Fei Guo Email & Phone Number

Kirkland, WA, US

Seattle, Washington, United States

Product Development and Food Safety/Quality consulting services for CPG companies

San Francisco Bay Area

• Managed R+D for LaCroix, Shasta, and Rip-It Energy brands under National Beverage Corp
• End-to-end product development/commercialization for 5 core LaCroix flavors
• Led renovations across Lacroix, Shasta, and Rip-It Energy brands for cost, regulatory, optimization
• Partnered with Operations, Procurement, Quality, Marketing/Sales to work cross functionally oncommercialization, ingredient approval, vendor scorecards, food safety, and process optimization
• Optimized lab with new equipment and software for optimum product scale up and analysis

San Francisco Bay Area

• Product Developer and Commercialization Leader for a wide range of functional foods: beverages, savory snacks, fermented sauerkraut and vegetables, specializing in probiotics
• Led full product life cycle, from market research to first production on Golden Turmeric Sauerkraut, and Golden Turmeric Gut Shot (star showcase at Expo West 2018, 40K+ attendees)
• Project Manager for several product platforms through stage gate cycles, all the way to commercialization and monitoring afterward
• Optimized existing products for improved consumer experience, cost, scale, and efficiency (increased the margin cost per unit value by 40% for both Gut Punch and Kraut Krisps while improving sensory profiles)
• Managed regulatory for nutrition, ingredient statements, as well as Organic certification and Non-GMO Project Verification. Generated tools for NPD cycles, KPIs, and packaging reviews
• Commercialization expertise: conducted plant trials to achieve product viability, led shelf life evaluations to ensure products meet consumer expectations and food safety standards

SF Bay Area

• Designed and performed large scale temperature and microbiological experiments impacting the scaling up of logistics and packaging across three time zones in the US (1+ million meals/month)
• Led shelf life and sensory experiments on meats, seafood, dairy, produce, and other categories
• Used the scientific method to study current product and processes and offer new labeling, packaging, and storage guidelines to improve fulfillment center efficiency and improving customer satisfaction
• Developed training programs and materials, based on FDA/USDA/ServSafe requirements

Middlebury, Vermont

• Led the research and testing of heat-stable whey protein to improve margins by over 30%
• Analytical, microbiological, and instrumental analysis of dairy products (milk, cheese, whey)
• Maintained calibrations and set up new instrumentation (NIR, FOSS, LECO)
• Assisted with SQF audits and regulatory record keeping

Hardwick, VT

• Ensured food safety/quality of various foods (soymilk, tofu, coconut smoothies, soy puddings)
• Implemented HACCP plan, GMPs, GLPs, and SOPs throughout manufacturing plant

• Created brand-new innovative products such as liquid sweeteners (sucralose, saccharin, stevia, and monk fruit; marketed under the Heartland brand Nevella)
• Designed shelf-life experiments on products to ensure food safety and quality by analyzing moisture content, water activity, preservative system, and pathogen microchallenge studies
• Reverse engineered and matched national brands (Nectresse, Stevia in the Raw, baking sweetener blends, Mio-type liquid water enhancers)
• Led cross-functional teams for commercialization, resulting in products like Nevella
• Ensured the development of accurate ingredient panels and nutritional information

Burlington, Vermont Area

Georgia, Vermont

• Analyzed raw materials and finished products for vitamins, minerals and other nutrients using instrumentation, USP, AOAC and in-house testing methods
• Prepared Retinyl Palmitate analytical standards for HPLC analysis for vitamin and fat mixes for in-process mixes and stability tests

Burlington, Vermont Area

• Research and development on a soy coffee creamer for Vermont Soy LLC. Stability tests were conducted for two years in conjunction with Cornell University.
• Research and development on goat’s milk yogurt for Oakknoll Dairy (Windsor, VT), commercialized in 2010, sold in NYC and many health food stores.
• Enumeration of probiotics in yogurt and similar products
• Analysis of vitamin content of infant formula using Biacore instrumentation (quantitative vitamin analysis using instrumentation with biosensor chip). Co-authored paper published in Food Chemistry.
• Experience with HPLC analysis
• Routine laboratory maintenance