Natalie Roesler
Vice President of Innovation
Surlean Foods
Natalie currently serves as the Vice President of Innovation for Surlean Foods in San Antonio, TX. She has a bachelor’s degree in food science and technology from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and a master’s in business administration from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh. She has been in the food industry since 2002 in progressive roles within the field of research and development. During this time, she has played a leadership role in innovation process and product design across a variety of channels and product types. Channels include national accounts, food service, retail, club store, K-12 schools and college and universities. In addition to Natalie’s technical experience she is passionate about building mutual trust and respect to enable high performing individual contributors and teams. Because of this collaborative nature and leadership style she has been able to unite departments and impact overall organizational culture. Natalie has been a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) since 2002 serving as an IFT Ambassador and assisting students and entrepreneurs in answering questions within the field of food science. She also serves as the Chair Elect for the Alamo Section of IFT, bringing relevant educational content and networking opportunities to regional members. In addition to IFT, Natalie is a member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum and served on the board of A Child’s Voice Child Advocacy Center from 2017 – 2018.