The world is changing at an increasingly rapid pace and Food Science – specifically product development is no different. Join this session to explore current product development roles from start-ups to established food companies and how innovation in the industry is changing them. Most importantly hear how you can stay flexible and prepare for this changing landscape.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn about our panelist’s roles in product development and what lead them to their current role.
• Receive insights on innovation in the food industry and product development process in a variety of settings
• Tips for staying flexible and prepared for the changing nature of product development

Moderator:

Justin Shimek Ph.D., CEO, Mattson
Justin is CEO and Chief Technology Officer at Mattson where he leads an extraordinary community of employee-owners on their mission: “We Invent the Future of Food, One Product at a Time." He guides Mattson’s diverse community of innovation experts, food technologists, strategists, marketers, insights professionals, and commercialization specialists. He manages a broad range of client relationships—from the largest food companies in the world to highly mission-driven startups—on projects that span every technology, category, and consumer need state in food & beverage.
Prior to joining Mattson, Justin held a number of notable product innovation and process development positions across the food industry. He directed new vegetable product development and process technology research at Del Monte Foods. At E. & J. Gallo Winery he led technology programs in the world’s largest winery to evaluate new to the world wine processes at scale. Justin began his career developing ready-to-eat breakfast cereals at General Mills, Inc., where his first job was developing novel marshmallows for Lucky Charms™. Additionally, as part of Cereal Partners Worldwide—a General Mills’ Joint Venture with Nestlé—he led the overall nutritional renovation of the product portfolio in Latin America thus boosting the global consumption of whole grain foods.
Justin earned a Ph.D. in food science from the University of California, Davis and Bachelors of Science degrees in both food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota. His work has led to a number of patents and technical publications.
Currently, Justin is the Chair of the University of California, Davis Department of Food Science & Technology Leadership Advisory Board and a member of the Google Innovation Lab for Food Experiences. Justin has been an active member of the Institute of Food Technologists since 1994 and served as a volunteer leader in a variety of roles, including on the IFT Board of Directors, and he is currently the Chair-Elect of the Board of Trustees for IFT’s non-profit foundation, Feeding Tomorrow.

Panelists:

Kirsten Hilt, Manager – R&D Food Design Group, Grocery at Conagra Brands
Kirsten earned her B.S. in Food Science from Purdue University and recently received her MBA from Creighton University. She has been part of the Food Design Group at Conagra Brands for almost 9 years, launching products across multiple platforms, working closely with sales teams as a technical liaison, and transitioning into people development. Kirsten currently leads the Shelf Stable Meals & Sides group, where her team creates new products under the Chef Boyardee, Peter Pan, Libby’s, Armour, Van Camp’s, Ranch Style, and Wolf brands, among others.

Sneha Parab,Senior Food Technologist at Mattson & Co.
Sneha Parab is a Senior Food Technologist at Mattson & Co, an independent developer of food and beverage products that is creating and shaping future of food. At Mattson, she interacts with start-ups and CPG leaders of plant-based food products to innovate in alternate proteins category. Sneha is driven by sustainability and has developed range of products including egg, dairy and meat free alternatives abiding nutritional targets.

Prior to Mattson, she held position as a Food scientist at JUST, a food technology start-up focusing on novel plant protein research and development of egg-free scramble. In 2014, she worked at specialty phosphate ingredient company, Innophos where she was responsible for exploring application of phosphates with animal and plant proteins for added functionality. Her experience working across channels at sensory, ingredient, CPG and innovation companies backs her expertise in plant protein processing for optimum functionality and scalability, use of supporting ingredients in plant-based alternatives and challenges commercializing novel food products. She received her M.S. In biotechnology from Mumbai university and M.S. In food science from Drexel university-Philadelphia.

As a leader, she is passionate about making strong connections within food industry and beyond. She yearns to determine how all pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity by identifying path of least resistance. She volunteers for industry day events at colleges and high schools inspiring future generation food scientists.

Adam Yee, Food Labs Manager at WeWork
Adam Yee has a BS in Food Science at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and has been a product developer for factories, large companies and startups with experience working on deli meat, chocolate, granola bars, crackers, protein bars, and plant-based meat. He was a technical co-founder of the plant-based meat startup Better Meat Co, which is a well-funded food tech companies that recently struck a huge deal with Perdue Farms. Now he's taking his startup experience and helping other startups innovate in his role as the Food Labs Manager, a new program by WeWork.
In his spare time, Adam does a podcast called My Food Job Rocks where he interviews experts in the food industry about their career path and perspectives on the current food landscape. With over 200 episodes, each episode dives into the path of someone in the food industry and guests include food scientists, quality assurance specialists, packaging experts, founders and CEO's.