Amit Taneja
Position: Product Manager, Cheese at Fonterra.
Amit Taneja
Amit enjoys working in the food technology industry.
When we first met Amit he was a product developer at the Riddet Institute. Since 2006, he’s been involved in developing and commercialising a microencapsulated omega-3 emulsion for food products.
Find out more about fish oil in functional food in this introductory article.
Job
Amit works closely with the business development team at Speirs Nutritionals Limited, providing technical support to food companies in New Zealand and overseas.
Every day, I have something new to do and something more to learn.
As well as omega-3 products, Amit has been developing various dairy-based beverages with a multinational food company.
The diverse nature of the job is what Amit enjoys the most. It’s not just about trying out new formulations at a bench scale – scale-up, industrial practicality and consumer acceptance are some of the other things that come into play. All in all, he feels it’s an exciting and rewarding field.
Career pathway
After finishing senior secondary school, Amit wanted to have a career in an area that was very hands on and was applicable to everyday life. Having visited various food industries in the region during school trips, he was aware of the career opportunities as a food technologist.
After completing his undergraduate degree in food process engineering at GND University in India, Amit decided to further his studies with an MTech at Massey University, undertaking project work in new product development. In 2016 he completed his PhD on Spray dried milk protein stabilised emulsions with high oil content (Food Technology).
Adding fish oil to ice cream
Ice cream has been successfully enriched with the microencapsulated fish oil emulsion. Amit Taneja from Riddet Institute explains why they wanted to add it to ice cream.
Career after Riddet
Amit left Riddet in 2013 and has had a number of roles in various companies working on the development of new foods and new processes. Since 2018 he has worked at Fonterra.
Personal interests
Amit feels it is essential to maintain recreational interests as it helps to relax and cope with stress. During the last couple of years, he has been enjoying mountain biking at various tracks around the North Island. Amit also plays club cricket during summer to stay competitive and golf to hang out with friends.
This 2017 Massey University article gives some background to Amit and his journey to his PhD.
This article is based on information current in 2009 and updated in 2025.
Amit Taneja: a career in food technology
Amit Taneja from the Riddet Institute explains how he became interested in food technology and his career pathway in this field.
