Our Innovation Studio - What Sets Us Apart
Commitment – Willing to invest significant time and resources to achieve shared innovation success
Collaboration – Passionate about problem-solving tough innovation challenges side-by-side with your team
Dairy and protein application knowledge – Able to provide specific, science-backed, hands-on guidance to smoothly transition our ingredients into your end products
Urgency – Able to leverage our pilot plant to test new ingredients, applications, and processes efficiently, giving you key insights to accelerate product development
Our Innovation Difference
Customizable Innovation for Every Customer
Our innovation process is tailored to each customer’s needs, leveraging our expert team of food scientists, ingredient experts, consumer researchers, and market analysts. This flexible process helps us collaboratively develop scientifically proven solutions that drive your products and business toward success.
Meet a few of our team members
R&D Food Scientists & Application Specialists
Richard Merrill
Richard is a PhD dairy chemist with over 30 years in the industry. He has experience in R&D strategy development, patent strategy, regulatory guidance, and food safety whose career has led to advancements in microbiology, cheesemaking, and dairy ingredient functionality and processing.
Angela Queneau
Angela has a BS and MS in Food Science from Ohio State University and Purdue University, respectively. She also has 9 years of CPG product development in baker, bars, and snacks; as well as 6 years of experience in dairy ingredient manufacturing.
Marketing Strategists & Consumer Researchers
Vanessa Williams
Vanessa has a BA in Strategic Marketing from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and an MBA with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Denver Daniels College of Business. She has over 20 years of experience in consumer research and innovation pipeline development.
Julie Blum
Julie holds a BA in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. With over 20 years of experience, she has expertise in brand and customer marketing across both B2B and B2C sectors, specializing in the healthcare and CPG industries.
Business Development & Nutrition Sales Experts
B.T. Nauslar
B.T. received his undergraduate degree from University of Nevada, Las Vegas and earned an MBA from Cornell’s Johnson School of Management. B.T. has been with Leprino since 2009 and currently is responsible for all commercial aspects of the Leprino Nutrition business, including sales and marketing leadership of our dairy ingredients business as well as overall leadership of the Ascent protein brand.
Gabriel Sevilla Kram
Gabriel holds a master’s degree in international marketing from the University of Maryland and a business degree from the University of Denver. He has 30 years of global business development, strategy, sales, supply chain, risk management, and marketing experience working in the dairy industry. He has expertise in dairy ingredients, cheese, butter and beverages in the retail, foodservice, pharmaceutical and industrial sectors.
State-of-the-Art Pilot Plant
In 2017, we built a $15 million pilot plant for our nutrition customers. It features scaled-down versions of our operations, perfect for small-scale ingredient and process development. With advanced membrane filtration, evaporation, drying, and blending systems, we can create a wide range of ingredients. Additionally, application capabilities include:
- Dry blends and powders
- Hot-fill RTD beverages
- Processed and analog cheese
- Nutritional bars
- Cultured dairy products
- Ice cream and frozen novelties
- Baked goods and snacks
Our Capabilities
Click on the links below to learn more about our Innovation Studio capabilities.
Research & Insights
A preliminary gut check for innovation guidance and guiderails
- Custom primary research – qual & quant
- Consumer behaviors & preferences
- Product claims and benefits research
- Concept testing
- Custom sensory testing
Market Analysis & Strategy
Initial market assessment to identify and verify market opportunities
- In-depth market data & category analysis
- Competitive assessments
- Global category and consumer trend analysis
- White space analysis
- Business strategy development
Research & Development
Application formulation and troubleshooting to ensure successful ingredient performance
- In-depth technical and application expertise
- Custom ideations
- Product/concept development
- Rapid prototyping
Commercial Implementation Support
Support to help smoothly transition our ingredients into your end products
- Access to a robust set of co-manufacturing partners & production specialists
- Able to provide science-backed, hands-on guidance during trials and commercialization ramp up