Lindsey Bagley

Lindsey is an expert in formulation and manufacture of products for the food and healthcare industries. She has over 40 years’ experience as a hands-on product and process developer, 30 as an independent consultant, giving her a unique breadth of experience. She has been responsible for the launch of hundreds of retail products and new ingredients, and her work has supported many patents.

Expertise in a broad variety of product areas ensures local custom and practice and regulatory issues are effectively addressed within each project area. Her intuitive use of ingredients for optimum functionality, sensory attributes, processing, stability and cost ensure that all developments are fast tracked. Her understanding of legislation, consumer marketing and production issues is key to ensuring an effective response at the various stages of projects.

Working as a satellite resource in her own laboratory, or an integral part of client operations in their facilities, she ensures practical solutions are developed for all development challenges. She has also contributed to technical publications and given presentations at national and international events. 

She is skilled in project management, working with multi-disciplinary teams to achieve product launches meeting budgetary, timing, legislative, production, shelf-life and marketing claim requirements. Highly self-motivated, with a strong sense of initiative and the ability to find clear solutions to complex problems.

With customers ranging from multi-national to local independent companies Lindsey focuses on the imaginative translation of consumers’ lifestyles into successful market products.

The following broadly describes Lindsey’s key activities:

• Experimental design and technology review to produce lateral solutions for new and existing technical challenges

• New product development: working with multi-disciplinary teams to achieve product launches meeting budgetary, timing, legislative, production, shelf-life and marketing claim requirements

• Ingredient rationalisation: from historical presence to effective selection for functionality, quality, cost and overall product performance

• Product optimisation for appearance, taste, texture and overall acceptability

• Market review and product opportunity analysis

• Legislation reviews

• Bespoke in-house training

Effecting hands on advice, from laboratory to production, Lindsey will guide developments to ensure efficient transfer of concepts to marketplace.

Areas Of Expertise

• Beverages: carbonates & still: ready-to-drink, concentrated & powdered

• Cereal-Based Goods: bars, biscuits, breads, cakes, cereals, crackers, pastries

• Confectionery: chocolate, chewing gum, medicated, sugar

• Dairy: cheese & cheese spreads, desserts, dips, fromage frais, ice creams, milk drinks, table spreads, yogurts

• Nutritional: meal replacements, dietary supplements 

• OTC Preparations: powders, tablets, syrups

• Sauces & Condiments: custards, dressings, gravies, pickles, sweet & savoury sauces

• Savoury: soups, snacks, pastas, pulses, vegetables

• Toppings & Fillings: creams, jams, sweet & savoury spreads

Lindsey Bagley ● Email: lindsey@eurekasoln.co.uk ● Tel: +44 1628 628635

Dave Baines

A leading expert in food flavourings, with specific expertise in cooked flavours derived from the Maillard reaction, and dairy flavourings generated by the use of enzymes. Dave spent 25 years working in the food industry, latterly as Technical Director of Lucas Ingredients, before establishing Baines Food Consultancy. He has worked across five continents with flavour companies developing savoury and dairy flavours and with food companies to generate more flavour impact in cooked products. He is involved with a number of flavour training courses and has published many articles and book chapters. He is editor of a book on ‘Natural Food Additives, Ingredients and Flavourings’.

Dave Baines ● Email: dave.baines@flavourhorizons.com

Andrea Cattaruzza

As a consultant to the food industry (www.andcat.eu) Andrea has successfully engaged with clients in the UK, US, Italy, Russia, and Canada, proposing a mix of experience, skills and networking, applying open innovation, intellectual property management, technology road-mapping, market intelligence, business acumen, to the development of concrete and viable business plans.

As R&D executive of a global FMCG company (Mars Chocolate), Andrea contributed to shape the research agenda with global reach and a substantial track record of deliveries. Specifically on diet and nutrition he designed and championed a strategy to address the health & wellbeing issues facing the chocolate category.

Andrea is subject matter expert on food ingredients and processes: oils, fats, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, cocoa, chocolate confectionery, nutrition, and sustainability. He recently obtained a certificate of Business Sustainability Leadership at the University of Cambridge.

Andrea is connected to a network of professionals and consultants in the food industry and specifically in the chocolate confectionery, rice, sauces, and pet food sectors.

He has experience in chairing independent scientific advisory bodies and assessing research projects, as Science Director at Mars and, more recently, as an expert in a number of evaluation panels for EIT Food and Innovate UK.

