What’s it Like Interning at a Trailblazing Food Tech Startup?

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I’ve always loved food and how it can tell the story of a people's history, traditions, and values. I grew up in the Vietnamese culture where good food is vital to people's lives.

My passion for food continued when I attended UC Davis and earned my undergraduate degree in the Department of Food Science & Technology. 

As an Aggie undergrad, I learned about the science of food and the chemical and physical reactions when food is made. More importantly, I discovered how our food system is powerful and fascinating yet destructive. 

Although our food system has provided billions of people globally with their daily nutrition, it has also disrupted biodiversity and negatively contributed to climate change. The food technology ecosystem and partnerships between industry and research universities like UC Davis are innovating to curb the negative effects of our food system.

Even though the food tech industry is in its early stages, I believe this is our food system's future. 

I joined the UC Davis Full-Time MBA program to leverage my food science knowledge and further my business acumen to support this movement toward sustainable food tech in the future. 

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Interning at TurtleTree: A Custom Role for Me

TurtleTree is a food tech startup based in Singapore with operations in Woodland, Calif., a few miles north of Davis. The company utilizes precision fermentation technology to produce bioactive dairy ingredients sustainably. Simply put, it’s creating highly sought-after milk proteins—without any cows. TurtleTree’s aim is bold: usher in a new era of sustainable nutrition.

The company’s innovations are making industry waves. For example, TurtleTree’s animal-free lactoferrin, called LF+, was the winner of Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards in the Asia-Pacific region category..

The company is applying a new use-case twist to precision fermentation, which is a well-established biotech process where yeasts become “mini-factories” to produce ingredients by provided “blueprints”. The production of penicillin has used the same technology since the 1940s.

TurtleTree’s lactoferrin is comparable to the protein found in cow’s milk, but the company aims to replicate human lactoferrin as well. [MF4] 

After learning about TurtleTree’s mission and value, I was intrigued and drawn to the company. I applied for a summer internship on the product team. The responsibilities outlined in the role were mostly in the lab. However, during my interview I mentioned my desire to be involved in the business, market strategy and financial activities.

To my surprise, TurtleTree’s CEO and the head of product development, now my immediate supervisor, opened another internship within the product team where I could apply my business knowledge to the company’s strategy. 

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 A Recipe for Success: Mixing MBA Skills and Food Science Expertise

In my newly created internship, I performed due diligence and secondary market research and presented to our stakeholders and partners. I applied my food science background along with the marketing, critical thinking, and communication skills gained from the first year in the UC Davis MBA program. Additionally, I was able to connect with people outside of my team from bioprocessing and analytics to marketing and C-suite.

Everyone that I met at TurtleTree was extremely hardworking and talented, with a shared goal of pursuing sustainability. 

I was hungry to grow, so I took another gamble and asked how I could make a bigger impact on the company using my MBA and my experience. Fortunately, gave me the opportunity to join the fundraising and finance team where I applied my financial knowledge from UC Davis to support their efforts.

Lesson Learned: Take Risks to Pursue Your Goals

In the end, this last year and my summer internship have taught me to take risks, especially when there is no downside. I am happy that I took the risk to apply for the MBA program, pursue an internship at TurtleTree, and ask to take on additional responsibilities within the company.

The internship experience and the people at TurtleTree have exponentially increased my knowledge about the sustainable food tech industry. It will be extremely beneficial for my future career growth.