Bell Flavors & Fragrances Invests in New Consumer Science Sensory Center at Global Headquarter in Northbrook, IL
Leading Flavors & Fragrances Company to Enhance Consumer Product Research for U.S. Customers
NORTHBROOK, Illinois – November 15, 2023 – Bell Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. (Bell) announces the expansion of their Global Consumer & Sensory Science organization by investing in a fully equipped, best in class Consumer Science Sensory Center at Bell’s global headquarter in Northbrook, IL.
This investment demonstrates Bell’s commitment to its global strategy and heightened focus on putting the consumer first. Consumers experience products via an interplay of their five key senses, allowing them to engage in products in unique ways. This Center will infuse consumer voice into the creation process to inspire memorable flavors and fragrances that fit brand, performance, and emotion.
With its roots at Bell’s Northbrook campus, the company’s Consumer & Sensory Science (CSS) professionals work hand-in-hand with its Flavor and Fragrance teams to foster deep collaboration and creativity. The Center enhances Consumer Sensory capabilities locally and is integral to Bell’s global CSS team, with locations in the U.S., Mexico, Germany, and Colombia.
The plans for the investment include a new, 6,500 square foot Consumer Science Sensory Center, set to open in Q4 2024. The Center will house Bell’s CSS team and include space for a focus group room with a viewing area, testing booths, kitchen, reception area, and workspaces. Following the grand opening, Bell’s customers will have the opportunity to tour the facility and discuss utilizing the Center’s capabilities.
Karen Graves, Bell’s Senior Director of Consumer and Sensory Sciences, states “Consumers are the final users of Bell’s flavors and fragrances and we are very excited to incorporate their voice throughout the development process.”
Stay tuned for more information about Bell’s Consumer Science Sensory Center opening later in 2024.
About Bell Flavors & Fragrances:
Bell Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. is a leading supplier of flavors, fragrances, botanical extracts and ingredient specialties to the food and beverage industry, as well as the household care and personal care industries, offering over 100 years of exceptional customer service and experience. Bell has 11 manufacturing plants worldwide including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Germany, India, Singapore, and China, with sales offices in more than 90 countries. Bell’s global presence allows flexibility in the world marketplace while constantly responding to emerging industry trends with solutions that bring added value and business opportunities to our customers. www.bellff.com
Bell Flavors & Fragrances – The Key Ingredient of Your Brand.™
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Megan Paul has been promoted to the role of Sensory Scientist at Bell’s headquarter in Northbrook, Illinois. In her new role, Megan will lead Sensory work for all Flavor Technology and Internal Formula Management Projects. She will also continue leading Flavor panels to support key flavor and product development efforts.
Noor Abo Alzahb has been promoted to the position of Sales Project Manager, based out of Bell’s Northbrook headquarter. In this role, Noor will be responsible for management and growth for a segment of customer accounts as well as processing incoming requests for potential customers by screening website and telephone inquiries. She will continue to improve the Bell Flavors & Fragrances customer experience through process improvements and working directly with the Flavor and Fragrance sales teams to streamline work flow. Another key responsibility consists of developing relevant reporting. Consequently, her efforts will continue to improve sales activity and win rates. Additionally, Noor will be engaged in Sales Team projects including support for large group meetings and improving the customer experience.
David Banks has been promoted to the position of Senior Marketing Director in Bell’s Northbrook headquarter. His role on the Marketing team is pivotal to creating and executing new concepts, business models and channels to drive Bell’s position as an innovation leader in the flavors and fragrances industries. In this role, he will plan marketing and branding objectives, analyze market trends and recommend marketing and business development strategies, overseeing advertising, press releases, email and social media campaigns and strategies.
Renee King joins the Marketing team as a new Director of Marketing focused on the fragrance and botanicals divisions. Renee will create and execute new concepts, business models, and channels to position Bell as an innovator and leader in the flavor and fragrances industries. She will help build the Bell brand in the marketplace, activate new marketing campaigns, expand our marketing reach, enhance product development, and drive strategy around the fragrance and botanical divisions.
