Kyle Kraus has been bringing innovation to the food industry for over 14 years. As the Vice President of Business Development & Strategy at The Food Group, he and his teams monitor the pulse of consumers, chefs, and operators, spotting trends and advising clients how to navigate and capitalize on change.  

Prior to his current role, Kyle served as The Food Group's Managing Director of Digital, overseeing the identification of emerging technologies and helping the company maintain their position as a thought leader in the industry. By leveraging technology, he was instrumental in helping the company gain access to the global food market. The Food Group now advises and influences their clients in marketing culinary innovations in stores and on menus around the world

Kyle, a pro-geek and amateur chef, resides in Upstate New York with his wife and three children.

Dr. Kelly Sepcic is Vice President for Frito Lay North America Research and Development. She leads a team of scientists and engineers in innovating business growth in the Macrosnack Category Expansion at PepsiCo. Dr. Sepcic focuses on global opportunities for dips, deli, natural, and fuel snacks. Her team includes the Experience Design Center, which houses the sensory, seasoning, and culinary teams.

Dr. Sepcic is Dean of PepsiCo’s Global R&D University for Experience Design. 

Her previous roles at Frito Lay include Vice President of Innovation, overseeing a team comprised of marketing, insights, and R&D that developed ideas and prototypes across all brands for Frito Lay.  The company increased net sales of new products by 50% under her leadership. Prior to that role she was Vice President of R&D for Core Brand Innovation.
      
Dr. Sepcic received her PhD and MS degrees in Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She began her R&D career with Milliken & Company in Spartanburg, SC, and Solvay Pharmaceuticals in Marietta, GA.  Prior to joining Frito Lay, she spent 14 years with The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, GA.  She was the key leader responsible for core brand innovation for all Coke™ formulations globally, including Coke Zero and all flavor line extensions for colas.
      
She is passionate for innovation and has been an author on several technical papers and an inventor on multiple international and US patent applications in the area of flavor and sweetener technology.
      
Dr. Sepcic lives in Frisco, Texas, with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys playing classical piano, traveling and interior design.

Wendy Clark joined The Coca-Cola Company in 2008 as Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing Communications and Capabilities.  In her role, Ms. Clark oversees global design, content excellence, media connections, interactive and community marketing, experiential marketing and partnerships, and the continued advancement of marketing capability at The Coca-Cola Company. 

Through the Liquid & Linked communications strategy, Ms. Clark's team is a leading industry voice on evolved consumer engagement. The strategy focuses on the power of authentic brand stories which spread through owned, earned, shared, and paid media connections.

In 2009 and 2010 Fortune featured Ms. Clark in its “40 Under 40” issue, ranking as the highest woman in 2010 (#15). She was also named one of four “Women to Watch” by Fortune. In 2011, Fast Company cited Wendy as the Brand Refresher on its top ten list of innovative Business Disruptors.

Dr. Isabelle Lesschaeve heads the Consumer Insights and Product Innovation department at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in Ontario, Canada. Her research focuses on understanding consumer wine preferences, consumption and purchase behaviors, as well as developing new sensory techniques to predict wine preferences.

Dr. Lesschaeve is an agricultural engineer by training and holds a PhD in Food Science. At the University of Burgundy, France, she specialized in the sensory evaluation of food and beverages.

For 10 years, she worked as a sensory scientist in the Flavor Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Agronomical Research (INRA, France). In 1997, she implemented and led the sensory program at E. & J. Gallo Winery (Modesto, California). In 2001, she started a new career as a consultant for the wine industry. In this capacity, she conducted sensory workshops and short courses, mainly in California, Chile, South Africa, and Canada. Dr Lesschaeve joined the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute at Brock University (St. Catharines, Ontario Canada) in April 2004 and acted as its director until January 2008. She was appointed Research Director at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in November 2008.

Dr. Lesschaeve is the author and co-author of 50 scientific publications, and is frequently invited as guest speaker at international conferences for her expertise and experience in sensory and consumer science.

Dr. Taylor received a B.S. in chemistry from Penn State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Cornell University in organic chemistry. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, where he studied directed evolution and design of enzymes involved in shikimate biosynthetic pathways.

From 2002-2005 he was an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Ohio State University, where his research group studied natural products biosynthesis and function.