Shynar Chinguzhanov

"RAIMBEK PEOPLE" 

Series of interviews with Raimbek employees dedicated the 25^th anniversary of the company.

“CREATING RECIPES IS AS IF COMPOSING POEMS”

Before starting work in the company Shynar Chinguzhanova, the head of Raimbek quality control department, thought that she would work as chemist theorist and by that time had been already working at dissertation. But her plans changed unexpectedly. A vacancy she saw by chance, an interview she passed successfully… Life made an abrupt turn, and Raimbek company acquired one of its most valuable employees, while Shynar got the job of her dream.

 - Shynar, do you remember your first day in Raimbek?   

- It was on April 28, 2004. I came to Raimbek Bottlers for an interview. I spoke to a head of quality control department, to production director, and on the very same evening I was invited to start work. My first day in the company, the 1^st of May, was a holiday in every respect. (laughs)

My first shift was at night. It turned out that the woman, who was passing on to me this position was leaving for Russia for a permanent residence in the morning. And I had to get familiarized with the new position just in a night. And we worked that night together, and I was horrified, what a responsibility it was! Would I cope with it?!

Before coming to Raimbek I was a chemistry teacher at school, in Kazakh state university, and at the same time I was involved in scientific work, writing dissertation. And this abrupt shift from theory to practice was certainly frightening… after the first night shift on production  I still doubted should I stay or should I leave? Even when I was going to work on May, 2, I was still thinking if I should turn back. But something inside me was encouraging me…

The second, the third, the forth night… It didn’t matter already. It’s just because we, chemists, are people, who should have a systematic approach in everything. I studied procedures and methods, built a certain logical chain, and then work gets really simple. The laboratory crew was quite small at that time, and all guys working in production accepted me very warmly. That’s the way I started. In half a year I was appointed to a position of the head of laboratory. And some time later the separate department of food division standards and quality, which I have been heading since then.

- What attracts you in you work?

- You know, I can’t say that something had been done wrong before I came. But being able to establish a good laboratory at the university level, here I also wanted to make something outstanding. I wanted our laboratory to be substantially better and much more modern. And you know what surprised me? It turned that in Raimbek I had much more opportunities approve myself than I expected. To approve myself not just as professional and expert, but also as a human.  

Each of us has his own system of values. The most important for me is “human biochemistry”, which is the chemistry of interaction between people, their mutual understanding and long-term partner and human relations. When I just came to work at the plant I was amazed by its atmosphere, where everyone could help, support and lend a shoulder.   

Everything was different at the university: There everyone was just showing off himself. And here I liked helping and I liked being helped by guys. And here were these simple human qualities, which I had chance just to reveal and to feel myself only in Raimbek.   

- What is the most difficult in your work?

- The most difficult is when certain problems in the internal communications between the allied departments emerge, when people start speaking different languages. Somewhere outside we always can find common ground, silently bow and agree. But inside the company we have our own truth, and each one wants to convey this truth. There were moments when I was ready to give up.

I remember I came up to Sergey (Polukhin) and said: « That’s enough! That’s all! Enough is enough! I have just one life, my nerves get frayed»! Now, many years later, I am still amazed by his wisdom. He said: «You should calm down, just take a rest for a couple of weeks, just have rest, relax and sleep well. And then, when you come back, if you still don’t change your mind, I will sign your notice of resignation. But if you decide to stay, we shall discuss this subject». That’s the way the conflicts were solved. Then of course, those people we were at daggers’ points we have become the best friends.

 - So it turns that you enjoy your work as if its your hobby…

- Yes. And I repeat it every time. I recall us sitting at the university laboratory and thinking “God, when it finally becomes 5 pm so I could go home?.." And here everything is absolutely different. My week is Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I don’t feel other days. And when the working day begins it feels as if you just come and start work, and it turns to be lunch time, and then it’s already evening! And it is so exciting here – we have projects, meetings, discussions… it forms a working day, and then a working week. And sometimes a working month. We have recently been recalling with the girls, how recently we had been celebrating New Year, and here is the New Year once again!

Each fortnight I stop and sum up, fixing the victories and make error correction work. And each time. Making such pauses and stops, we gradually take steps towards fulfilment of the tasks the management of the company sets for us and the tasks we set for our employees. And this flow of events forms our life. Which… (laughs)  flies away...

- You are also responsible for elaboration of the new products…

- Yes, in our departments, in addition to the sections of quality and certification there is also a development section. And when we speak of creativity, about the novelties, it is the section which lets our creative work be revealed as far as out legislation permits!

The section is responsible for elaboration of tastes and recipes for all companies of food division. All our juices and beverages: Juicy, Palma, Junior, Fantan, “Limonaccio”, all our dairy products go through this development section, where they are examined for compliance with the legislation and technological requirements. And in addition we work out new tastes. We always want zest to be in our tastes!

Sometimes this zest is acquired by mixture of various aromas (natural food flavoring matters) or of various raw materials. For example, in one recipe we can use several types of concentrated apple juice, acquiring the original slightly sour taste. Thus we worked hard at the red apple profile.

And when we were working at “Ainalayin” kefir, at first we were going to work on kefir grains. But the product had no sale, for the common and accustomed kefir taste and flavor were expected from us, while “Ainalayin” was very soft. And we decided to use fermenting, which make the profile the sour kefir flavor, customers are used to. 

When we work on the tastes and flavors, our consumer and his choice are the main for us. When the new project or a new idea appears, first of all we form a focus-group, which indicates, what audience wishes which product. And each time, working at the new recipe, we make test samples and send them to our employees for degustation. We try them ourselves, take all opinions into account, then make adjustments, then try again...

It is like composing poems, when at night you try to fall asleep, you have such a stream of consciousness, that you just need to manage to write it down. In my case it sometimes happens with recipes – just before falling asleep, or even at night – Bang! May be, we should add this ingredient?! I sit down and start quickly writing it down in order to come to work in the morning and first of all combine it, try and say: “Oh! Now it has worked exactly!” This all is called creation…

- Do you buy Raimbek products?

- Yes. I drink only our juices, I buy only our milk. I’ve been doing it for 13 years.

- What do you think is the recipe for the company’s success?

- Big solid team. The team of professionals. Not every company and not every top manager may boast that has preserved the core team – those people, who were at the cradle of the business. It is the most valuable we have today. 

As for me, I am proud that people in our department understand each other without words. And it is exactly the team, which consolidated around one common idea. I select personnel myself. Usually it is a long process – many candidates come, I ask questions what are his interests, and try to unfold him maximally. Each time I look at them and try to imagine –who the newbie could be paired up with in a shift. Our work is a team work, and we need people who would understand each other without words – they rush, they do, they fulfill, they give results of analyses and so on. I am often blamed for long search for the staff members, but then the newbie comes and blends into our team as if he is just our man.   

- What do you think Raimbek would be in 25 years?

- I want the company to achieve the point, when it would be distinguished not only in Kazakhstan and in the Eurasian economic union, but also that we would have branches in many cities in globally. I want as many people as possibly try and see what we can do well. I know my colleagues, I know our company, and I can say that we quickly analyze any situation, and we can match with any consumers independently from where we are. The company possesses this potential.