Sarah Campbell is Bell’s new Marketing Specialist with a focus on designing, creating, and delivering marketing programs to support expansion and growth of Bell’s services and products. Her role will be an integral part of the development and execution of marketing plans to reach targets, from brand awareness to product promotion. Sarah will work with the R&D and Application labs to prepare customer presentations.
Dirk Vogel joins Bell as the new Senior Marketing Specialist where he will manage the development and execution of projects that support Bell’s key technologies, categories, customers and internal initiatives. Dirk will work cross-functionally to develop, produce and communicate promotional and collateral materials to support sales and proactive marketing programs, while leading customer presentations to clearly communicate Bell’s flavor and fragrance division capabilities.
Lindsay Parks is Bell’s new Marketing Communications and Social Media Specialist. Lindsay will be the main point of contact for all marketing communications and social media activity, and will help manage the development and execution of Bell’s internal and external communications strategies to drive business development efforts at key customers. She will work cross-functionally to develop, produce and communicate promotional and collateral materials to support sales and proactive marketing programs.
Anna Lada joins Bell’s marketing team as a Senior Marketing Specialist. In this role, Anna will utilize secondary data and primary research to develop a deep understanding of the target consumer and leverages these insights to influence Bell’s overall marketing strategy and develop innovative products for our customers. She will help develop and implement strategies to maintain, manage, and grow internal marketing platforms and support external customers in growing their business through innovation and new product development efforts.
Antonia Federsel joins the global Marketing team and Bell family as the new Marketing Specialist in the flavor segment at Bell EMEA. In her new role at the Leipzig facility in Germany, Antonia will drive Sweet & Dairy projects and take care of cross-divisional flavor promotions such as RedSugar and the expansion of the company’s PlantFuture Platform, among others.
Leon Kuttler joins the global Marketing team and Bell family as the new Marketing Specialist in the flavor segment. Based at Bell EMEA, his role as the company’s Marketing Specialist Savory includes working with R&D and the sales team to drive the Savory business forward. Leon will use his expertise and strategic understanding, as well as his creativity, to actively shape the future of the Savory Business Unit in the EMEA region.
Jesscia Kalmring joins the global Marketing team and Bell family as the new Marketing Specialist in the fragrance segment.
Antje Wittich has been with Bell since – 2006 and took over as Head of Marketing in the EMEA region in February 2022.With her knowledge and experience in team leadership, she will drive Bell’s strategic, market-oriented development in the EMEA region together with her marketing team and push the further development of corporate communications in Europe, Middle East & Africa and Vietnam.
Lorenza Perez joins the global Marketing team as a Marketing Coordinator based in Mexico. In this role, she will be responsible for the implementing commercial strategies for the Mexico region, developing presentations, analyzing trends and research, and measuring the results of innovation initiatives, among other activities.
Thom Heinz has been promoted to the position of Vice President, Vendor Management and Strategic Sourcing. In this new role, Thom will lead Global Vendor Management and Strategic Sourcing initiatives. He will proactively analyze emerging market and industry trends impacting raw material and sourcing strategies. This forward-looking approach will keep Bell F&F ahead of developing market and supply chain issues amid current changes. Thom will collaborate with Business Development and R&D to identify new approved sources of materials using innovative technologies.
Casey Schallert is the new Sr. Corporate Chef at Bell F&F, reporting directly to Chris Warsow, Sr. Director, Flavor Applications/Corporate Executive Chef. Since joining Bell 3.5 years ago, Casey has served in multiple roles with increasing responsibilities on the Culinary Applications Team. Most recently, Casey worked in the role of Corporate Chef during which she demonstrated strong commitment to cross-functional teamwork and technical expertise in flavors.
Sabrina Entwistle has been promoted to the role of Associate Director, Quality Systems. With the new position, Sabrina’s leadership role grows to include all the Quality, Continuous Improvement, and EH&S activities at the Middletown, New York, facility. A main responsibility of this key leadership position is to continue fostering our culture of continuous improvement at Middletown while embracing change management across all quality-related departments.
