It’s been fourteen years since I first came to the United States carrying just two pieces of luggage and a dream to learn about the sciences of food. It’s been a long journey for me, growing from a budding student to a business leader in the Food and Beverage industry.

I am extremely honored to step into the Chair position for the New York IFT 2022-2023. As a local chapter of IFT, we strive to build a diverse community where we can discuss, promote, and advance the science of food and its applications. We aim to nurture and support local food science and technology students who aspire to grow their careers in this great industry.

As the NYIFT Chair for this year, I am committed to maintaining these ambitions and also to evolving our section. I hope to modernize our approaches for connection with one another and with the industry as a whole.

I look forward to seeing you in person and virtually at out upcoming events which can be found on page 5 of this newsletter.

CNJIFT Chair Carol BoNey

Welcome everyone to another year of great speakers and opportunities for networking. I am Carol BoNey, and it’s an honor to be Chair of the CNJ subsection again. This section is dear to my heart as it was founded around the time my job with General Foods was relocated to Central Jersey. I joined the section in 1981, and I continue to be an active member.

I am currently enjoying retirement after spending over 45 years in the industry. I worked as a product developer at General Foods, and as a sensory scientist at both Unilever and International Flavors & Fragrances.

All committee members met during the summer to provide you with exciting speakers and topics. Finding a venue for our in-person meetings has been a challenge. Due to increased food prices since the pandemic, restaurants have increased their pricing from 3 years ago. So, you may notice an increase in pricing for our dinner meetings versus previous years.

You will also notice that we are having one meeting per month between the two sections. CNJIFT will start in September with and in-person meeting on the Challenges of Novel Foods/Plant-based Fermentation. The speaker is Dr. Kartheek Anekella, Head of Food Science at Orbillion Bio. NYIFT will follow in October with a panel discussion on Natural Preservatives Enzyme Fermentation. We will have a joint meeting in November and CNJIFT will host its Holiday meeting in early December. Our Annual Suppliers Day will be held on April 4 at the NJ Expo Center in Edison, NJ followed by the Golf Outing in June.

I look forward to meeting with everyone at our in-person meeting in September at Pierre’s in South Brunswick.

Thank you for your continued support of NYIFT and CNJIFT.