-A Mad Food Scientists Perspective-

If you told me 30 years ago, I’d be formulating pet food, while working from my home office in Las Vegas, Nevada, I would have taken your car keys and called you an Uber…or it would have been a cab and probably on my flip phone. 

In all seriousness, on my journey from chef to food scientist; and now food scientist to pet food scientist, never did I dream my current journey would be my favorite and by far, most rewarding. 

The journey started long ago as a young boy in Detroit, Michigan. Let’s fast forward this timeline to a young man in his 20s with a young daughter, who was starting his first food science position with a premium hot dog and sausage manufacturer in Chicago, Illinois. The world was my beefy oyster, and I was creating products for customers worldwide - loving every minute of it. Meat extrusion in every way imaginable. Skinless, natural casing, and whole muscle. This also included soups, sauces, and desserts. This position allowed me to have my hands in just about everything. This portion of my journey lasted almost a decade and brought into my life another beautiful daughter.

From there, I went from big fish in a small fishbowl to a national brand cereal company in Battle Creek, Michigan, where I was certainly a small fish in a very large fishbowl…. or cereal bowl as it were. 

Here I enjoyed creating flavors for some of the most iconic brands we all grew up with and loved. I learned more about grain science than I ever thought imaginable and had some great mentors along the way. I was also blessed to welcome my beautiful son into our family. Life felt complete. From here, I spent the next decade-plus formulating everything from deli meats, more sausages, ice cream, and grain-based extruded snacks.

Fast forward to 2022, and we are relocating to the west coast for a great promotion for my wife in her career advancement within the chocolate and confections world. This required a search for a new chapter in my working life. Moving to the west coast there were plenty of companies within the food industry where I felt comfortable continuing my career in a fashion to which I was most accustomed to. But nothing felt like THE opportunity, and I had turned down a few decent offers during those few months. Then one hot summer day, along comes a job posting for a Product Development Director with extrusion experience at a fully remote company with travel, and the additional requirement that “you must love animals.” As a pet lover and dog dad to two rescue pets, I wanted to look at this new potential opportunity. One interview after another, I grew more and more interested…not only in the position itself but in the team, I would be working with.

Insert BSM Partners. With 40-plus employees, BSM Partners is the world's largest pet food consulting firm. An organization that embraces diversity of thought and background. Made up of the smartest people I’ve ever met, this team walks into a room, and you know someone has the answer. BSM Partners was also named one of the top 10 companies to work for in the pet industry in 2022. It has been a whirlwind onboarding for me, and at times felt like drinking from a firehose. It’s exciting to know that my years of extrusion experience were quickly utilized and that I was able to add value to this new company I had joined and all the new skills I was learning in this new chapter in my life.

What I love about this industry, this company, and my new team is that the work we do today is work that I’ve done for decades. Now, it’s just done slightly differently for a different clientele. The rewarding part of this scenario is that I am helping to create the best possible products for those who need our help to do so the most. There is something very rewarding knowing that you are creating the future of pet food, much like you would be creating nutrient-rich foods for a newborn baby. Doing that type of work humbles you in a way I never knew possible.

In a world of innovative change and chaos, it’s good to know there are industry professionals that have dedicated their lives to creating amazing and nutritious products for our favorite furry friends. I’m glad to be a proud member of that innovative chaos.

 

 

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About the Author

Ray Sierengowski formerly served as Assistant Director for Product Innovation at BSM Partners. He resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, with his wife and their two rescue dogs Lexus and Audi. The family enjoys camping, hiking, and outdoor cooking.