Ben Kranen,
Flavourist
Ben Kranen
WHO I am
My name is Bernard Kranen, everybody knows me as Ben. I was born in the 1960s in the Netherlands, and I grew up in a harmonious and loving family. I was always challenged and stimulated to get the best out of me, without any pressure from my parents.
I also learned about the fragility of life at a young age. My sister died of cancer when she was 18 years old. I was 16. That left a lifelong scar, but at the same time helped me to take life a bit more easily, and not let daily problems and setbacks get in the way of enjoying life.
After university graduation, I held positions in the Netherlands and Switzerland before moving over to Singapore.
My name is Bernard Kranen, everybody knows me as Ben. I was born in the 1960s in the Netherlands, and I grew up in a harmonious and loving family. I was always challenged and stimulated to get the best out of me, without any pressure from my parents.
I also learned about the fragility of life at a young age. My sister died of cancer when she was 18 years old. I was 16. That left a lifelong scar, but at the same time helped me to take life a bit more easily, and not let daily problems and setbacks get in the way of enjoying life.
After university graduation, I held positions in the Netherlands and Switzerland before moving over to Singapore.
WHO I am
My name is Bernard Kranen, everybody knows me as Ben. I was born in the 1960s in the Netherlands, and I grew up in a harmonious and loving family. I was always challenged and stimulated to get the best out of me, without any pressure from my parents.
I also learned about the fragility of life at a young age. My sister died of cancer when she was 18 years old. I was 16. That left a lifelong scar, but at the same time helped me to take life a bit more easily, and not let daily problems and setbacks get in the way of enjoying life.
After university graduation, I held positions in the Netherlands and Switzerland before moving over to Singapore.
WHAT I do
I am a Flavourist, a specialised product developer that develops the taste and smell of many different kinds of food products.
I work on developing new flavours, products, tastes, smells, etc. I enjoy this line of job as I love to create, innovate and make things work. This is similar to song productions—write, record, produce, sing and play the instruments—I’m into music as well.
WHY I do
I love to create things that were not there before, working from a "Tabula Rasa", a clean slate. The kick of seeing your newly-created product in the supermarket, or hearing your own song played at a party or on the radio is the ultimate reward.
LESSONS LEARNED
During the 1980s, Europe went through an economic crisis, very similar to the one that she is going through now. My friends and myself lost hope of getting a job after university graduation. I thought to myself then: “If I am going to be unemployed, at least let me be unemployed having studied something I love.”
I studied Human Nutrition and Food Science, and I remembered my first lesson on sensory research, understanding the relationship between food properties and taste. I was swept away by the information that I was receiving, the knowledge that I was gaining and the scientific tests that we were conducting. I knew that would be my future. I had no idea if I could get a job with my apparent niche set of skills though.
As it turned out, there was a niche for this particular set of skills: a job where I could combine all my scientific skills, theoretical background, my passion, and the creativity that I had been developing as a musician. That job was called, Flavourist.
Below, I am sharing with you the life lessons that I’ve learned throughout my life journey and my career.
Do the Things you Love:
It is a cliche, but if you do something you love, the chances of you becoming successful in that field are definitely higher than if you choose a job that only your parents love.
Resilience:
Out of a need to earn some extra money at a young age - to have a meal in a restaurant, buy music CDs (wish Spotify was invented then), and a curiosity for the 'the real life' - I took many temporary and summer jobs between the age of 15 and 25 years old. Just to give you an idea:
- Paperboy of different newspapers
- Slaughterhouse manual labour (yes confrontational, but I think a 'must see' for every non-vegetarian)
- Day and night shifts working at a conveyer belt in a paper factory (by far the most boring one)
- Night shifts at a bread factory
- Waiter at a restaurant
- Packing ice-cream at an ice-cream factory (yes, appetite for ice-cream does fade fast, if 'all you can eat' is legitimate)
- Bar tender
- Laying artificial grass for hockey fields
- Corn harvesting for research purposes
- Stagehand at a big theatre (by far the nicest one)
My personal work experience taught me one thing, resilience.
While I was working at those series of jobs, I saw the difficult life and the amount of hard work the blue collar community had to put in—long hours of work at the paper factory, the limitations of the working environment in the ice cream factory, and the numbing working conditions of slaughter houses. But the workers remained jovial, kind and helpful. They did not allow their life circumstances, nature of their jobs and poor working situations to affect their lives.
A few of the Turkish immigrants I remembered shared their delicious stuffed bell peppers with me, when they had only a few for themselves. Their heart of resilience was amazing.
No Pain, no Gain:
There are many situations where you can step down (easy way) or step up (the hard way). In instances where I stepped up, I experienced intense sense of fulfillment and satisfaction, knowing the jobs were done well. However, the process was never an easy one.
One time, I was in the United States for a business trip. I was responsible for organising a global meeting where people flew in from all over the world. Intense planning was done with a small team of people—logistics, accommodation, food and beverage, transportation, flight tickets, work and entertainment programmes, etc. However, the hard work paid off; the event was a huge success. It was then that I realized that there was a pattern in my life: I needed to go through that pain and stress to get the reward and feel good afterwards. Before I returned home, I wrote the song ‘No Pain, No Gain’.
WORDS OF WISDOM
Keep your focus. You only live once, so try it twice.
