Can you process me a decent coffee?

I’m writing this while sipping a mug of coffee freshly brewed with my cafetiere mug gadget.

It is one of my quirks, soon noticed by colleagues when I joined Process Engineering last month, that I refuse to drink instant coffee. I can’t stand the stuff. It doesn’t look like coffee, doesn’t taste like coffee and tends to upset my stomach (if you ever see me drinking a cup of instant, you’ll know that I’m very, very tired and have given up being fussy about how I get my caffeine hit).

So, instead of spooning instant out of the communal coffee pot, I bring in my own bag of ground Arabica (Fairtrade of course) and get a brew on with my cafetiere mug. At least I’m not alone or as extreme as some: apparently England cricket legend and Sky Sports anchor David Gower has been hauling his own coffee machine around the country as he covers this summer’s Ashes series.

However, I’m painfully aware that my hot beverage philosophy is very much at odds with my new role as editor of Process Engineering: processed food and drink is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector.

Show me that process engineers oversee the production of quality food and drink.

I’m also reminded of this dichotomy every time I visit my in-laws and drive past Kraft Foods’ (now Mondel?z International’s) huge factory in Banbury, which according to their website produces 100 million jars of Kenco instant coffee every year.

I ought to be in the business of celebrating how safely controlled and automated processes can turn out quality products every time, not rejecting those products.

So here is my challenge, not just to Kraft (sorry, Mondel?z) but to all food and drink manufacturers: invite me along to your facilities; show me how your products are produced, all the way from R&D to the final product.

Show me that process engineers oversee the production of quality food and drink.

Make me a coffee I can’t refuse.

Tweet me @johnmckenna_PE