Jacobs Douwe Egberts is new Corporate Partner

JACOBS DOUWE EGBERTS (JDE) in Banbury, UK, has been made an IChemE Bronze Corporate Partner.

JDE is a global hot beverage company, and owns a number of tea, coffee and hot chocolate brands, including Douwe Egberts, Kenco, Tassimo, Pickwick and Senseo. It employs more than 12,000 people worldwide. Its Banbury site, which includes 30 chemical engineers, has been recognised for its commitment to training young chemical engineers.

Sixteen graduate chemical engineers are enrolled on the site’s IChemE Accredited Company Training Scheme (ACTS), which is designed to expand their practical skills and knowledge and help them on their way to achieving Chartered Chemical Engineer status. JDE also takes on ten undergraduates annually for a year-long work placement, with each student provided with a mentor. The breadth of activity at the Banbury site, which employs 600 staff in research and development, allows engineers to experience small, pilot-scale process development and large-scale plant operations.

Neil Atkinson, IChemE director of qualifications and international development, presented the Corporate Partnership certificate to JDE global vice president R&D David Smith, JDE process and ingredient technology manager Simon Fox and process development manager Sian Henson at a ceremony at the JDE Banbury site.

Atkinson said that the Banbury site’s leadership had sustained a strong commitment to developing JDE’s chemical engineers.

“They continue to strive for excellence, not only in their products but in the quality of their engineers. Their commitment to young people is clearly demonstrated through a successful placement scheme and the graduate level Accredited Training Scheme. Not to mention that they produce some of the world’s most popular blends of coffee – I think we can all thank them for that,” he said.

Smith said that supporting the career development of individuals is key to the growth of the business.

JDE is now working towards Silver Corporate Partner status.

The company joins 32 other IChemE Corporate Partners, including Lilly Kinsale, PM Group, BP, Sellafield Ltd, Astra Zeneca and Syngenta.