MSc Food Consumer Marketing and Product Development with Work Experience

2 Years On Campus Masters Program

Sheffield Hallam University

Program Overview

This MSc combines food science, marketing, and product development, giving you the chance to create products that people love — and understand the science, safety, and strategy behind them. It’s perfect for anyone passionate about nutrition, sustainability, and consumer behaviour, and who wants to launch a career developing and marketing food products in real-world settings.

Curriculum structure

Year 1 (On-campus learning & core modules)

In your first year, you’ll build a solid foundation with modules such as Developing Food Concepts and Products, Business and Management Strategy, Food Chain, and Food Marketing. You’ll learn how ingredients, processing methods, and consumer preferences come together to create successful food products. At the same time, you’ll explore global food systems, supply chains, and marketing strategies to understand what makes products appeal to different consumers.

You’ll also study Food Processing Safety and Quality Management, which teaches you essential skills in food safety, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance — ensuring your products meet high standards.

Business strategy modules will help you understand how food companies operate, covering financial and human-resource management, marketing strategy, and planning — blending science, business, and consumer insights.

Year 2 (Work placement + final project)

The second year is all about applying what you’ve learned. You’ll undertake a 12-month work placement, giving you hands-on experience in a real company and allowing you to tackle real-world challenges in product development and marketing.

Alongside the placement, you’ll complete a final project or dissertation, which could involve creating a new food product concept, developing a marketing plan, or conducting a research-based study. This is your chance to bring together your scientific knowledge, marketing insights, and business skills to deliver a tangible outcome you can showcase to future employers.

Focus areas: Food product development; food science & safety; global food systems & supply chain; consumer behaviour & food marketing; sustainability & ethical food business; real-world placement experience.

Learning outcomes: Graduate ready to design safe, nutritious, market-ready food products; analyse global food systems and supply chains; apply marketing and consumer insights; manage food safety and quality standards; and gain professional experience through a year-long placement.

Professional alignment (accreditation): Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) — offering exemptions from some CIM qualification units — and SHU Business School is AACSB-accredited, giving your degree international recognition.

Reputation (employability & rankings): Achieved 100% student satisfaction in the 2025 Postgraduate Taught Student Survey, and SHU holds a Gold rating in the UK Teaching Excellence Framework 2023, reflecting high-quality teaching and strong graduate outcomes.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

One of the best parts of this course is how hands-on it is. Instead of just learning theories about food, consumers and product development, you’ll actually be creating, testing and analysing real products in professional food-industry environments. You’ll spend a lot of time in specialist labs, sensory rooms and development kitchens — the same kinds of spaces used by actual food companies — so every skill you gain feels relevant and practical. And because this is the work-experience route, you’ll also have the chance to take what you’ve learned into a real organisation during your placement year.

To give you a clear picture of what this experience looks like in practice, here’s what you’ll work with and learn from:

Professional development kitchens & food-analysis labs: These are fully equipped spaces where you’ll design and refine food products, experiment with ingredients and test quality and safety — just like an industry product development team.
A dedicated sensory suite and sensory kitchen: With 12 specialised sensory booths, tasting areas and discussion rooms, you’ll learn how to run proper sensory evaluations and understand how consumers respond to flavour, texture and appearance.
Nutrition and biochemical analysis labs: These labs let you explore the science behind food — from nutrient composition to health-related markers — helping you connect food design with health, wellness and safety.
Dietary-analysis software such as Nutritics: You’ll use tools commonly used in the industry to analyse recipes, create nutrition labels and understand dietary impacts.
A 12-month industry work placement: This is your chance to put everything into action. You’ll work directly with a company in product development, marketing, food safety or consumer research, gaining real experience and building contacts.
Live projects and case-study challenges: Throughout the course, you’ll solve real industry problems — designing products, analysing consumers or working on marketing strategies — giving you practical outcomes you can show employers.
Supportive study spaces & resources: You’ll be based at the City Campus, with access to modern labs, collaboration rooms, digital tools, library resources, and support from academic staff and employability advisers.

Progression & Future Opportunities

When you finish this MSc, you’ll step into the job market with something employers really value: a mix of technical food knowledge, consumer insight, and a full year of hands-on industry experience. That combination prepares you for roles where you help shape the food products people buy every day — whether that’s developing new recipes, improving product quality, or guiding how brands speak to their customers. Many graduates move into careers such as food product developer, quality or technical manager, food marketing specialist, or regulatory and labelling advisor.

And to help you get there, SHU gives you practical, personalised support every step of the way:

Dedicated employability support: You’ll work with a specialist adviser throughout your course — someone who helps with placements, applications, CVs, interviews, and finding the right industry fit.
Strong outcomes: 95% of UK graduates from SHU’s food and nutrition postgraduate courses are in work or further study within 15 months, showing how well-regarded this pathway is.
Real placement opportunities: Your 12-month work experience can take place with companies like Bells of Lazonby Bakery, ALS Global, Freshpak, and King Asia Foods Ltd, giving you valuable experience and contacts even before you graduate.
Professional recognition: The programme is accredited by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), giving you exemptions from parts of CIM qualifications — a great advantage if you aim for marketing or brand development roles. SHU’s business school is also AACSB-accredited, placing it among the top 5% of business schools worldwide.
Versatile career options: Graduates go on to roles in major food manufacturers, supermarkets, food suppliers, public health organisations and local councils — so the door is wide open depending on whether you prefer product development, nutrition, marketing, or community-focused work.

Further Academic Progression:
If you decide to continue studying, this MSc is a solid stepping-stone toward a PhD in food science, nutrition, consumer behaviour or product development, or advanced professional training in areas like food safety, marketing or regulatory affairs. It’s a strong base whether you see yourself in industry or in research.