Andrea Cattaruzza FIFST ● andrea@andcat.eu ● +44 7884 384 237

Craig Duckham

Craig Duckham is a UK based independent consultant specialising in microencapsulated ingredients technologies supported by a strong background in analytical testing. He advises both industry and academia wanting to scale ideas from the bench into a business. Craig operates across the Agri-food sector in food, feed, functional ingredients, water, and brewing. However, he also brings with him experience from working in crop protection and pharmaceutical drug delivery.

Industry clients range from start-ups and spin-outs, SMEs, to food and drink multinationals.  He has also worked with universities on new technologies and developing patent applications. Projects include, technology scouting and horizon scanning, concept development, project initiation and execution, proof-of-concept, and scale-up trials. Craig provides, desk studies and reports, and supports project implementation and management.  This can involve negotiating with contractors, agreeing timescales, securing competitive pricing, and delivering products and services to specified quality standards. His independent expertise and experience across a diverse range of technologies is often required to identify the best approach to meet the challenges of modern NPD projects.  For example, in terms of microencapsulation, this may include deciding the most suitable and cost-effective solution for the client between: spray drying, spray-chilling, extrusion, fluid bed coating or coacervation. The challenge is to provide solutions that can be taken from the bench through pilot scale POC and on to production scale. Craig helps clients to negotiate the inevitable hurdles by providing innovation and insight, in areas that embrace research in food flavour, taints and off flavours and in the modified release of functional ingredients.

Craig has an extensive knowledge of volatiles and flavour analysis and has led several international cross functional R&D projects. These have included technology transfer, development and licensing, proof of concept and prototyping. He has strong academic links and has led PhD studies, commissioned research and been responsible for the management of patent applications.  Business development, staff management and expansion/withdrawal planning have all fallen within his remit.

Craig has over 20 years of commercial R&D experience and has held senior positions in business. With Cara Technology Ltd, he led the team that developed a new range of sensory flavour standards for use in the food and beverage sectors. As a director of the main operating subsidiaries of Micap plc, he was responsible for providing contract development services and technology licensing opportunities in the field of microencapsulation. Craig has a Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham and is a Fellow of the British Society of Flavourists, Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology. He is also serves on committees of the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) and the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST).

Case Study

The challenge: Sustained release of flavour, proof of concept

• Peppermint essential oil was trapped inside yeast bio-capsules and an analytical test was needed to demonstrate if the flavour was released in a more sustained or delayed way than in a non-encapsulated equivalent.

The Solution

• Identify the right academic partner.

• Incorporate the flavour capsules into a chewing gum matrix. Use an innovative MS-Nose technology to measure flavour volatiles in the breath in real time during chewing. The flavour in bio-capsules remained isolated from the gum matrix and was released, after a small delay, much more effectively than the un-encapsulated flavour.

• The solution was quick and much more cost effective and precise than using a sensory panel.

• The solution avoided the subjectivity of sensory analysis where perception of flavour diminishes quickly due to adaptation, whilst the actual levels of flavour in the breath remains high.

Case Study

The challenge: Resolve a beverage sensory quality issue

• A UK SME expanding a fledgling spiced beverage business was losing loyal customers due to a growth in quality complaints. This was a business-critical issue that needed resolving quickly.

The Solution

• After an initial meeting, and discussions around the specifications of their blend ingredients, potential supply chain risks were identified. Following initial sensory assessment Craig was able to isolate an individual spice in the blend that was not true to type. This provided the company the information they needed to follow up with their supplier.

Craig Duckham PhD FRSB FIFST ● Email: craig.duckham@cdrnd.co.uk ● Tel: +44 1372 377223

Graham Godfrey

Graham’s working career has been entirely in the food industry, mainly in cocoa, chocolate and sugar confectionery.  For over 30 years he was with Cadbury Schweppes with world-wide experience in various businesses, including long spells overseas in senior positions in Ireland (Technical Manager), South Africa (Process Director) and Europe (Operations Development Director) and long term involvement with the businesses in India and Malaysia.

His core interests are:

• Process and Product Development

• Operations Development

• Commercial Evaluation of Projects

• Optimising Manufacturing Configurations

• Factory and Equipment Design and Layout

His background as a Chemical Engineer has proved useful in all of these fields.

He has extensive knowledge and experience of most of the confectionery product sectors:

• Raw cocoa processing

• Cocoa bean processing (cocoa mass, powder, butter)

• Dark, white and milk chocolate making (liquid milk, dried milk, sugar -free)

• ·Chocolate products manufacture (solid and filled bars, bar lines, assortments, panned goods, etc.)

• ·Plant based (i.e. vegan) chocolate and sugar confectionery -  ingredients, manufacturing processes, product development

• Sugar and sugar-free confectionery (solid sugar, solid and filled gums and jellies, sugar panning, etc.)

