Food Consumer Marketing and Product Development (Work Experience)

On the MSc Food Consumer Marketing and Product Development course you’ll consider sustainability, corporate social responsibility, legislative issues and business ethics. You’ll develop and apply masters-level skills – academic, research, managerial, practical, technical and analytical – all preparing you for a future career in the dynamic, fast-paced food industry. The course also includes a work experience opportunity – a 12-month placement for September starters.

How You Learn

On this course you’ll apply theoretical knowledge in practical ways, aligned to real-world challenges facing the food sector. You’ll develop and apply key skills including gap and competitor analysis, benchmarking and sensory testing techniques – alongside tailored managerial and business skills such as human resource and financial management.

You’ll build a broad knowledge of food processing and safety, product development, business-to-business and consumer marketing and the food chain. You’ll then apply your learning to commercially relevant scenarios in our state-of-the-art specialist kitchens and laboratories. You’ll also have opportunities to develop managerial and research skills relevant to the food sector.

The course is delivered on-campus over three trimesters, with teaching scheduled based on the length of your course and the academic calendar. Our research-active staff will deliver up-to-date taught sessions informed by current thinking. You’ll be able to undertake a research project relevant to food marketing, food science, consumer science or product development.

Key themes

We’ll begin with the underlying science of food, including food composition, ingredient functionality, nutrient functionality, food safety, quality assurance and global food systems. Alongside this, you’ll explore sustainable business strategy to understand how food businesses operate, such as financial and human resource management.

You’ll undertake practicals and workshops in our specialist laboratories, kitchens and sensory suite. Here you’ll gain the skills you’ll later apply to develop new food products that meet the global market demand for sustainable, healthy, safe and nutritious food for all.

You’ll also explore drivers of consumer behaviour, and how these inform food marketing, advertising and branding. Then you’ll progress to your project – your chance to bring together the practical, theoretical, research and knowledge-based skills you’ve developed throughout the course.

Applied learning

When you graduate, if you choose to register with the Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST) or the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), you’ll need to undertake regular continued professional development (CPD) to further your career – and to reflect on the value of CPD.

To support your development of this key skill, we embed work-related learning throughout the course and assessments, offering you chances to engage in personal and professional development and reflection. These work-related learning opportunities may include simulated work experience, volunteering, networking, conferences, university-wide initiatives, guest lectures by external speakers or real-life project briefs.

For example, previous students have used Nutritics to analyse diets or recipes or to produce nutrition panels and labels.