Ken Beecher now serves in the role of Associate Director, Manufacturing. In this new position, Ken’s leadership is expanding to include all the production activities at the Middletown, NY facility. His main focus lies with exceeding customer satisfaction goals while assuring compliance with employee safety, product quality, food safety and defense, regulatory, as well as employee conduct policies and procedures.
Mike Smith has been promoted to the position of SeniorDirector, Manufacturing-Fragrance at Middletown, NY. Mike will assume additional leadership responsibilities to develop and implement strategies, policies and procedures ensuring that the Middletown facility continues its success in operating effectively and efficiently. He will continue as the Middletown facility leader providing direction and guidance to the on-site team on a day-to-day basis. Mike will oversee continuous improvements at the Middletown facility while guiding change management.
Jake Pupillo has assumed the position of Director, Manufacturing – Flavors at the Northbrook, Illinois, facility. In this role, Jake will assume additional leadership responsibilities to develop and implement strategies, policies and procedures ensuring that the Northbrook manufacturing team embraces change management and operational efficiencies. Jake will continue his responsibilities as the Northbrook manufacturing leader providing direction and guidance to the Liquids, Spray Dry, Extractions, Dry Blending, and Reaction teams on a daily basis.
Zig Polak has been promoted to Senior Manager of Material, Planning, and Logistics – Flavors at Northbrook, IL. Zig will assume additional leadership responsibilities to develop and implement strategies, policies and procedures ensuring that the Northbrook warehouse, shipping and receiving teams operate effectively and efficiently through change management. On a day-to-day basis, Zig will continue his responsibilities as the Northbrook material, planning, and logistics leader providing direction and guidance to the warehouse, shipping, and logistics teams.
Mike Barron has received a promotion to the position of Senior Director, Information Technology. In this key role, Mike will lead the Bell Flavors & Fragrances in-house IT Technical Team in all activities, including programming, network configuration and support, as well as software evaluation, data security and integrity. His team also maintains the company’s IT help desk, and helps employees set up and maintain corporate devices such as computers, laptops and cell phones.
Allan Kaplan is the new Vice President, Finance, and will lead the Accounting Team in all activities, including financial statements, accounts receivable/payable, cash management, cost accounting, fixed assets, corporate accounting, and planning & budgeting. He will lead financial analyses of our overall global business and direct the Accounting Team in annual audit and tax preparation, insuring proper internal controls globally while evaluating pricing levels based on commodity cost movements. Allan will support the Capital Budget and spend process, secure appropriate business insurance, and oversee all other areas within the corporate financial structure.
Theresa Link has been promoted to the newly created position of Director of Cost Accounting. Theresa will lead the financial implementation of our new fully-costed product system. Theresa will also work closely with the Operations Team to evaluate specific direct labor and overhead costs assignable to each type of product produced. The team will also conduct time and motion studies as appropriate, and establish cost drivers for each product category (machine time, number of production processes, etc.) as the basis of certain cost allocations. She will also use this information to calculate appropriate Labor and Overhead rates to assign to each process.
Brian Enriquez is the new Senior Manager, Financial Reporting and Pricing at Bell Flavors & Fragrances based in Northbrook. In this role, Brian will continue to lead the pricing process on new products and formulation changes while working closely with R&D. Once the new Cost Accounting System is in place, his focus will switch from multiples of raw material cost to calculating appropriate margins on fully-absorbed product costs, including direct Labor and Overhead.
Madeleine van Overbeek has been promoted to the position of Senior Financial Analyst at the Northbrook facility. In this role, Madeleine will continue to provide analyses of the business in a variety of financial areas. Since joining Bell in 2019, Madeleine has not only performed valuable financial analyses and financial statement work, but also willingly assisted other areas of Finance when support was required.
Craig Dunlap joins the Flavor Sales Team as a Global Key Account Manager. In this role, he will manage Bell accounts in the Eastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.
