• This technical commercialization roadmap will help you align food science, engineering, and supply chain decision-making with the operational, financial, and risk-management requirements of scalable growth.
• You’ll receive expert-led instruction, tools, and group coaching.
• The series consists of 5 live, virtual group sessions in a concise, time-saving format.
• Through group instruction and consulting, this series taps into the expertise of leaders in ingredient technology & science, strategic sourcing & procurement, sensory & consumer science, packaging, and food safety to put you on a successful product strategy roadmap for your food or beverage business.

Rita M. Singer

Ohly

SESSION 1

May 8, 2026, 9-10:30 AM CST

Ingredient Technology: Formulating for Commercial Success  

In the food industry, a “great recipe” is only the beginning. The real challenge—and where most margins are lost—is in the commercialization. If ingredients aren’t chosen with manufacturing, supply chain, and scale in mind, a product remains a kitchen-scale concept rather than a scalable business. 

This session features veteran food scientist Rita M. Singer for a technical “deep dive” into the functional world of Ingredient Technology. This is a pragmatist’s guide to the literal building blocks of a product, viewed through the lens of industrial feasibility and financial resilience. Participants will learn how to select ingredients that don’t just provide flavor, but actually perform under the rigors of high-speed production. 

You Will Learn:

• Bridging the “Bench-to-Plant” Gap: Identify why specific starches, proteins, or emulsifiers work in a test kitchen but fail in a continuous-motion industrial mixer. 
• Functional Technicality: A look at the physics of ingredients—specifically water activity, pH stability, and the impacts of various thermal processing methods. 
• De-Risking the Formula: Strategies to eliminate single-source dependencies and manage COGS volatility through smart, technical formulation. 
• Specification Excellence: How to define ingredient specifications that hold vendors accountable and ensure consistent quality at scale. Clarity as a Growth Accelerator: How clear strategic direction improves decision-making, speeds execution, and reduces wasted effort across teams and partners. 

Ivy Koelliker

Koelliker Consulting

SESSION 3

May 22, 2026, 9-10:30 AM CST

Sensory Science: Data-Driven Product Validation 

In the food industry, “tasting good” is subjective—but Sensory Science is objective. To build a repeatable, scalable brand, you cannot rely on the founder’s palate alone. You need a rigorous framework to ensure that every batch meets consumer expectations and that every formulation change is invisible to the loyal customer. 

In this session, Ivy Koelliker introduces the methodology of sensory evaluation used by the world’s leading food companies. From difference testing to descriptive analysis, Ivy explains how to turn human perception into actionable data. This session is critical for any brand looking to maintain consistency during scale-up, ingredient substitutions, or shelf-life extensions.  

You Will Learn:

• The Sensory Toolkit: An introduction to discrimination testing (e.g., Triangle Tests) to determine if a change in process or supplier is actually detectable. 
• Objective vs. Subjective: How to move beyond “I like this” to descriptive profiles that define the specific attributes (texture, aroma, mouthfeel) of your brand. 
• Shelf-Life & Stability: Using sensory data to determine “end of life” and ensure your product tastes as good on day 180 as it did on day one. 
• Consumer-Centric Design: Mapping sensory attributes to consumer preferences to ensure your product development is hitting the “Gold Standard” for your target market. 
• Quality Control at Scale: Implementing simple, effective sensory “cues” for your production team to ensure batch-to-batch consistency. 

Douglas Marshall, Ph.D.

Eurofins Microbiology Laboratories

SESSION 5

June 5, 2026, 9-10:30 AM CST

Food Safety Systems: Protecting Your Product and Your Business 

A single safety failure can end a food brand before it truly begins. In an era of heightened regulatory scrutiny and complex global supply chains, “hoping for the best” is not a strategy. To be investor-ready and commercially viable, a food business must be built on a rigorous, data-driven food safety culture. 

This session features Douglas Marshall, Ph.D. a world-renowned expert in food microbiology and safety. Dr. Marshall moves beyond basic compliance to discuss the science of prevention. He provides a roadmap for building robust safety systems that protect public health while simultaneously safeguarding your brand’s financial future. 

You Will Learn:

• Microbiological Mastery: Understanding the primary pathogens that threaten different food categories and the specific interventions required to neutralize them. 
• Environmental Monitoring Programs (EMP): How to move beyond testing the finished product to monitoring the manufacturing environment—finding and fixing problems before they reach the package. 
• FSMA and Regulatory Navigation: Decoding the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requirements for growing brands, including PCQI roles and preventive controls. 
• Root Cause Analysis: Learn the scientific discipline of investigating failures to ensure they never happen twice. 
• Validation vs. Verification: The technical difference between proving a process can work and proving it did work for every batch.