What are the Post-COVID Learnings for the Food Industry?

Adam is a dedicated and passionate professional, working as Director of Research & Development at Chobani. He has been with Chobani R&D since Jul 2013. Adam holds a Master’s degree in Food Science from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, working with the venerable Dr. MaryAnne Drake. He has 15+ years of work experience in the food and beverage industry primarily focused on the dairy R&D function.  He has developed or managed nearly every dairy food innovation coming from Chobani during his tenure and takes great pride in the sensory qualities of his team’s products.

On a personal note, Adam is married to Kristin for 14 years with 3 busy and amazing children. Adam enjoys taking advantage of a life in the West with cycling, running and snowboarding all while mixing in a healthy appreciation of scotch, beer and bourbon.

Mr. DeVillena has been in the poultry industry since 1999, when he started working with the U.S. FDA - Center for Veterinary Medicine, the Food Safety Lab at the University of Maryland and later at Perdue Farms in Georgetown, Delaware. He has been with Wayne Farms LLC for 17+ years. During this time, he has held roles in operations, quality assurance and food safety at various locations. He worked as QA supervisor, QA manager, plant manager and operations manager with Wayne Farms before moving into his current role of Director of Quality Assurance and Food Safety. Mr. DeVillena received his BS in food science and his professional degree in food engineering from Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Lima, Peru; and his MS in food science from the University of Maryland. He is currently pursuing his PhD from Texas Tech University and has been a PhD candidate since June 2021. His expected graduation is May 2022.

Ray joined Prinova in 2016 to lead the quality programs for the flavor division. The department’s scope then expanded to include leading food safety and regulatory for Prinova USA. Currently, Ray is the Vice President of Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory and serves as a member on the executive team. 

His responsibilities include leading global standard councils that develop policies and programs to ensure quality and regulatory compliance, sustainability and a food safety culture.

Before joining Prinova, Ray began his career with FlavorFocus, LCC currently known as Brookside Flavors. He held quality control, operational and R&D resonsibilities and by the end of his tenure he was the head of quality and regulatory affairs. In this role he was responsible food safety, quality assurance, quality control, regulatory and safety.

Ray received a bachelor’s degree in Health Science and minors in Biology, Chemistry, and Physiology from Aurora University, Aurora, Illinois, and a master’s of business administration from Loyola University – Chicago Quinlan School of Business.