URBANA, IL (Chambana Today) – Bo Kim, alumna of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), has been researching novel ingredients for chocolate.
Her work includes market research, scouting, networking, and research into how to make chocolate better and her knowledge can be attributed to her ACES background. Kim is hard at work at the Blommer Chocolate Company laboratory nearly every day. One of her proudest accomplishments at Blommer Chocolate Company was a project comparing and contrasting the functionality of various chocolate ingredients.
“Every day and each project feels like an adventure,” Kim said. “It brings me joy when I am able to improve or elevate project work quality.” She credits much of that joy to her supportive team, who make the adventure at Blommer Chocolate Company exciting and fun.
Her journey was inspired by personal experiences such as watching her mother navigate through diabetes and hypertension. Her mother inspired her to create better food options for people in need. Kim’s enrollment into the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at ACES helped her pursue her R&D career in the food industry.
“ACES puts tremendous effort in providing opportunities and resources for students to connect with industry leaders,” said Kim. “This gave me the chance to learn directly from the experiences they’ve shared and helped build connections.”
“I used to book a room in the ACES library and hold study sessions with everyone in class,” she said. “I still remember us gathered around in the cozy warm library room stressing out about our next exam.”