Confectionary Technologist (Consultant)

Confectionary Technologist (Consultant)

We are searching for an experienced Confectionary Technologist at our Turkmenistan Office  

Primary Duties and Responsibilities: 

Company and Sector Overview

In recent years, the share of imported confectionery goods has decreased significantly. Demand in the local market is increasing due to the government-driven import substitution strategy. The prominent players in the confectionery business segment are “Hasar,” “Oguzhan,” “Bars,” “Taze Ay,” “Nagmat,” “Ak Gar,” and “Burkut.”

Hudayberdiyev Rejepgeldy (the “Entrepreneur”) got registered as an entrepreneur in 2008. From registration up to 2016, he engaged in trade, order-based exports, imports of various materials, as well as supply and sale of goods for different civil, construction, and industrial purposes. In 2016, Entrepreneur Hudayberdiyev received a land plot for long-term use to construct a confectionery factory (“Burkut”). In 2017, he delivered German equipment to the factory to produce various soft fruit and milk chewing caramel products. Upon adding additional equipment from Germany in 2019, he began producing multiple types of hard fruit caramel. In 2020, with Italian equipment purchase, the company started making various long-lasting bread products (bakery confectionery). In the near future, the Entrepreneur also plans to start producing chocolate paste and dragee candies. The Entrepreneur carried out all activities at his own expense and bank loans.

The primary competitive advantage of the Entrepreneur is low production and utility costs in Turkmenistan (in terms of exports) and relatively lower product prices compared to foreign substitutes. Combined with vast experience in production, sales, distribution, and marketing of confectionery products, the Entrepreneur has the necessary resources to establish successful marketing of the products and sustainable development in the local market. Moreover, the Entrepreneur is aiming to establish a specific niche of confectionary products in Turkmenistan. The Entrepreneur also considers exporting the products to Afghanistan, CIS countries, and China. The Entrepreneur has already received preliminary inquiries on its products and has established preliminary agreements with potential clients.

Project Purpose and Scope

The primary concept of the project is to expand the production of bakery confectionery (includes crostini, crackers, dippers, and other cookies) and diversify the product range of the enterprise by introducing a new product – dragée candies. The latter production is secured by purchasing brand-new and modern equipment for the production of various dragée candies.

The Entrepreneur is in demand for highly qualified individuals capable of operating such equipment and overall production. This project will enhance the production-related literacy of company employees (hiring a Confectionery Technologist implies a direct and indirect approach to training the local personnel) achieved through practical methods and training sessions provided by the Consultant.

The overall purpose of this consultancy is to settle the production process techniques for the new products, enable efficient utilization of the production equipment, develop unique recipes for the products, and obtain a competitive advantage in production.

After installing the equipment, the Consultant will receive a complete list of the products that are going to be produced. After that, the technologist should develop the recipe for each product. The technologist should make a list of all ingredients that will be necessary for each recipe. Afterward, the company will start searching for the ingredients and provide a complete list of ingredients from different manufacturers. Then, the technologist will do research on the composition and characteristics of the provided ingredients. When the technologist makes a final decision on ingredients, the company will start registering each recipe. The registration of each recipe by the state authorities usually takes up to three months. 

The technologist will start sample production of each recipe after completing the registration and provision of all needed raw materials. Later on, the technologist will begin cooperation with the mechanical engineer to develop, formalize and establish the production process. The samples will then be sent to the company’s laboratory for characteristics analysis and tasting. This step can take several trials until the company’s management is satisfied with the product.

When the production starts, the technologist will provide every operator with training on each of the production processes, as operators have to be familiar with their responsibilities on each stage, i.e., adding ingredients, monitoring the temperature, etc.

The specific task of the Consultant will include the following:

1.     The technologist will be responsible for the development, implementation, and formalization of production technology;

2.     The technologist will be responsible formanagement and control of technological processes for the production of bakery products and sweets; Organization and planning of the production process;

3.     The technologist will be responsible for the development and approval of recipes of both bakery (up to 60) and dragee (up to 25) products;

4.     The Consultant will provide 8 on-site training courses on implementation and formalization of production technology of bakery and dragee production lines. The duration of the course will be 8 sessions, 1 hour each. The course outline is to be provided for approval by the company before developing the complete course materials. The materials to be developed are presentation slides for the 8 training sessions. Some of the critical modules to be included in the course are:

a.     standardization and organization of the production processes,

b.     production efficiency on the re-use of scraps and leftovers,

c.     tracking capacity utilization

d.     other fundamental issues such as:

                                          i.    Training on working at various speeds

                                         ii.    Methods of measuring and monitoring raw materials usage

                                        iii.    Troubleshooting principles

                                        iv.    Quality control: industry standards, parameters, and tolerances

5.     The Consultant will be available to answer questions and help resolve problems on a daily basis.

6.     The Consultant will conduct a final evaluation/testing of the course participants to assess the level of skills attained.

7.     The Consultant will deliver a final report on the assignment, including the training sessions and results of the evaluation conducted.

Control and reporting

The Consultant will report to the Palladium Regional Office and Turkmenistan personnel and closely coordinate efforts with Individual Entrepreneur Hudayberdiyev Rejepgeldi. The Consultant will be responsible for tracking and recording the following information on the excel table provided by Partnerships Specialist:

·         The number of individuals who complete various training provided by the Consultant, including their full name, age, gender, and position of employment

·         The number of person-hours of training provided. 

Deliverables

The deliverables for this consultancy will include:

• Course outline, with 8 modules, to be approved by the company
• Presentation slides for 8 training sessions
• 8 sets of study materials (guidelines/manual) from the trainings for future internal use.
• Trained management team in the best possible manner to be able to establish a proper quality control system that will increase profitability.
• Skilled production team.
• Establishment of efficient production standards.
• Improvement of machinery output efficiencies.
• Installation of adequate quality control and troubleshooting system
• Course participants’ evaluations results
• Final report

Required Qualifications:

Qualifications

·         At least 7 years of overall work experience in the confectionery industry

·         At least 5 years of work experience as a Food Technologist in the confectionery industry

·         Comprehensive knowledge in machinery, tools, and troubleshooting techniques in confectionary processes.

·         Experience in quality control and increasing efficiencies in the production processes of bakers’ confections and dragee candies

·         Fluency in spoken and written Russian is required

·         Be present in Turkmenistan or be willing and able to travel to Turkmenistan and stay for the duration of the contract

Level of efforts

Starting on/about June 2021 – March 2022

Consultants: CONSULTANT

Day: DAILY

Our company provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics.