Data-Driven Food Product Development and Nutritional Optimisation of Freeze-Dried Meals
Medical, Biological and other Sciences
ABOUT THE INDUSTRY PARTNER
Campers Pantry is a Tasmanian-owned Australian food company specialising in premium freeze-dried meals made with real, natural ingredients for outdoor recreation, expeditions and remote environments. The company supplies retail, education and commercial markets and is expanding its research and product development capabilities to support nutritional optimisation, scalable manufacturing and opportunities in the Australian Defence sector.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
- Apply research to real products: Translate food science, nutrition and data analysis into practical improvements to commercially available freeze-dried meals. Investigate ingredient functionality, nutritional composition and rehydration performance, with opportunities to test and validate recommendations.
- Gain commercial food development experience: Work alongside Campers Pantry’s founder and manufacturing partners to understand recipe formulation, production constraints, cost considerations and scalable manufacturing. Develop a practical framework that helps a small business assess new meal concepts before committing to physical trials.
- Explore Defence and remote-environment nutrition: Assess selected meals against relevant Defence nutritional requirements and investigate formulation improvements for demanding environments. Gain experience balancing nutritional targets with taste, convenience, processing suitability and commercial feasibility.
- Build industry connections and professional skills: Collaborate with industry stakeholders while strengthening project management, experimental design, technical reporting and communication skills. Produce a decision-support tool and recommendations with a clear pathway to industry use, demonstrating how PhD research can contribute to product innovation and business growth.
RESEARCH TO BE CONDUCTED
The proposed research will develop and validate a scientifically informed, data-driven framework to improve the development and nutritional optimisation of Campers Pantry’s freeze-dried meals.
The student will review existing recipes, ingredient composition, nutritional information, manufacturing records and historical product trials to identify factors affecting formulation feasibility, freeze-drying suitability and rehydration performance. Relevant food science literature and food composition data will inform the assessment.
Using these findings, the student will develop a practical decision-support tool to screen proposed recipes before physical sampling. The framework will assess nutritional composition, ingredient functionality, processing constraints and indicative costs, identifying potential issues and prioritising formulations for further development.
Selected existing and proposed meals will also be assessed against relevant Australian Defence nutritional requirements, including protein, fat, carbohydrate and energy targets. The research will identify formulation changes that could improve nutritional performance while maintaining taste, texture, rehydration quality and commercial feasibility.
The framework will be evaluated using historical product outcomes and selected formulation trials, subject to available facilities and resources. Predicted outcomes will be compared with observed results to assess usefulness, limitations and areas requiring further testing.
Outputs will include a validated recipe assessment framework, a nutritional gap analysis and practical recommendations for product improvement, scalable manufacturing and future research. The project will establish a more systematic approach to innovation across recreational and potential Defence food applications.
SKILLS WISH LIST
If you’re a postgraduate research student and meet some or all the below we want to hear from you. We strongly encourage women, indigenous and disadvantaged candidates to apply:
The project would suit a PhD researcher in Food Science, Food Technology, Food Engineering, Nutrition Science or a closely related discipline.
Core skills required include:
- Food formulation, ingredient functionality and recipe scale-up: Understanding how ingredients influence nutrition, processing, texture and flavour. Ability to develop scalable formulations and adjust ingredient ratios, seasoning and cooking parameters when translating small recipes into commercial batches, maintaining consistent quality and nutritional targets.
- Nutritional analysis: Ability to interpret food composition databases and nutritional information, calculate energy and macronutrient profiles, and assess formulations against defined nutritional targets.
- Data analysis and framework development: Ability to organise and analyse recipe, manufacturing and trial data using statistical methods. Confidence developing a practical assessment tool in Excel or another suitable platform to support formulation decisions.
- Research and experimental design: Strong literature review and critical evaluation skills, with the ability to design feasible trials, compare predicted and observed outcomes, and clearly document assumptions and limitations.
- Communication and collaboration: Ability to translate research findings into clear, practical recommendations and work effectively with Campers Pantry’s founder, manufacturing partners and academic supervisors.
- Project management: Ability to prioritise activities, manage a six-month research project and handle commercially sensitive information responsibly.
Desirable experience includes freeze-drying or dehydration, rehydration testing, food quality and shelf stability, laboratory-based food analysis, recipe costing and manufacturing scale-up. An interest in outdoor, expedition or Defence nutrition would be advantageous. Expertise in every area is not expected.
RESEARCH OUTCOMES
The proposed project aims to deliver the following research outcomes:
- Recipe feasibility assessment framework: A practical, data-driven tool to screen proposed freeze-dried meal formulations before physical sampling. It will assess nutritional composition, ingredient functionality, processing suitability and indicative costs, highlighting potential issues and prioritising recipes for trials.
- Nutritional assessment and improvement opportunities: An analysis of selected existing meals, identifying opportunities to improve nutritional composition while maintaining taste, texture, rehydration performance and commercial viability.
- Defence nutritional gap analysis: An assessment of selected meals against relevant Australian Defence energy and macronutrient requirements, with recommendations for recipe adjustments or new formulations suitable for further development and testing.
- Evidence of framework performance: Evaluation using historical product data and selected formulation trials to establish the framework’s predictive usefulness, limitations and further validation needs.
- More efficient product development: A documented approach to recipe screening, testing and refinement that can reduce unnecessary sampling, development costs and time to market. Recommendations will consider manufacturing constraints and opportunities for production at greater scale.
- Technical report and knowledge transfer: A final report, supporting datasets and practical guidance enabling Campers Pantry to apply and maintain the framework. Findings will inform future research, product innovation and potential recreational and Defence market applications.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
The intern will receive $3,300 per month of the internship, usually in the form of scholarship payments.
It is expected that the intern will primarily undertake this research project during regular business hours and maintain contact with their academic mentor throughout the internship either through face-to-face or phone meetings as appropriate.
The intern and their academic mentor will have the opportunity to negotiate the project’s scope, milestones and timeline during the project planning stage.
Please note, applications are reviewed regularly and this internship may be filled prior to the advertised closing date if a suitable applicant is identified. Early submissions are encouraged.
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