Jared Hamill joins the Bell family and Flavor Sales Team as a Global Key Account Executive. Jared’s responsibilities will include managing Bell accounts primarily in the Eastern region of the United States.
Lydia Wang joins Bell’s Sensory team as a Sensory Scientist. In this role, Lydia will lead multiple initiatives, including sensory research for Bell’s fragrance projects, sensory descriptors for Bell’s product library and enhancing Bell’s descriptive panel program.
American grocery stores have been offering alternative protein products for decades. Today, the number of SKUs and suppliers is at an all-time high: the alternative protein market is projected to reach $17.9 billion by 2025 (Mintel). Looking ahead, every tenth portion of meat, eggs, dairy, and seafood eaten around the globe will be made from alternative proteins by 2035 (BCG).
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Roberto Olivi is the new Vice President, Fragrance Sales for Bell Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. In his new leadership role, Roberto is responsible for designing and delivering the commercial strategies that will lead the Fragrance sales team to achieve Bell’s revenue and market growth targets, aligned with overall Fragrance Division strategy.
Marvel Fields has been promoted to take over the key role of Perfumery Director. Marvel will assume the leadership responsibilities to further develop and strengthen our creative and innovation strategies. She will also provide guidance to the Fragrance Perfumery and Botanical Labs, while continuing her responsibilities as a Senior Perfumer, as time permits. Reporting to Marvel will be the Perfumery Team and the Botanical and Fragrance Lab Management.
Rose Casanova Gugliotta expands her leadership as Director of Fragrance Evaluation and Applications. In this role, Rose will assume the additional leadership responsibilities of managing both the Fragrance Application Labs and Evaluation.
Renee King joins the Marketing team as a new Director of Marketing focused on the fragrance and botanicals divisions. Renee will create and execute new concepts, business models, and channels to position Bell as an innovator and leader in the flavor and fragrances industries. She will help build the Bell brand in the marketplace, expand our marketing reach, enhance product development, and drive strategy around the fragrance and botanical divisions.
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Lipka boasts nearly three decades of experience in the flavor industry with a focus on developing and duplicating elegantly layered flavors for a variety of markets, including confectionary, chewing gum, and beverages. A trained sensory panelist, Lipka is an active member of the Society of Flavor Chemists (SFC), Chemical Sources Association (CSA), Women in Flavor & Fragrance Commerce (WFFC) and FEMA.
“On top of having been a Director of the Board of the American Society of Perfumers for over a year and leading their social media for three years, I am very proud to have graduated as a full member of this unique group of talented professionals. I also want to thank my mentor Robert Siegel at Bell, who taught me a lot and with whom I love sharing new and innovative ideas about Perfume Creation,” said Delphine Perdon Rupnow.
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With a broad range of new laundry care fragrances, Bell combines consumers’ demand for a new cleanliness with the desire for innovative scents. Bell’s perfumers developed sophisticated fragrances that may push laundry sanitisers on a new olfactory level. Perfumistic compositions such as “Kiss of Art”, “Infinity” or “Midsummer Dream” invite on a fantastic journey combining familiar green and floral notes with newcomers like rhubarb.
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Delphine Perdon Rupnow named Apprentice Director to The American Society of Perfumers 
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In Daniel’s role, he will pave the way for the development and management of the global commercial organization allowing for the continued expansion of Bell’s international flavor and fragrance business.
The new EU-Regulation (EU) 848/2018 applying for organic-certified products will lead to a change in the raw materials and flavorings allowed to be used in organic-labelled products. Following the new legislation, only natural x flavorings (95/5) or flavoring preparations are allowed to be incorporated in organic food. In order to keep the organic certification within end products, they are therefore only allowed to contain organic suitable or organic certified natural source flavorings or extracts.
With a new designed range of organic certified natural source flavors and beverage compounds, Bell enables beverage manufacturers to meet the new EU organic regulations while delivering authentic taste properties such as orange, lemon, apple, lime or cola, among others. The range further aims to support product developments based on solely organic certified raw materials, providing added value for your brand and helping you to meet consumer demands and expand your target group.