• Sugar and sugar-free chewing gum (gum base, strip and pellet gum manufacture, filled gum, bubble gum, compressed gums)

• Peanut butter manufacture

While at Cadbury Schweppes Graham was responsible for the development of radical new cocoa processing and chocolate making technologies for new and existing businesses as well and the design, construction and commissioning through to beneficial operation of new and updated factories within the global organisation

He has also worked as a consultant to company operations in many countries, assisting with improving manufacturing and commercial aspects of businesses.

Since leaving Cadbury Schweppes has worked as a consultant to many food and confectionery businesses world-wide on a huge variety of topics and has been involved with both large and small companies and in particular several seeking to extend their areas of expertise.

One of his long term projects has been close involvement in the development of a very high quality plant based ‘milk’ chocolate with a flavour close to that of conventional milk chocolate products. This process has now been patented and is in commercial development. The product is far superior to any products currently on the market because it able to harness the key flavour development processes which occur in conventional milk chocolate processing.

Graham routinely works with specialists in associated fields where there is an overlap in a particular project.  In addition to other Acumentia members he has a close association with a sugar confectionery specialist based in Europe

He has extensive knowledge of confectionery and process equipment manufacturers and experience of using mainstream chemical process technology and techniques in the confectionery industry.

Eur Ing Graham Godfrey BSc (Hons) Chemical Engineering (Leeds), Chartered Engineer (UK) (UK Engineering Council), European Registered Engineer (FEANI), Chartered Member of the UK Institution of Chemical Engineers ● Email: ctci@btinternet.com ● Tel: +44 7725 212512 / +44 1584 781137

Karin Goodburn

Karin is Director of the Chilled Food Association and has extensive knowledge of the chilled food industry internationally, relevant legislation and the best ways of influencing both commercial and public sector organisations and departmental bodies. She was awarded an MBE for services to the food industry in the Queen’s 2008 Birthday Honours List and in 2022 made Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Food Science & Technology. She’s been described as a ‘fine communicator of complex issues in a commercial environment’ and is well used to dealing with all levels of people, from government ministers, to shop floor operatives. Being a British-Finnish dual national, she has a range of contacts in Finland as well as internationally.

Karin’s skills include:

• Project management

• Regulatory affairs intelligence

• Government issues intelligence

• Scientific and technical reviews

• Scenario development

• Incident management

• Industry news & technology bulletins

• Association management

• Signposting & business development

Karin Goodburn MBE CSci MSc BSc Hon FIFST MSoFHT MSfAM ● Email: kaarin.goodburn[at]gmail.com

Nicholas Henson

Nick is a hands-on NPD practitioner, trained as a food scientist at the University of Reading, with over 35 years’ experience within product development in the food industry, including branded manufacturing (ABF, RHM, Kraft Foods), the flavour industry (Firmenich, IFF) and contract product development (International Food Network).

He has broad cross-category experience with an emphasis on health and nutrition, having been directly involved in the developments of Quorn Mycoprotein, Benecol for cholesterol control ,and the European introduction of the SlimFast weight management range.

Nick’s passion is collaborative innovation; building optimal internal and external teams to execute new product developments, at pace. His expertise covers the practical phases of NPD from concept through to factory implementation. Nick retains his University of Reading links, being part of the industrial advisory board and liaising with their Food Processing Centre.

Nicholas Henson FIFST ● Email: nickhenson58@icloud.com ● Tel: +44 7932 254241

Roddy Kane

Marketer and brand and business builder with extensive, hard-learned experience across a wide range of both B2B and B2C markets, working locally and internationally, handling global, blue chip business / brands, as well as start-ups. Particular experience of working in mature / saturated markets. Considerable focus in recent years on the food & drink sectors: soft drinks, wines, beers, spirits, confectionery, fresh foods, delicatessen products, hospitality & entertainment, and OTC food supplements.

Early career spent working in London advertising agencies, ultimately at account director and Board level, so has worked within, as well as building and leading, teams. Totally familiar with devising and implementing brand campaigns across TV, press and radio, as well as running PR and online / digital programmes.

Strategic thinker with a long-practised ability to understand market dynamics and define target audiences, identifying buyer personas and understanding and defining the issues faced by target markets / businesses with a career spent writing effective, benefit-oriented marketing briefs as the foundation of developing workable, engaging, solutions-based sales strategies that optimise response rates and ROI.

Although very much a self-starter, working autonomously / flexibly on a contracted consultancy basis through the Roddy Kane Marketing Consultancy, he has previously worked with / within organisations and is an able team leader and player working across functions and levels. Highly organised and numerate, and a rapid learner and experienced presenter.

