David D White

I currently lead a Food Applications team within the Food BU. The team is comprised of 16 members, made up of food technologists, product developers, lab technicians, and culinary application chefs. Three members of the team are in different locations: two in Arkansas and one in Michigan.

I am responsible for directing resources against customer project work to ensure winning outcomes, being a thought leader in the culinary arena, identifying innovative approaches to project and personnel challenges, creating strategic roadmaps for our upcoming areas of focus, collaborating with cross-functional partners, and, overall, providing leadership in the execution of projects, team growth, hard conversations, and a winning culture.

Our applications focus is directed towards Savory, Sweet, Bakery, Dairy, Sauce and Protein platforms.

• I have spearheaded a renewed culture of accountability, professionalism, a sense of urgency, and empowered decision-making. These efforts have facilitated the creation of a highly engaged, 'best in class,' high-performing Food Applications team.
• Designed and developed a new Food Studio in Springdale, AR, to support several large CPG customers located in the area. This Food Studio serves as a Culinary Product Applications site, staffed with a Sr. Product Development Chef. The site also serves as a customer presentation and meeting site.
• Fostered and empowered a 'Can Do, Will Do' mentality that is practiced by the team in their daily work.

Identified as the ideal candidate to elevate these areas with Kagome USA: culinary expertise, menu innovation/ideation strategy, customer presentations, national account relationships, gold standard to commercialization process, and mentorship of the R&D team in understanding and succeeding in foodservice relationships, as well as internal sales training.

During my abbreviated tenure due to COVID-19, I did succeed in delivering impact to all areas. Some highlights were:

• Delivered a top-flight presentation of new sauces and applications to KFC International leadership. This resulted in a scheduled launch of two new sauces for summer 2021 in China.
• Created six new sauces, collaborated with R&D to commercialize, and presented a total of twelve entrée/pizza concepts to Costco Japan. This resulted in a scheduled launch of three new sauces/entrée kits for the Grab and Go deli section.
• Led the culinary efforts, working in tandem with Marketing to create a product catalogue, functional packaging, and a system by which samples could be efficiently delivered upon customer request.
• Created numerous menu and product ideations for Pizza Hut in the US, Canada, and Latin America. Presented to all three respective product development teams virtually due to pandemic conditions.

Recruited to this newly created position based on a blend of culinary, food science, and product development expertise, along with customer relationship skills. Tasked with conceiving, developing, and commercializing culinary solutions for expanding foodservice sales.

Ideated recipes and menus aligned with target customer requirements, and consumer trends.

Collaborated closely with sales, marketing, and culinary teams on account strategies and delivering on-trend, product presentations for accounts including Starbucks, Walmart, QSR, and fast casual customers.

Supported national and regional distribution partners, such as US Foods, Dot Foods, and Sysco.

• Created an entirely new parfait-style muffin platform, generating $1.5M in new revenue and multiple new customers, presented at Sysco's highly selective CES event, solidifying FGF's position as an industry innovator.
• Conceived and launched a new chicken sandwich, one of the most successful LTO launches at Johnny Rocket's.
• Brought to market a new Piadina wrap at Zoe's, which quickly became one of their most popular menu items.
• Ideated and launched multiple daypart menu items with Sodexo, many of which became top-selling items.
• Appointed to lead all industry shows, including the NRA, overseeing logistics, booth design, product shipping, cooking platforms, and menu design.

Recruited based on culinary, product development, commercialization, restaurant operations, and QSR/national account expertise.

Led a team of four tasked with evaluating the current menu and creating new menu items to re-energize lagging sales and to build a robust pipeline for snack and sandwich platforms.

Simplified operations, enhanced product development process, renovated old favorites, elevated quality, and developed and strengthened partnerships with franchisees and vendors.

Drove continuous improvement and innovation. Mentored team members and improved professionalism, enthusiasm, accountability, and collaboration. Participated in and partnered proactively with cross-functional teams. Resigned from my position due to an immediate family medical crisis.

• Created, commercialized, and launched numerous new menu items and platforms in the form of LTOs. Many became popular bestsellers.
• Reformulated and/or renovated multiple items and platforms.
• Provided R&D direction and introduced rapid prototyping for the current egg patty.
• Enhanced and improved menu descriptions to highlight the quality and preparation of key ingredients.
• Created a more efficient and productive work area.
• Developed a more timely, effective communication model used between R&D and vendors.
• Cited by the VP of Culinary Innovation as the "best hire" made to date.

Recruited based on industry and technical knowledge, tasked with becoming a member of the "Top 10" vendor chef team for McDonald's Culinary/R&D team.

In this role, I also represented all ConAgra brands while part of the McDonald's system, supporting McDonald's menu initiatives across all categories and dayparts.

Role expanded to collaborating with Lamb Weston R&D on new product development and solutions for national accounts, including Subway, Red Robin, YUM, Checkers, Wendy's, and Chick-fil-A.

Ideated and created concepts for salads, wraps, desserts, beverages, burgers, chicken, etc.

I was appointed as the Culinary Lead for the National Accounts Sales Team.

• Established myself as a "Top 10" member of the McDonald's Culinary vendor team.
• Gained certification for all back-of-house stations in McDonald's restaurants.
• Selected by McDonald's to lead the vendor project team assigned to develop and launch loaded fries and seasoned fries. Result: launched system-wide as an LTO: Loaded Bacon & Cheddar Fries.

Accepted to the intern/co-op program while pursuing a B.S. in Food Science. Immediately upon graduation, I was asked to interview for a position with the 'Away From Home' BU.

Performed a unique role as both a product developer and a research chef.

Demonstrated the ability to create product formulations on the bench, and then travel to the plants for scale-up production.

Successfully developed products on the bench. Led the commercialization process, as well as led plant trials and production runs.

Supported National Accounts Sales team with product development, customer presentations, and menu solutions.

Achieved proficiency in aseptic, kettle batch, and retort processing.

• Four-time Merit Award winner as a member of the Subway account team, I developed and revitalized all the soups that led to growing the account from $300K to $30M.
• Selected to be the culinary lead for the 'Soup Common Platform' initiative, the biggest soup initiative in 50 years.