Bill Gates said: "School only gives us the key to knowledge, learning in life is learning for life". Indeed, knowledge is not only limited to words in school, it is accumulated from our own lives. Every step we take is a step in acquiring knowledge. That's why I was extremely excited when I knew that I would be able to do a professional internship and experience the production and business of a food company. The dry words on the page are now come to life in the professional environment of my internship company!
Although the Covid-19 epidemic is raging, it still cannot prevent the spirit of learning and the ability to cope with the pandemic of teachers and students of Faculty of Food Science &Technology (FST) of Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA). Staying at home for more than a long month because of the epidemic, we are finally able to return to school. I prepared my luggage and personal adornments with great joy and excitement. According to the training plan for the academic year 2020-2021, we would go for a professional internship from June 28, 2021 to August 8, 2021 with the first week of learning materials at home.
Fortunately, my group got a professional internship at the company which founder is a faculty’s former lecturer – Mr Ngo Xuan Dung, so he took a keen interest in and created favourable conditions for us. Not only did we get an professional internship at a production company, but we also was divided into three small groups, work by spells at each company every week at this Hapro incubator.
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| INF Viet Nam Material Joint Stock Company |
On the first day at INF Viet Nam Material Joint Stock Company, we were intructed detaily by the teacher and co-workers, visited the factory, explained the overview of the company, prerequisite programs in food quality assurance in general and cheese powder in particular such as Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures - SSOP, Good manufacturing practices - GMP,... SSOP and GMP are all prerequisite programs required when register for accreditation HACCP standards. I was very excited because I had just finished studying Quality Assurance and Management Systems, now I know how it applies to the company. In the process of working directly at the company, I know the process of producing a food product from the input of raw materials to the output of the product, witnessed the production equipment with their own eyes, not through pictures, pages of books. If there is anything you do not know or do not understand, the supervisors will answer enthusiastically. People said: "Adventure is the best way to learn”. Yes, it is. Through working directly at the company, everything is easy to remember and understand. Moreover, most of the company's employees are alumni of the Faculty of Food Science &Technology. Maybe that's why people are more connected, dedicated to helping each other. Every day coming to the company was a happy day and always full of laughter, having delicious food they shared with us. In addition to learning more professional knowledge and working skills, we also felt the spirit of teamwork, tolerance.
At the end of a week at INF, we experienced at a new company - the Mushroom factory of Emay and Associates Joint Stock Company. At first, my impression was a bit of a shock, because the temperature in the factory was quite high (due to the machine and the steamer, the stir-fry cooker gave off heat); there are no ventilation windows so it's a bit stuffy. We involved in the production of “Smiling Mushroom Scrub” with traditional and sour taste. We were guided by the managers and workers there in the process of mushroom processing. Despite the harsh weather and high temperature, we still tried our best to do well and accurately in each processing stage. Seeing our efforts, the employees also loved and encouraged us. Every lunch, everyone sit together, they also interacted with us and since then, everyone has become closer to each other. I still remember delicious meals with sweet soup cooked by Mrs. Huyen - a production worker. She kept reminding us to eat a lot. In this 4th pandemic, Ho Chi Minh City is at the center of the outbreak, we joined the company to quickly produce consignments of Mushroom scrubs to bring to the South; in order to secure food for the people. Perhaps this is a meaningful job and will be a memorable memory in my student life. Gradually, we got used to working here, acclimatized to the room temperature, it was the end of a working week. So we had to say goodbye to the Mushroom factory. At the end of the day, the manager mentally organized for us a hearty and fun party, with a little gift of products made by the factory. Although it was only a short working week, it gave me a lot of useful knowledge and I also felt the hardship, but still tried my best in the work in the factory. That gives us more motivation to try harder in the learning process as well as in the future work.
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| Mrs. Huyen's meal at the Mushroom factory |
Goodbye to the Mushroom factory, we went to the Spring Porridge factory of Hikoji Viet Nam Joint Stock Company. The first thing that impressed me was the enthusiasm and eagerness to welcone us from the people in the factory. After talking and getting acquainted, I felt that they are close, friendly, comfortable but still very serious in the work. My group was instructed to produce "Mabu powdered porridge" with broken seeds. Through the conversation with the manager, I understood that the name Mabu comes from the meaning: "breastfeeding mama"; and this is a brand specializing in providing solid food products for children from 5.5 to 10 months old. Although Mabu is a new and relatively young brand compared to big brothers such as: Hipp of Germany, Ridielac of Vinamilk, Wakodo from Dirty Japan,... but that does not make Mabu less competitive on the market. Thanks to modern production equipment according to advanced German technology and ingredients selected from reputable suppliers, clean quality is guaranteed; with a reasonable mid-range price, Mabu quickly won the sympathy of mothers with milk diapers and was able to put her products on supermarket shelves. During a week of internship here, we were taught by lovely employees all the stages of making broken grain porridge: from soaking the rice, tossing the rice with flour, milling the rice, and packing it. , come canned; all follow strict procedures to ensure food hygiene and safety. Looking at each product of powdered porridge made by our own hands, I feel happy in my heart, because I have contributed to nurturing the future preschools of the country. In addition to serious working hours, everyone interacts to get closer to each other. A week passed quickly, we also had to say goodbye to the Porridge factory. This place has given me a lot of useful knowledge along with many interesting stories that you have passed on to my group.
Because we studied Food Business and Technology, in addition to practicing production at the above companies, we also got to do business internships at TCI Viet Nam Food Joint Stock Company. But in response to the joy of being able to practice at TCI was the news that Hanoi implemented social distancing according to the Prime Minister's Directive 16/CT-TTg. Having to end the internship here early, we all regret it very much. However, we were provided with documents, knowledge about the company's business strategy, distribution, customer care and successfully completed our team's report through the Microsoft Teams platform.
The three-weeks internship at the company is very short. There are joys, gratitude and regrets for not being able to experience all of the company's production and business activities due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic. Although the number of cases continues to increase, but we completed our internships hard, fearlessly and strictly followed the epidemic prevention regulations. Thanks to that, we have cultivated more useful knowledge, trained skills, known and familiarized with the company's working capacity as well as the main production tasks. These are all valuable experiences that will greatly help us in the future.
Finally, we would like to express our most sincere gratitude to Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Faculty of Food Science &Technology, teachers, all leaders and staff of INF and TCI companies, a joint stock company, Hikoji and Emay Joint Stock Company have received and facilitated us to successfully complete this memorable career. In particular, we would like to express our deep gratitude to Mrs Phan Thi Phuong Thao and Mrs Le Minh Nguyet accompanied and supported us throughout the internship. Wishing teachers and everyone in the company always have good health, achieve much success in work and life.
Nguyen Thi Tinh – K63KDTPA
Nguyen Thi Hai Yen – K63KDTPB