From Restaurant Kitchens to a Career in Food and Agriculture Operations

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Before UC Davis, my world was kitchen chaos. I worked with restaurants as a consultant in India, partnering directly with operations teams on kitchen efficiency, inventory management and point of sale systems. I fell in love with the restaurant business, despite knowing how risky and cutthroat it is. 

But I had a blind spot. I knew what happened in the kitchen, but I had no idea how the ingredients got there. I’m an engineer by training, so everything I know about business, I learned on the job. I realized that if I wanted to truly understand the food industry, I needed to learn the upstream system that grows, processes and transports food before it ever hits a plate. 

That curiosity led me to the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. I chose Davis specifically for its Food & Ag Industry Immersion and its unbeatable access to the world's most productive growing regions. 

UC Davis’ global leadership in the field and its location so close to the agricultural powerhouses in the Central Valley and the "Salad Bowl of the World" in Salinas was a huge draw. Plus, the relatively small class size meant I couldn’t disappear in the crowd.

The Deep Dive Immersion Experience 

The Food & Ag Industry Immersion, led by Julie Morris, was exactly the hands-on experience I needed. It wasn't just theory; it was seeing real-world operations up close. 

At an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Tsar Nicoulai Caviar led by President and double UC Davis alumnus Ali Bolourchi 05 MBA 12, we saw sustainability and operational discipline in action at one of the nation’s largest sturgeon farms and caviar producers. Their closed-loop facility uses every part of the fish, which stuck with me because it wasn't just marketing. It was a smart process design.

At Driscoll’s, I learned the science behind growing the simple berry. Seeing how they breed for specific flavor profiles and sensory attributes gave me a new appreciation for how companies balance grower yields with consumer taste.  

Next up on the Food & Ag Industry Immersion site visits was our trek to Taylor Farms in Salinas, Calif. Touring their facility was a defining moment. The sheer scale, the seasonal transition between growing regions and the built-in food safety efficiency made it feel like the ultimate playground for someone who loves operations. The tour piqued my interest in the company.

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From Networking to Taylor Farms 

The biggest surprise of my MBA was the reality of the job search. I applied to over 1,000 roles online, but every single internship offer I received came from networking. 

For Taylor Farms, that connection was UC Davis alumna Michelle Morales MBA 16, whom I met at a networking event in my first month in the program. Her passion made me want to be part of the company, and we stayed in touch. She eventually connected me to an inventory management pilot project in Phoenix that fit my background perfectly. That summer crash course in production opened the door to my full-time role as a systems analyst at Taylor Farms. Michelle became my champion and mentor at the company.

Applying MBA Coursework to Improve Operational Efficiency

In my current role at Taylor Farms’ facility in Tracy, Calif., operational excellence and managerial accounting concepts show up daily. Labor efficiency reporting isn't just a finance deliverable for me; it's a way to spot bottlenecks on the floor. I use units per minute (UPM) and units per equivalent employee hour (UPEEHr) analysis to find where processes break down instead of relying on assumptions. 

I love collaborating across teams, whether I'm managing production projects that use AI-enabled robots, working with quality assurance to implement verification cameras or partnering with finance to analyze labor and yield. 

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Learning Beyond the Syllabus 

UC Davis also pushed me out of my comfort zone. In addition to the Food & Ag Industry Immersion, I took the Sustainable Energy Industry Immersion, which gave me a pragmatic view of the green transition. 

In the Path to Zero Net Energy class, our team worked with Capay Canyon Ranch to analyze energy use and recommend cost-saving rate plans. It was the perfect project to blend my operational roots in food with a new perspective on building sustainable, cost-effective solutions.

I also placed third in the HM Clause Food & Agriculture Business Challenge with my teammates Nick McKenna and Sushmitha Kala, tackling a strategy problem on innovation in the vegetable seed industry. 

Leading the Student Body 

One of the most meaningful parts of my MBA experience was serving on the Associated Students of Management leadership board, first as first-year liaison and then as vice president of external affairs. I organized annual events like the GSM Olympics and Signature Event with my closest friends while cleaning up governance structures for future student bodies. It was a lesson in stakeholder alignment that I never would have learned in a classroom. 

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Advice for Future Students 

If you're considering UC Davis, my advice is simple—do it. 

The Industry Immersions allow you to treat every site visit and executive guest speaker as a door opening to a relationship, not just a class.

I was an operations guy who didn't know a furrow from a forklift, but UC Davis gave me the tools to see the big picture. Now, I use them every day.