Complete understanding of deadlines, budgets and ROI, always prepared to be judged by campaign results, having worked with a number of businesses where analyses may be carried out even on a daily basis, informing on effectiveness.

Business / Brand Experience Includes (in alphabetical order):

B2C: Boots, Cadbury, Christian Dior, Cider Is Wine, Cranswick Premium Wines, Fiat Auto, Foods from Spain, Forsan Foods, Glector International, Nestlé, Marks & Spencer, Premier Brands, Thorntons, Wines from Spain…

B2B: ICEX / Government of Spain, Metal Box, Unisys, Xerox…

• Successful track record in business pitches, campaign development and brand building. Recent work has helped build start-up working in the highly competitive drinks industry grow their business in difficult trading conditions in 2021 by just short of 300%, and up a further 50% so far in 2022.

• Previously, helped grow Australian wine business from 8,000 to 2.2 million cases (26 million bottles), in the process turning a boutique winery into Australia’s 6th largest wine exporter using clever marketing that maximised the effectiveness of small budgets.

• Have trodden the diplomatic tightrope of handling Government food & drink business: achievements include 50%+ response rate for direct marketing activity.

Roddy Kane ● Email: roddy.kane@rkmc.co.uk ● Tel: +44 7900 918871

Geoff Livesey

Geoff works with clients to examine the strength of nutrition research relevant to public health, health and nutrition claims, and national and international nutrition guidance. Nutritional research may be required in advance of, or object to any claims or guidance or support. Recent studies include energy values of foods, physiological properties of carbohydrate foods, evidence on low-glycaemic index, load and response diets and ingredients, polyols and rare carbohydrates as sugar replacers and fructose. Geoff also has an interest in low-carbohydrate diets.

Geoff helps to resolves areas of interest where there are controversies in nutrition, often through comprehensive meta-analyses using professional (Stata) statistics.

Geoff Livesey ● Email: glivesey@inlogic.co.uk

Karen Pardoe

Karen is an internationally recognised global sugar analysis expert with over 25 years in the sugar industry. Throughout her career in industry and academia, she developed extensive experience in the process of sugar manufacturing, sugar products, product formulation using sugar, and regulatory concerns specifically with respect to sugar, animal feed and pharmaceutical products. She is a CChem Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Member of the British Society of Sugar Technologists and a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology.

As a consultant, she has worked with clients to provide advice on sugar, the sugar manufacturing process and general food manufacturing processes, primarily focussing on suitability of measurement and monitoring relative to formulation and applicability. Provision of advice with respect to laboratory analysis and practises relevant to managing and monitoring for compliance appropriate for legislation and conformance to standards has also been a consistent feature throughout her career. Additionally, she has been involved with promotion of women in STEM and presented science knowledge to the public, via presentations at events such as open days or technical support to television programmes.

Karen has been involved with the International Committee for the Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis (ICUMSA) for many years and served as the Referee for white sugar methods (GS2) for over 12 years. In that capacity, she has coordinated international collaborative studies and presented work at international conferences, with the reports for her subject published in the ICUMSA Proceedings for each session. Involvement with ICUMSA has enabled her to build professional relationships with a wide variety of individuals related to the food industry, including instrument manufacturers, global traders, international laboratories, and legislative bodies.

Karen Pardoe MSc MRSC CChem FIFST ● Email: karen.pardoe@kpsconsultingltd.com ● Tel: +44 7748 178850

John Points

John is a UK-based consultant and trainer who specialises in the optimal use of analytical testing within supply chain assurance, covering both food safety and food integrity.  Clients range from start-up companies through to governments and multinational retailers.  He is a member of the UK independent expert committee on Pesticide Residues in Food (PRiF), an active member of the IFST Scientific Committee, and has written a number of technical guidance papers both for food industry Technical Managers and for small businesses.   He helps run the Food Authenticity Network (www.foodauthenticity.global). He is a qualified ISO 22000 and BRC8 lead auditor with a wide experience of best practice in different industries at different scales including laboratory testing. 

Examples include:

Major Food Brands & Own-Label Retailers

• Reviewing, revising and training-out supplier Codes of Practice on control of chemical contaminants, food fraud risks, allergen cross-contamination

• Design of risk-based testing programmes for both products and raw materials. 

• Specifications for laboratory outsource contracts, audit and technical supervision of contract laboratories.  Advice on which authenticity risks can be checked by analysis and which can only be checked by audit.

• Advice on internal quality or safety specifications for chemical contaminants that go over-and-above legal minima.

