-time position within the company.

“As I am really interested in the kitchen development side of production, to be given the opportunity to be so heavily involved in such a crucial part of the food creation process is extremely rewarding – I’ve already learned so much.

“The team at Macphie has been really supportive from the get go and have given me all the tools to grow. I’d definitely encourage other students to jump at the chance – it has opened the door to a brilliant career path for me.”

Jamie is also working on sourcing alternative ingredients and recipe reformulation given raw material shortages in the market.

Mark Duncan, technical director at Macphie, added: “We think it is so important to support the future workforce and nurture young talent as they take their first steps onto the career ladder, just like Jamie has. He will play a key role here at Macphie, working to ensure our product range is HFSS compliant, while retaining its all-important taste.

“We hope that our partnership with Abertay University inspires budding chefs, bakers or even ingredient manufacturers to kickstart their career in the food and drink industry.”