Guro Helgesdotter Rognså Email & Phone Number

Stavanger Area

I work independently as a consultant, mainly for the Norwegian food and beverage industry. My work for food and beverage producers is focused within three areas: product, marketing and strategy. I help companies with product developments and adjustments, and I provide sensory profiling and testing of products and prototypes. On the marketing side, I assist in selecting packaging solutions and materials that correspond to wanted product properties, product quality level and target consumers. I apply principles of sensory marketing in my work. I also provide flavor descriptions and other types of product information to help consumers understand the product they are buying. I assist companies in strategic discussions regarding product portfolio and business development. Due to my broad background, I am able to follow producers in their creative process from ingredients and raw materials to products and further towards marketing and consumer insight.In addition to the work with food and beverage producers, I also offer other services. I participate in research projects, where my strength is bridging the gap between food science and gastronomy. I am available for project management assignments, and I can assist in application processes. I also give presentations and educational courses. More information about my services and background is available on my website (link below). Clients:TEALAker BioMarineAM NutritionCompass Group (Norway, Sweden & Germany)NofimaWiig GartneriKompetansenettverket for Lokalmat, Sør-NorgeGladmatNord MatstudioStiftelsen Norsk GastronomiRogaland FylkeskommuneNorsk Rakfiskfestival

Stavanger Area

I work as a contract business developer for Teal. Teal is an innovation company and is partner of the Norwegian innovation program, Siva. I assist Teal’s customers in the food and beverage sector with business consulting. For Teal, I have for example worked for cider producers in Rogaland, among them Sandalen Gård and OmCider.

Stavanger

In Nofima I worked as a researcher and was responsible for R&D projects and product developments specifically within the fields of gastronomy and personalized food. From 2019 to 2020, I was the project leader for an internal strategic program on the development of personalized food as a research field in Nofima. The program’s aim was to increase and coordinate Nofima’s competence in the field of personalized food and to organize activities and communication towards partners. Personalized food is a fast-growing market segment internationally and comprises several global megatrends. Among these, protein enriched food (sport & restitution products, food for elderly), sustainable food production through utilization of new raw materials or new ingredients from byproducts, in addition to plant-based food and the use of novel plant-based ingredients (vegan/vegetarian food and plant-based protein sources). In Nofima, I worked within all these areas, and used my culinary knowledge to bridge the gap between food science and gastronomy in order to produce appetizing and appealing personalized products. As a part of the job, I worked on product and prototype developments for the food industry and in research projects, in addition to research application processes, scientific writing and dissemination. The customers were small and large food producers (both in the private and public sectors), an NGO and retailers. From 2018 to 2020, I was co-supervisor for a PhD student in the field of consumer marketing at the University of Stavanger, working on dietary habits among healthy elderly. I also did consultancy projects for food producers on questions related to marketing strategy, brand profile, product redesign and sensory profiling. These projects revolved around optimization of product qualities and and providing producers with a correct sensory vocabulary they could take advantage of in their marketing. I worked with both food and beverage products (also alcoholic beverages).

Stavanger Area, Norway

In Måltidets Hus I worked as a project manager with responsibility for R&D projects. Most of the projects were focused on personalization of food, which means to customize food for population groups with particular dietary needs. I worked both on product customization for specific population segments, such as children and elderly, in addition to «free from» and «clean label» foods. As a whole, I worked with development of allergen free foods, plant-based/vegetarian/vegan products and protein enriched and/or energy adjusted foods, in addition to texture modification. The goal of these product developments was to develop products with specific properties while maintaining high culinary and sensory product quality. The clients were major Norwegian food industry companies, Norwegian food retailers and an Norwegian NGO. In some of the projects, knowledge was one of the deliverables, which involved education (workshops, presentations and seminars) of company employees and company partners. The companies used the gained knowledge to develop company strategies on personalized food. Personalized food is currently a fast-growing product category globally. In 2016 and 2017 I held presentations on personalization of food at the conference Måltidsglede, where Norwegian ministers, key opinion leaders and CEOs from the food industry were present.

Main responsibility was project management. The majority of the projects were research or development projects, such as product developments for the food industry. The work involved economic management and development of the projects, in addition to application writing in the case of research projects. I was also involved in numerous other projects and events at the institute, in addition to providing presentations and courses, such as the institute's wine courses and lectures at the University of Stavanger.

My primary work at the institute has been my PhD project, but I have also contributed to the institute’s daily work, such as in product developments for the food industry, research projects, food evaluations (tests and competitions), dissemination (presentations, workshops, courses and events) and representation (such as Bocuse d’Or/Sirha). My sommelier degree has also been put to good use when assisting my colleagues in wine and beverage related questions, such as food and wine pairing. Food research has been the primary focus of my PhD, and therefore I have trained my colleagues, the chefs, in topics such as food science, sensory analysis and taste perception in addition to being a person they can ask whenever they have science-related food questions.Molecular gastronomy is a relatively new subfield of food science, but contrary to traditional food science, which works closely with the food industry, molecular gastronomy is concerned with research of small-scale food production represented by restaurant and home cooking. What are the chemical and physical reactions taking place when we prepare food from ingredients, and what properties has the final product? These are central questions in molecular gastronomy, but since food is intended for eating, how we perceive food and beverages and the different factors influencing an eating experience are also focus areas.

The work consisted of developing projects in molecular gastronomy, which more specifically involved literature research in addition to writing of applications and project descriptions. One of the project descriptions I developed was the research proposal and applications for my PhD project.

Organic Synthesis, Master's thesisThe practical work of the master’s thesis was concerned with the optimization of reaction steps in a total synthesis of anthocyanins (pigments present in many types of flowers and berries).

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Molecular Gastronomy / Food Chemistry

PhD courses: Sensory Science Aroma Components in Food The topic for my PhD project in molecular gastronomy was emulsions. Warm.

Diploma In Wines And Spirits (Level 4)

Sommelier

Diplôme Universitaire Du Goût, De La Gastronomie Et Des Arts De La Table, Hautes Études Du Goût (60 Ects)

Hautes études du goût is an annual course aiming at exploring the many aspects of gastronomy, taste and the art of fine dining..

Master Of Science (M.Sc.), Chemical Engineering And Biotechnology

Program: Organic Chemistry Master's thesis: Synthesis of alpha-iodo ketones, and their application in glycosylation reactions

Bachelor'S Degree, Chemical And Biochemical Engineering

Norwegian High School., High Levels In Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics And Physics