MUSIC
No Pain No Gain
Lyrics by Ben Kranen
Music by Ben Kranen
Verse 1
To play it safe is really not much fun
But very often you decide to run
Ah just think of it
This one goes straight to your heart
Verse 2
You might decide that you just want to fight
Sometimes you find that you can lose your fright
Ah just think of it
Don't let it tear you apart
Ah, no pain no gain
Chorus
To play it safe is really not much fun
Catch the fever my dear son
You need to run and catch the splashing rain
No pain no gain
Verse 3
Life is full of dangers, it really is
But laying low, there's so much you miss
Ah, you'll love it
Go places no one has been
Ah, no pain no gain
Ah, no pain no gain
Verse 4
You only live once, so try it twice
And make these choice that seem so unwise
Ah, you'll love it,
See visions no one has seen
Ah, no pain no gain
Ah, no pain no gain
Chorus
To play it safe is really not much fun
Catch the fever my dear son
Drying in the sun after the rain
No pain no gain
My name is Bernard Kranen, everybody knows me as Ben. I was born in the 1960s in the Netherlands, and I grew up in a harmonious and loving family. I was always challenged and stimulated to get the best out of me, without any pressure from my parents.
I also learned about the fragility of life at a young age. My sister died of cancer when she was 18 years old. I was 16. That left a lifelong scar, but at the same time helped me to take life a bit more easily, and not let daily problems and setbacks get in the way of enjoying life.
After university graduation, I held positions in the Netherlands and Switzerland before moving over to Singapore.
WHAT I do
I am a Flavourist, a specialised product developer that develops the taste and smell of many different kinds of food products.
I work on developing new flavours, products, tastes, smells, etc. I enjoy this line of job as I love to create, innovate and make things work. This is similar to song productions—write, record, produce, sing and play the instruments—I’m into music as well.
WHY I do
I love to create things that were not there before, working from a "Tabula Rasa", a clean slate. The kick of seeing your newly-created product in the supermarket, or hearing your own song played at a party or on the radio is the ultimate reward.
LESSONS LEARNED
During the 1980s, Europe went through an economic crisis, very similar to the one that she is going through now. My friends and myself lost hope of getting a job after university graduation. I thought to myself then: “If I am going to be unemployed, at least let me be unemployed having studied something I love.”
I studied Human Nutrition and Food Science, and I remembered my first lesson on sensory research, understanding the relationship between food properties and taste. I was swept away by the information that I was receiving, the knowledge that I was gaining and the scientific tests that we were conducting. I knew that would be my future. I had no idea if I could get a job with my apparent niche set of skills though.
As it turned out, there was a niche for this particular set of skills: a job where I could combine all my scientific skills, theoretical background, my passion, and the creativity that I had been developing as a musician. That job was called, Flavourist.
Below, I am sharing with you the life lessons that I’ve learned throughout my life journey and my career.
Do the Things you Love:
It is a cliche, but if you do something you love, the chances of you becoming successful in that field are definitely higher than if you choose a job that only your parents love.
Resilience:
Out of a need to earn some extra money at a young age - to have a meal in a restaurant, buy music CDs (wish Spotify was invented then), and a curiosity for the 'the real life' - I took many temporary and summer jobs between the age of 15 and 25 years old. Just to give you an idea:
- Paperboy of different newspapers
- Slaughterhouse manual labour (yes confrontational, but I think a 'must see' for every non-vegetarian)
- Day and night shifts working at a conveyer belt in a paper factory (by far the most boring one)
- Night shifts at a bread factory
- Waiter at a restaurant
- Packing ice-cream at an ice-cream factory (yes, appetite for ice-cream does fade fast, if 'all you can eat' is legitimate)
- Bar tender
- Laying artificial grass for hockey fields
- Corn harvesting for research purposes
- Stagehand at a big theatre (by far the nicest one)
My personal work experience taught me one thing, resilience.
While I was working at those series of jobs, I saw the difficult life and the amount of hard work the blue collar community had to put in—long hours of work at the paper factory, the limitations of the working environment in the ice cream factory, and the numbing working conditions of slaughter houses. But the workers remained jovial, kind and helpful. They did not allow their life circumstances, nature of their jobs and poor working situations to affect their lives.
A few of the Turkish immigrants I remembered shared their delicious stuffed bell peppers with me, when they had only a few for themselves. Their heart of resilience was amazing.
No Pain, no Gain:
There are many situations where you can step down (easy way) or step up (the hard way). In instances where I stepped up, I experienced intense sense of fulfillment and satisfaction, knowing the jobs were done well. However, the process was never an easy one.
One time, I was in the United States for a business trip. I was responsible for organising a global meeting where people flew in from all over the world. Intense planning was done with a small team of people—logistics, accommodation, food and beverage, transportation, flight tickets, work and entertainment programmes, etc. However, the hard work paid off; the event was a huge success. It was then that I realized that there was a pattern in my life: I needed to go through that pain and stress to get the reward and feel good afterwards. Before I returned home, I wrote the song ‘No Pain, No Gain’.
WORDS OF WISDOM
Keep your focus. You only live once, so try it twice.
MUSIC
No Pain No Gain
Lyrics by Ben Kranen
Music by Ben Kranen
Verse 1
To play it safe is really not much fun
But very often you decide to run
Ah just think of it
This one goes straight to your heart
Verse 2
You might decide that you just want to fight
Sometimes you find that you can lose your fright
Ah just think of it
Don't let it tear you apart
Ah, no pain no gain
Chorus
To play it safe is really not much fun
Catch the fever my dear son
You need to run and catch the splashing rain
No pain no gain
Verse 3
Life is full of dangers, it really is
But laying low, there's so much you miss
Ah, you'll love it
Go places no one has been
Ah, no pain no gain
Ah, no pain no gain
Verse 4
You only live once, so try it twice
And make these choice that seem so unwise
Ah, you'll love it,
See visions no one has seen
Ah, no pain no gain
Ah, no pain no gain
Chorus
To play it safe is really not much fun
Catch the fever my dear son
Drying in the sun after the rain
No pain no gain
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