AVENA WEBINARS

Ben Kroetsch is a Principal Scientist at Griffith Foods in Toronto, Ontario, focusing on medium to long term innovation projects in the alternative protein, bakery and material processing categories as part of Griffith’s Product and Process Innovation team.  By drawing on his culinary training and food science experience Ben works within R&D to find innovative solutions that “blend care and creativity to nourish the world.”

About Griffith Foods:

Griffith Foods is a product development partner specializing in food ingredients. We serve global and regional food companies worldwide. As a family business, we’ve valued people above all else for 100 years. Griffith Foods is renowned for true, collaborative innovation. Our people care. We’re committed to helping our customers create better products – and a better, more sustainable world.

Having worked in the UK baking industry for more than 17 years, Michelle has a wealth of experience in product development and formulation, process development, and sales. Travelling extensively, she has developed an appreciation of the differences in both product range and manufacturing capability in different markets.

After spending most of her career working in the chemical leavening sector, in 2019 she joined Avena Foods as Director of Sales and Business Development for the UK. She believes food manufacturers have a responsibility to make their products as nutritious as possible, and that making small changes to a wide range of products can have a positive impact on population health. Her goal is to work with gluten-free manufacturers to improve the nutritional profile of the products they offer.

Matt Lentsch is Director of Sales and Business Development for Avena foods, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Matt has a masters of Dairy Science from South Dakota State University. Matt worked in product development and operations before moving into sales. He has extensive experience in functional ingredients into the dairy, meat, beverage and nutrition bar industries.