• Interpretation and assessment of laboratory results.  Decisions on potential recalls, withdrawals or delistings.

• Investigations and supplier audits as a consequence of adverse laboratory test results

• Tailored briefing notes (e.g. monthly “horizon scanning” briefings), giving commentary and business-specific context to reported food safety or authenticity incidents, updated legislation and industry guidelines.

SME Food Manufacturers

• Gap-analysis and preparation for BRC or retailer audits.  Internal audits.

• Review of food safety management systems, tailoring them to the scale and customer-base of the business

• HACCP plan review (John has HACCP Level 4 qualification for food manufacturing)

• VACCP plan review

Start-Up Companies

• Road maps to starting a food business – key steps to ensuring compliance and safety

• Designing fit-for-purpose food safety management systems for fledgeling businesses with unusual product lines, particularly those where regulation is unclear.

• Legal compliance checks: labels, health claims, unusual products or raw materials.

• Mentoring and training business owners in food safety and the obligations and expectations of food business owners

Governments (particularly low and middle-income countries)

• Training for policy-makers and budget-holders in the purpose and function of legal frameworks for food safety

• Design of legal frameworks, particularly for control and authorisation of veterinary medicines and control of pesticide and veterinary medicine residues in food

• Design of risk-based national surveillance testing plans for residues and contaminants in food

• Laboratory capacity-building and training; equipment purchases, quality management systems (ISO 17025 and GMP), analytical method development, optimisation, validation and verification protocols.

• Recent capacity-building projects have been both in-person and on-line

John Points ● Email: john@johnpoints.com ● Tel: +44 7876 591529

Carol Raithatha

Carol is the Director of Carol Raithatha Limited, a UK-based consultancy offering advice, support, project management, and training in the areas of:

• Sensory evaluation

• Market research and insight

• Market opportunity assessment

• Consumer research

• Business to business research

• Desk research

• Coaching and mentoring

• Article and feature writing

The focus is on food and drink, but Carol Raithatha Limited has worked in a range of related (and some unrelated!) sectors.

Carol’s background and skills results in unique and relevant offerings. For example, recent client projects include:

• Introduction to sensory evaluation training workshop for food and drink start up

• Competitor benchmarking via desk research for a Business-to-Business software producer

• Report writing on data collected in a consumer product evaluation test

• Depth interviews with target consumers to evaluate names for a new product launch

Projects are customised to meet clients needs and budgets. Carol will invest the time upfront to understand your business and the context to ensure pragmatic and effective options are put on the table. A benefit of working with Carol Raithatha Limited is the range of experience across projects within most food and drink categories (e.g., fruit and vegetables, oils and fats, sweeteners, salt replacers, bakery, dairy, meat, protein alternatives, soft drinks, packaging, etc.) in varied applications (research and development, marketing, operations, and quality), and with colleagues at all levels within organisations.

Carol Raithatha Limited has been trading for approximately 20 years. Clients include a range of micro and small businesses, research agencies, public bodies, and multinational manufacturers. Past clients include companies such as Cadbury’s, Ryvita, Kerry, Suntory, and Lionel Hitchen.

As a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology and a committee member of its Sensory Science Group, Carol keeps up to date with the food industry in general, and the sensory science community in particular. She is a Certified Member of the Market Research Society and a Member of the Chartered Management Institute and the Institute of Consulting. Carol’s qualifications include a BS in Food Science, an MS in Applied Biology, and an MBA. She has also recently earned an ILM qualification in Coaching and Mentoring.

Carol has authored many articles, reports, and book chapters. A selection of the most recent includes:

• A ‘sensory’ career case study (Food Science and Technology)

• Flavour perception: a battle of the sexes? (New Flavourist)

• Pack(ag)ing a punch Pack (Food Science and Technology)

Carol has lived in the US, France, and UK and travelled extensively. She communicates well in French and Italian (as well as English!).

Carol Raithatha ● Email: enquiry@carolraithatha.co.uk

Alastair Sansome-Smith

Alastair is a food and biochemical engineering consultant for FoodWrite Ltd. with over 30 years of experience. The main business aim is advising others to understand the science and resolve issues in food and biotechnology. Core services are scale-up and production trials, project and proposal evaluation, processing advice, technical report writing, blogs and news items, market analysis, data analysis and interpretation.

Alastair has worked with various businesses including GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, RiskAware Ltd., General Foods (USA), Pepsico R&D (USA), Newell Brands (USA), and Donaldson Company (USA).

Alastair Sansome-Smith PhD ● Email: awss@foodwrite.co.uk