Mulozi Lisao

at Work

Being part of the Zweifel Pomy-Chips company for 3 months from 01 August to 31 October 2019 will go down in my books as the most enriching working experience I have ever embarked on. Being the most famous and favoured chips producing company in Switzerland for over 60 years, Zweifel Pomy-Chips is a special place for chips production. Located in Spreitenbach (Canton Aargau) and with over 380 employees, I integrated very well in a team of a dozen friendly and warm-hearted staff. Zweifel produces a range of chips and snacks which are distributed all over Switzerland and because of this, Zweifel has a massive production area. In addition, it also receives a range of trade goods such as baked products and nuts from external producers which all need to undergo checking in the Quality and Safety department before distribution.

During my internship at Zweifel, I was assigned under the Quality and Safety Development department. Here, I spent most of my working time in the laboratory where I carried out numerous activities such measuring the weight of all the chips produced, analysing salt and water contents of chips and seasonings to ensure they were in the desired range. Also, ensuring the packaging were of the right standards before leaving the logistic area for delivery to relevant stakeholders. In addition, I individually completed an important project for the company, the project was assigned to me by the boss of Quality Assurance & Development (Mr. Marco Blumenthal). The project involved grading all the products at the Zweifel using the Nutri-score grading system. The Nutri-score is a nutrition label grading system which was selected by the French government in March 2017 and Zweifel Pomy Chips had to introduce this system at the time of my stay at the company, hence I was honoured to complete a detailed excel sheet of the nutritional contents for all the various products in Zweifel, grade them using a 5 colour nutritional label (A-D), I furthermore carried on to transfer the data with the new labels and designed a professional Power Point presentation which was then presented to the entire board of the company.

In addition, I was privileged to integrate myself with a team of kind professionals at the Biolytix AG. Biolytix is an external lab located in Witterswil close to Basel which has been a leading, independent and specialized laboratory for molecular biological and microbiological analysis with ISO 17025 accreditation. It is one of Zweifel’s close stakeholders as it is where samples are sent for external lab analyses. During my stay at Biolytix I carried out various food analyses in the molecular & microbiology labs and got to see state of the art lab technology in action.

Overall, my working journey at Zweifel has also taught me some other general and important aspects to consider when working in a professional industry among the best economies in the world. Some of which include:

• Being accountable for every task that you carry out. Skills such as punctuality, concentration skills as well as leadership & planning.

• I learnt to be independent and feel free to apply my creative skills and ideas to contribute to the productivity in a workplace.

• Compilation and communication skills through work emails & phone calls.

• Listening to the ideas and teachings of all your workmates the basis to develop a good line of communication and a good flow of work.

• Social skills which we often take for granted such as those of gratitude encourage one’s willingness to do more. For example, the german word “Danke” & “Bitte” which translates to “thank you“ & “welcome” is used a lot in the workplace. I have adopted to use this very frequently and it will stay with me for good.

My Swiss host family

Before I came to Switzerland, I had only communicated with my host dad through WhatsApp messages, we had only shared pictures with each other and I had not spoken with the rest of the family until the day we met. Upon arrival, I had to live with Romeo and his host mom for one day as my family was just returning from holiday. A day later in the morning, I received a call, it was my host dad! He was on his way to pick me up with two of the youngest siblings (Madlina) & Gabriel, since all the other interns had already met their families and seemed to be happy, for me this was a moment of uncertainty, excitement and worry all at the same time. ‘Will they like me’? ‘Will the kids be interested in me in me?’ are some of the questions I kept asking myself as I waited patiently. To my surprise and as soon as the door opened, it was joy all over the place. The kids were so free and talkative, rushed to shake hands with me with smiles all over their faces, It was as if we had all met in a previous life before. Being the extrovert that I am, I immediately felt at home and couldn’t wait to jump in the car and start sharing stories with each other. We drove to the southern part of Switzerland where we met my host mom and oldest sibling Manuel including every single member of the Blumenthal family.

On this day (01 August 2019) The Blumenthal family meets up for an annual family party and I was very privileged to have such a great start and blend in with everyone from all ages, a part of me immediately felt Swiss. I was very welcomed at home and received a bedroom of my own, I am used to the company of little siblings just being free and themselves around me so having the siblings around kept the good spirit of being around my biological family. In addition, even with some of the new cultural ways of living at home that I had to adopt, my host mom and dad were there for me. Whether it was with my personal difficulties or any other needs, they always made sure all the help I needed was there. From the start, the dinner table would be my favourite part of everyday as it also turned to be a story telling time to share everything about my country Namibia, home as well as finding out how everyone’s day went. My family took me out to visit some special places around Switzerland during weekends, it was great to stay fit with sporting activities such as swimming at the public pool, cycling and football with Gabriel, the family’s pro footballer. Never a dull moment, my stay with my host family was surely a stay at home away from home.

Highlights and challenges in Switzerland

My first highlight happened a week after I arrived in Switzerland. We were walking in one of the streets of Zürich with Romeo when I spotted a white classic Chevrolet Impala from 1960. A car I always loved from my childhood. I decided to stop and admire, we started taking pictures next to the vehicle when the owner soon arrived out of nowhere. He asked us to feel free and offered a free ride, we hopped in and off, we went for a 10 minutes tour around the city. This was like a dream come true for me and it reminded me how kindness is never wasted, it goes a long way. My favourite highlight was snow at Zermatt Matterhorn, as a child that grew up seeing snow only in the TV. Touching and playing in it for the first time was another dream come true. The only challenge I recall was in the beginning before I got used to the transport system especially trains.

My future plans

I look forward to completing my studies in November 2019 and graduate in the year 2020. Thereafter, I will be open to job opportunities while I look for opportunities to further my studies and obtain a master’s degree. At the same time, I want to start my own food vending business, a hotdog stall or alternatively, filmmaking/photography. 

Personal message

With the help of God, hardwork, dedication and for as long as we can imagine something great for ourselves, we can create it. We all have the power to be great and make a difference, always believe in yourself.