Prior to Bell, Doreen was an IT Business Analyst at Prinova where she was responsible for managing Product Vision and other software projects which involved her in all stages of the global implementation cycle from planning to go-live. She was also responsible for user training, troubleshooting, continuous change management, and user support. At Prinova, Doreen also held numerous Regulatory positions, including Manager of Regulatory and Strategic Systems, where she acted as lead administrator for Product Vision and other quality systems.
Nicole Iwicki has been a key member of Bell’s Sensory & Consumer Insights Team for over eight years. In her new role as SeniorSensory Scientist, she will lead the Flavor Division’s projects and streamline overall Sensory processes.
Jordan Rammelsberg joins Bell’s Culinary and Applications Team as a Research Chef. Jordan comes to Bell from Gamay Food Ingredients in New Berlin, WI where he was a Food Scientist that developed and tested shelf-stable dairy products. Jordan holds a B.S. in Culinology with a Minor in Nutrition from Southwest Minnesota State University. Jordan is an active member of the Research Chefs Association and was the recipient of the RCA Higher Education Scholarship in both 2014 and 2015.
Megan Paul comes to Bell after three years at Trillian Food & Nutrition in Little Chute, Wi, and will serve as a Sensory Technologist. Megan earned her B.S. in Food Science with a minor in Organizational Leadership and Supervision from Purdue University. Megan will lead Sensory Panel scheduling, preparation, and execution for both the Flavor and Fragrance divisions.
Dana Sanza-Chen has joined the Bell Flavor Creation Team as a Senior Flavorist. Dana has 20 years of experience in the flavor industry, creating and duplicating sweet flavors primarily for the beverage market. Dana is an active member of the Society of Flavor Chemists (SFC), holding a variety of positions including Chicago Meeting Coordinator (2013-2014), Membership Committee (2015-2019) and most recently, Membership Committee Co-Chair (2019-present).
Ciara Baloun joins the Bell family as a Regulatory Project Manager at the Northbrook location. Ciara previously spent time in Regulatory at Kerry and Silesia Flavors supporting TTB, Organic and the Non-GMO Project Verification Programs. Additionally, Ciara has experience in flavor quality with certifications in PCQI, HACCP, BRC internal auditing, and food defense programs.
Paul Lai joins the Bell Sensory & Consumer Insights team with nine years of experience in sensory and consumer research, most recently at Kerry. He will lead Sensory & Consumer research projects on the Fragrance side of the business. Paul earned his M.S. andB.S. in Food Science with a double minor in Packaging Science and Horticultural Science from the University of Florida.
Lastly, Bell welcomes Prisca Lumbu to the Regulatory team as a Regulatory Compliance Specialist. Prisca joins the company from Mars Food as a Labeling and Certification Specialist. Prisca holds a BS in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Cole Charboneau comes to Bell from Perrino & Associates, a sales and marketing consultancy that represents food, beverage, and equipment manufacturers within McDonald’s and other global quick service restaurants. Prior to Bell, he worked at Groupon in a Business Development role focusing on recruiting bars and restaurants to offer promotions on their platform. Cole holds a Bachelors in Finance from Illinois State University.
Casey joined Bell in 2018 as a Research Chef and has over eight years of culinary research and development experience focused in flavor development, ingredient applications and sodium reduction across a large portfolio of products. She holds an Associates in Culinary Arts as well as a Bachelors in Culinary Science from the Culinary Institute of America.
Sandy Yu joined Bell in July of 2014 as a Regulatory Compliancy Specialist working with Bell’s top customers and has been instrumental in training other Regulatory Specialists in procedures and policies for labeling, second sourcing, and other Regulatory demands. Sandy has previous experience working at Newlyweds and Quest (Givaudan). She holds a Bachelor’s in Food Science and Food Operations from Purdue University and participates in the Organic task force and LATAM Regulatory Task force thru FEMA.