Food Process Engineering Intern

About us

Based in Berkeley, CA, UPSIDE Foods grows meat, poultry, and seafood directly from animal cells.  These products are not vegan or vegetarian—they are delicious meat, made without the need to raise and slaughter billions of animals. UPSIDE Foods recently became the first company in the world to receive the US FDA greenlight for cultivated meat, and UPSIDE’s cultivated chicken will be available to consumers following USDA inspection and label approval. 

Founded as the world’s first cultivated meat company in 2015, UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats) has achieved numerous industry-defining milestones, including being the first company to produce multiple species of meat (beef, chicken, and duck). The company believes that people shouldn’t have to choose between the foods they love and a thriving planet, and is working to build a better food system with access to delicious, humane, and sustainable meat, poultry, and seafood. UPSIDE Foods has won various industry awards, including New York Times’ Good Tech Awards, FastCo’s Next Big Thing in Tech, and the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation by the National Association for Business Resources. UPSIDE Foods has raised a total of $608 million, including from the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund (ADG), Baillie Gifford, Bill Gates, Cargill, John Doerr, John Mackey, Kimbal and Christiana Musk, Norwest, Richard Branson, Softbank, Temasek, Threshold, Tyson Foods, and others. 

About this internship

UPSIDE has grown fast over the last two years, and the momentum continues! The Food Process Engineering intern will work within the broader Food Research and Development team to create the next generation of cultivated meat products. Specifically, this internship will focus on the development of processing solutions to improve the texture of cultivated meat products. This will include reviewing the characterization of cultivated meat raw materials, developing WIP formulas to input into various processing technologies, and supporting the evaluation of the resulting prototypes. This intern will also gain experience running analytical and qualitative (sensory) tests on the resulting samples from solution development and work closely with food scientists and product developers on the team 

Responsibilities include

• Analysis of cultivated meat raw materials and screening addition of other functional ingredients for WIP formulas.
• Develop experimental design for evaluation of processing technologies to improve texture.
• Support execution of experiments and trial runs.
• Evaluate resulting samples both quantitatively and qualitatively with support from the product development and sensory teams. 
• Maintain and organize pilot scale equipment within R&D and production spaces.

About you

• B.S. (rising or graduating senior) or M.S. in food engineering, food science, animal science, or related field with previous experience working within a company (internship acceptable). 
• Strong interest or experience in food process engineering. 
• Strong intellectual curiosity and scientific problem solving skills. 
• Excellent communication and organizational skills, with a team player mentality. 
• Experience working with meat or alternative plant based proteins in a food processing capacity is a plus

Who you’ll work with

• This person will report to the Sr. Manager of Food Engineering and will be directly supervised by the Food Process Engineer I. 
• This role will partner with manufacturing, product development, sensory, and regulatory teams to develop and commercialize cultivated meat products. 
• This role will most frequently interact with our product development and food manufacturing teams.

Length of internship:

• 10-12 weeks

Compensation Range: $25/hr-$28/hr*
*Pay may vary depending on factors including job-related knowledge and skills.

UPSIDE Foods is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Our company-wide mission is to create a product for everyone, so we are deeply committed to having teams and leaders that reflect this mission.