Building Internal Relationships: A Marketing and R&D Success Story or How Two Leaders Built their Soft Skills

Dan has been working in the food industry for over 25 years, starting in the trenches at Starbucks where he developed his deep love of good coffee and strong desire to work regular hours. He then managed to annoy his way into an internship at Mattson, the nation’s premier food product development firm, where they kept him and let him make things for over 11 years. While at Mattson he was featured in the 2005 Malcom Gladwell New Yorker article “The Bakeoff”. He was lured away from Mattson by Windsor Foods in Hayward to lead part of the product development team for frozen Asian meals and appetizers. Since he always has felt that he should be in charge, he jumped at the chance to prove it at La Terra Fina, a fast growing, premium brand currently placed in the deli category with dips and quiche leading their portfolio. This is where he and his small team do product innovation and renovation. During his tenure at La Terra Fina sales have tripled and they have successfully launched over 20 new products that account for a significant percentage of that growth.

Stephanie is currently the vice president of marketing and innovation at La Terra Fina. For more than 20 years Stephanie has focused her efforts on growing natural food brands. She oversees all marketing efforts from innovation through consumer purchase. She thinks of the product journey as it meets the consumer journey and sees her role as match maker for the two. Using data and gut responses, Stephanie and her small team have launched more than 30 products since 2013. The brand has grown by more than 3X since her start in late 2012 and she anticipates more new items for 2019. She attributes success of innovation to the strategic partnership between marketing and development, and marketing and sales.