For Anthony Akoh, brewing has always been more than a job; it’s a craft, a system, and a pathway to building something lasting.

As a Beverage Production Technologist with NC’s Food and Beverage Innovation Centre (FBIC), Anthony brings deep, real-world experience in large-scale manufacturing and process operations to NC’s applied research environment. His work sits at the intersection of precision and creativity: helping beverage companies optimize processes, scale production, meet safety requirements, and bring products to market with confidence.

But Anthony’s NC story is also personal, one shaped by ambition, family, and a steady commitment to continuous learning.

It was, as he describes it, a formative period that grounded him in industrial-scale beverage production and sharpened his systems-thinking mindset.

During his time there, he operated and monitored CO₂ plants, boilers, chillers, water treatment systems, and high-speed packaging lines. He conducted preventive maintenance routines, led clean-in-place (CIP) operations, supported annual shutdowns, and helped sustain equipment reliability rates above 95 percent. Later, as a Maintenance Planner and Controller, he used SAP to implement maintenance strategies that achieved 98 percent plan attainment while coordinating workflows across brewing, quality assurance, utilities, and warehouse teams.

“It was a whole bunch of forming stage for me,” he shared. “I had the opportunity to try a lot of things — managing machines, managing equipment.”

Yet despite the scale and sophistication of global brewing operations, Anthony found himself wanting something more complete. In a macro facility, he explained, production often moves invisibly through pipes and tanks, with limited visibility into recipe development or formulation decision-making.

“Growing beer in a macro facility, you basically see nothing,” he said. “You are not part of the recipe development. Everything is in the tanks. You don’t know what is happening.”

“I’ve seen what the process is like,” he said. “But I wanted to understand it from start to finish.”

That desire sparked his search as he researched brewing programs globally, including options in the United Kingdom, carefully evaluating whether they offered true hands-on learning or primarily classroom instruction. He was determined that his next step would move him closer to mastering brewing at the source.

What made NC stand out, he said, was its applied, immersive, practical approach, the opportunity to move from recipe development to ingredient selection to full pilot-scale production.

When he enrolled in the Brew Master and Brewery Operations Management diploma program for a May 2023 start, he arrived with a clear professional goal: to deepen his technical expertise in brewing science, scale-up, and regulatory compliance. He also carried something equally important, the hope of building a stronger foundation for his family’s future.

The distance has not been easy. It requires patience, resilience, and an unwavering belief that temporary sacrifice will lead to long-term opportunity. Behind the professional milestones, the diploma, the research roles, and promotion are the quieter realities of time zones, video calls, and working towards reunion.

When asked what ultimately brought him to Canada, his answer was simple and immediate: “I want a better life for myself and my family.”

That clarity of purpose shapes how he approaches both his career and his growth. Every late evening in the pilot plant, every certification earned, every step forward professionally carries a deeper meaning. His journey is not only about mastering brewing science but also about building stability, creating opportunities, and laying a foundation on which his children will one day stand.

It’s a quiet truth that underpins every step he has taken since arriving, ambition grounded in responsibility.

In NC’s teaching brewery, students move beyond theory and into execution, developing their own recipes and carrying them from formulation through full pilot-scale production. For Anthony, that hands-on repetition was transformative.

He lit up as he described the process: selecting raw ingredients from the warehouse, scaling formulations, monitoring mash and fermentation parameters, and watching how each batch behaved differently depending on yeast strain, hop profile, temperature control, and timing.

“It’s something I always look out for,” he said. “I want to try, test my idea, and see how it’s performing.”

With a background in Chemical Engineering, Anthony already understood process systems and thermodynamics. But the Brew Master and Brewery Operations Management program allowed him to connect engineering theory to sensory outcomes and to see firsthand how small formulation or process adjustments could influence flavour, balance, carbonation, and stability.

The experience deepened his technical knowledge and appreciation for regulatory discipline. Working within Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)-informed frameworks during training reinforced the food safety and compliance standards that would later define his work in applied research.

He also pursued industry-recognized certifications, including Prud’homme Level 1 Beer Enthusiast, further grounding his practical knowledge in formal beer education.

More than anything, the brewing experience strengthened his mindset: test, refine, document, improve.

That systems-based approach, the equal parts creativity and control, is a natural fit for applied research. And it soon shaped the next chapter of his NC journey.

An NC representative visited to share that FBIC’s research division was hiring and encouraged students to watch for the posting. Anthony applied immediately.

“I eagerly waited for the post to come up,” he said. “The moment it came up, I applied.”

Hired as a Research Assistant, he describes the transition as both “interesting” and “vertical,” giving him direction within a structured, technically rigorous environment where his industry experience translated immediately.

“I found the environment very welcoming,” he said. “And it was much easier for me to blend in. I’ve been in the industry, I’ve seen a bunch of equipment.”

As FBIC has expanded, so have his responsibilities, from Research Assistant (student) to Research Associate (graduate), and ultimately into his current role as Beverage Production Technologist, overseeing equipment, maintaining regulatory standards, and supporting increasingly complex client projects.

He originally expected he would eventually return to industry, searching for the right production facility. Instead, he found that the environment at NC combines the structure of industry with the innovation of applied research and the opportunity to guide the next generation entering the field.

Since joining FBIC, what has stood out to him most in his roles has been the workplace’s diversity. At NC, colleagues and students from around the world work side by side. Moving from Nigeria to Canada required adjustment not just to the climate (his first time seeing snow) but also to new communication styles and cultural rhythms.

“You open yourself up and accept differences,” he said. “It gives you the opportunity to experience different cultures.”

He remembers needing time to adjust to the pace of spoken English in his early weeks as a student, understanding the language, but recalibrating to its speed. That experience now shapes how he mentors students in the pilot plant.

Today, he approaches mentorship with patience, understanding that “hearing” is not always the same as “understanding.” Mistakes, he believes, are part of the learning process. He approaches mentorship with patience, understanding that learning rarely happens in a straight line.

“There is no number of times you can correct and say it’s enough,” he said.

He hopes former students will say his guidance helped shape their path, noting, “I would be happy to have people out there that said, ‘Yes, it was him who mentored me.’ ”

“You keep correcting… until people can handle tasks independently.”

When he first began, production volumes were smaller and projects more contained. Today, the range of products, the sophistication of equipment, and the volume of industry demand have all expanded. For him, that growth represents something important: more opportunity for beverage entrepreneurs to test, refine, and launch with confidence.

He understands clearly where FBIC sits in the ecosystem. Many emerging producers struggle to access co-packing facilities at lower volumes. FBIC fills that gap, allowing companies to develop and scale production from 0 to 4,000 litres before committing to larger production runs. He notes that companies that work with FBIC “are able to have a turnkey package for themselves and be able to go out and reproduce.”

“FBIC gives them that opportunity to keep trying their formulation,” he said. “Get something correct… be sure it is market accepted… then invest further.”

It’s both a practical and a meaningful service. He sees firsthand how careful process control, regulatory discipline, and hands-on production support can turn an idea into a viable product.

For Anthony, the future isn’t about expansion for its own sake. It’s about continuing to do the work well while maintaining standards, mentoring students, and helping producers build products they can stand behind.

To learn more about FBIC and how the team supports beverage companies with product development, formulation refinement, and commercialization, visit the webpage or contact David DiPietro, Manager of Business Development, to learn how FBIC helps innovators move from concept to commercialization.