What a way to make a living

When you work in the food industry you are always working! But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Each food shop you undertake, whether it is with a small independent shop or a large retailer, brings opportunities for scanning the competition, seeing new ideas and getting inspiration.

A visit to a bookshop for Nigella's or Gordon's latest publication means that you never leave with just the cookery book you went in for. My biggest offence was making double figures when I visited Books for Cooks. I felt I could justify my haul as some of them were work-related.

A meal out in a pub or restaurant means that you sometimes have to choose a dish for 'research' rather than because you just fancy it. Does Mama's secret family recipe in the new Italian restaurant take second place to the lasagne you have just spent three months taking through factory trials, for example? Will you have to start the process of developing a 'new and improved recipe' before you have even launched the last one?

A day out produces opportunities for generating ideas and inspiration for potential new concepts. The food hall at an agricultural show, the local farmers' market or a visit to that exciting new restaurant can be the inspiration behind your new product. Whilst standing in the cider tent at an Oak Fair in Dorset last year, I spotted a potential for a new and novel packaging idea.

Even on holiday I can't escape work. When I worked for a company that produced sausages it was deemed necessary to eat a cooked breakfast to try out the competition. I spent one holiday in Spain photographing every dish of tapas we consumed in the two weeks we were there - it can be such hard work at times!

Working in the food industry means working long hours and even when you are not at work you are still working.

Celia Wright is a prepared produce technologist at Sainsbury, celia@cheftech.co.uk