Susan Howe
President & Founder
NCIFT Chair 2010-2011
Founded The Intrinsic Group in 1994
Clorox food concept development center for 13 yrs
Dole product development & sensory evaluation for 3 yrs

Susan’s thirty year career spans Idea-Generation through Product Commercialization. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Ms Howe graduated in Nutrition from Washington State University.

Susan’s life goal is to never stop learning. Food, Art, People, Fragrances and Fashion are a few of her many interests. She has augmented her Conceptual Education with training through the Creative Problem Solving Institute (NY) & Synectics (Cambridge) in Advanced Ideation Facilitation.


MICHAEL SAVOD
VP of Marketing
Michael heads up the marketing activities for the Intrinsic Group. Michael was the founder of Target Market Consulting and is currently on the faculty of the University of California and Golden Gate University. He is also in demand as a global seminar speaker, having made marketing presentations in Russia, Spain, Thailand, Mexico, Zimbabwe and Brunei as well as numerous U.S. cities. He has been the National Advertising Manager for the Chrysler Corp., Marketing Director for Jeep, Vice President for Sales and Marketing at Maserati USA and General sales and Marketing Manager for Ford (Japan). He also served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Oakland A’s. He has an MBA from Golden Gate University and a BS in Economics from Purdue University.


ALISON HUI
Food Scientist Manager
Alison has a Bachelor of Science in nutrition with a concentration on nutrition and food industries from California Polytechnic State University. Her food composition and product development background focuses on concepts of product positioning, line extensions, value-added products. Alison also has hands-on experience with development and sensory evaluation of sports beverages, confectionary and baked goods. Alison has previously served as a dairy products applications specialist, food service associate and project manager within and outside of her university.

CONSTANCE DeMASO
Food Scientist Manager
Constance is receiving a Bachelor of Science in Food Science with an emphasis in Consumer Studies from The University of California, Davis. Her hands on training and product development background focuses on creating new concepts, formulation of new ideas, industrial scale ups, product positioning, line extensions, value-added products, and extensive sensory analysis. Constance also has hands-on experience with product development from competing in various IFT product development competitions as well as sensory evaluation of all food and beverage products. Constance has previously served as a research and devolvement specialist pertaining to intellectually property, and served as a manager in the food service industry all outside of her university.

ALMOND ESTRADA
Executive Research Chef
Almond received a Culinary Arts degree in 2002 from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York. After working as a chef in New York Almond moved back to her native California in late 2008. Taking inspiration from her experiences and travels, Almond is passionate about making flavorful delicious meals which are also good for you. Almond’s Pleasanton based catering company; Almond’s Kitchen focuses on using local and sustainable food with menus that change seasonally. Offering private culinary instruction for 1 or a party of 20 Almond teaches others the joy of cooking in a fun and comfortable environment.


YOKO ONISHI
Marketing Researchers
Yoko has completed her Masters in Arts degree in psychology from University of Arizona and has a multidisciplinary background in environmental psychology with a focus on aesthetic judgment of visual stimuli. As a graduate researcher she gained hands-on experience in all aspects of the research enterprise; including formulating a hypothesis and/or a model, designing an experimental study, developing questioners, identifying and recruiting participants, running a research, and interpreting data to evaluate the hypothesis. Along with her advanced research skills, Yoko also has an extensive customer service and administrative work experience.

Lisa Mitchell
Operations Manager

 

Lisa brings over 15 years of administrative and operational experience; and manages the overall operations of the company that includes Finance, Accounting, Project Management and other operational activities

LESLI HAMAMOTO
Communications & Marketing Coordinator

 

Lesli received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis, with a double major in Communication and American Studies. Her interdisciplinary studies covered a variety of cultural topics, though she emphasized in food and consumer culture. While exploring the food industry, Lesli served as an associate director for the Northern California Perishable Foods Council, helping to establish the internship program at CSU Fresno.


 RANDALL QUOK
 Intern
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