Interview with Christina Ponomarow
04.05.2009
Christina, we would like to learn more about you and your work. Since when do you work for Borgwaldt and what have you done before?
I began to work for Borgwaldt on the 1 of July 2008. Before I started to work for the company I studied food chemistry at the University in Hamburg.
Was this the first time you were in contact with the tobacco industry?
Yes, this was the first time I was in contact with the tobacco industry but not with tobacco products. I consumed some products before.
Please describe your job – what are the greatest challenges for you?
My job is to develop new flavors. The greatest challenges that I had were to connect request of our customers, our creativity and specific regulations concerning different flavor compounds and dosage for different tobacco products.
How does a normal day in the Flavor Development look like?
Our work is separated into numbered tasks with different priorities. For the most urgent one I start to work by smelling some flavor compounds and select the most suitable ones. After I have prepared the flavor my colleagues and I are testing the flavor on selected tobacco products. When the flavor suits our smoke panel, our customer will get a sample.
What do you think are the key factors that distinguish the tobacco industry from e.g. the food industry, especially considering the development work?
In my opinion, the development for the tobacco industry is more company-specific because most companies have specific regulations for the flavor compounds.
What are you personal targets for 2009?
My personal targets for 2009 are to acquire more knowledge and to learn more from our customers about tobacco products.
What else do you think would be interesting to know about you?
When you would like to know more about myself and my job, you might contact me in English, German or Russian.
Christina Ponomarow´s contact details are:
e-mail: ponomarow@borgwaldt.com
Tel.: +49 40 853138 -671