I have over 40 years of experience in the food industry with the last 20 spent in Corporate R&D in foodservice, retail and manufacturing. From Feb '09 - Jan '17 I worked in various capacities from managing the foodservice division, initiating, developing and implementing a strategic plan to developing new and successful products for RaceTrac Petroleum, a privately held 400+ unit C-Store chain. I have a life-long passion for food and my career has been all about developing the very best products or menu items from an organoleptic but yet customer/guest relevance perspective. I have extensive experience in the product development process from ideation through testing to rollout. I have successfully developed retail and food service products and processes throughout my career and many of my products are still on grocery store shelves or on menus throughout the US. I have successfully led the menu development for multiple concepts simultaneously while managing teams for each. I have extensive experience working successfully with cross-functional teams from Marketing, Training, Operations, Finance, Procurement and others. I am an inclusive leader and an excellent coach who is results oriented and self motivated. I have also visited over 35 countries and gained valuable knowledge of cuisines and cultures. Core Competencies: I have a unique understanding of the commercialization process, making things taste great while ensuring executionability at the Ops level and profitability on the P&L. I have a high level of culinary expertise, which, encompasses not only food but equipment, processes and strategies as well. I have a strong insight on current trends and I am able to analyze those trends to help turn products into successes. I also develop strong relationships based on trust, collaboration and respect and I incorporate those strong bonds to lead successful teams. I am a quick thinker as well as a successful strategist and use my experience to make sound decisions.