Robert Aguilera has been in Cheese since 2001. First in retail, then sourcing and importing cheese and artisan  food products from Europe, then in cheese production trade sales & support for 9.5 years serving  artisan and industrial cheese makers in cultures, equipment, aging room shelving and tools,  packaging for better shelf life and troubleshooting services.  Since 2020 he has been with more…

Jessica Alonzo, a Texas native, is currently the Head of Fermentation and sous chef at Petra and the Beast in Dallas, TX. In December of 2016, she began working for Chef Matt McCallister at FT-33, which is where she was first introduced to pickling, fermentation and preservation. During her time there, she learned the importance of building good relationships with local farmers, and responsibly more…

Drew Anderson is Co-founder and CEO of Cleveland Kitchen, an innovative culinary brand focused on fresh, fermented products that taste amazing, are healthy, and accessible for all with a goal to invigorate and excite the American diet with delicious fermented foods. Drew grew up managing some of the first farmers markets in northeastern Ohio through the non-profit his mother started. After serv more…

Lou Bank, after a long and varied career in marketing, consumer products, alcoholic beverages, and pop culture, launched SACRED (Saving Agave for Culture, Recreation, Education, and Development), a not-for-profit that aims to help improve quality of life in the rural Mexican communities where heritage agave spirits are made.

Doug Bierend is a freelance writer, independent journalist and first-time author based in the Hudson Valley of New York. He writes with a special interest in science, technology, interactive media, food systems, degrowth, biodiversity, and general subversiveness. His byline appears in WIRED, Vice, Motherboard, The Atlantic, Civil Eats, The Counter, Outside Magazine, and numerous other more…

Ali Bouzari is a culinary scientist, author, educator, and co-founder of Pilot R&D, a culinary research and development company. As a chef with a Ph.D. in food biochemistry, Ali has helped to lead the charge in changing the way we think about cooking by teaching and developing curriculum at top universities, from ivy league schools to the Culinary Institute of America, and collaborating wit more…

Dr. Breidt is a USDA Agricultural Research Service Microbiologist and Lead Scientist in the ARS Food Science Research Unit (FSRU) located in the Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences Department at NC State University, Raleigh NC, and is also a USDA Professor of Food Science at NC State. He has a BS in genetics from The Ohio State University and a PhD in microbiology from the University of more…

A consultant since 1998, Bob Burke provides assistance in bringing natural, organic and specialty products to market across most classes of trade. This includes work in growth strategies, sales modeling,  pricing, building distribution, broker selection and management, organizational development, financing, branding, trade spending and assistance around M&A, diligence and go-to-market plans more…

Cortney Burns is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning degrees in Cultural Anthropology and South Asian studies. Upon graduation, she moved to Australia, where she first began to cook professionally. She returned to the States in 2001, and currently splits her time between Cape Cod and New Hampshire. Her book Nourish Me Home was published in 2020. She consults on t more…

As a medical doctor & researcher obsessed with taste, food culture, ferments and nutrition, Miin founded Australia's first tibicos business, Dr. Chan's. She helped to create the local wild fermentation industry through products, education, science communication and consultation. Working with farmers' markets, food sovereignty and systems, and urban agriculture communities, she has a deep lo more…

Christopher J. Cifelli, PhD, is Vice President of Nutrition Research at National Dairy Council (NDC). In this position, Dr. Cifelli leads the Dairy and Public Health research platform, the goal of which is to provide scientific evidence on the role of dairy foods in healthy and sustainable eating patterns. Dr. Cifelli is responsible for the strategic planning, development, management, and commu more…

Prof Paul Cotter is the Head of Food Biosciences at Teagasc and a Principal Investigator with the large Irish Research Centres, APC Microbiome Ireland, Vistamilk and Food for Health Ireland. He also co-ordinates an EU H2020 Innovation Action relating to microbiomes and the food chain, MASTER (€10.9 mi budget). Paul also heads the Teagasc DNA high throughput sequencing facility. He is a molecula more…

Hannah Crum, The Kombucha Mamma, founded Kombucha Kamp in 2004. She and partner Alex LaGory are longtime educators and Kombucha advocates. In 2014, to further their mission of "changing the world, one gut at a time," they founded Kombucha Brewers International (KBI) where Hannah serves as President. Spreading KBI’s mission to promote and protect Kombucha worldwide, Hannah has been a featured sp more…

Based in Milwaukee, Mirjana Curic-Bawden, PhD, has more than 30 years of experience, with emphasis on microbial physiology and metabolism of lactic acid bacteria. She has global perspective and extensive experience in development and application of thermophilic, mesophilic cultures, and probiotics in fermented dairy and plant-based products.

Robert Danhi, Curator of Cultures, is a thirty-four year veteran of the F&B industry, Chef Danhi has operated restaurants, was a chef-instructor at the CIA, award winning Southeast Asian cookbook author, TV show host and has become an industry thought leader in R&D throughout the innovation process. Robert has been utilizing multimedia capturing technology to curate and share flavor exp more…

 Dr. DiCaprio is a food virologist with expertise in food safety and hazard analysis.  Her research focuses on understanding the interaction of foodborne viruses with foods, investigating emerging foodborne viruses, and developing control strategies to control viruses in the food chain.  As an Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist in Community Food Safety she provides support to small food more…

Dr Johnny is a fermenter, cook and scientist who has pioneered the use of fermentation as a tool to amplify flavour, increase sustainability, and create novel ingredients.

Combining his PhD in Materials Science from Oxford and years of cooking experience, his clients and collaborators have included Michelin-starred restaurants, 50 Best-winning bars and challenger food brands across the g more…

Maitreya is a professor of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington. Her lab uses yeast as a platform to understand genome evolution and genetic variation in yeast and humans. She grew up in rural Tennessee and trained at MIT (BS in Biology), Stanford (PhD in Genetics), and Princeton (Lewis-Sigler Fellow) before moving to Seattle.

David Ehreth is the founder of Alexander Valley Gourmet, the company that produces Sonoma Brinery™ brand fresh, all-natural pickles and sauerkraut featuring a number of live-culture fermented products. Now in their fifteenth year, Sonoma Brinery products are sold throughout the US in over three thousand stores. Alexander Valley Gourmet is located in Healdsburg, California and employs over 50 pe more…

Jori Jayne Emde is a Chef, Culinary Historian and Food Scientist. Her specialties are fermentation and alchemy with a focus on terroir.  Jori practices her unique process of whole utilization: maximizing the yield from each ingredient through the processes of fermentation, preservation, and extraction.

An Austin, TX native, Jori completed an associate degree in culinary arts from Le Cor more…

Jiayang Fan has been a staff writer at the New Yorker since 2016. She is at work on her first book, Motherland, forthcoming from FSG in 2023.

Michael Gänzle trained as Food Engineer at the Universität Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany, and received a doctoral degree in Food Microbiology in 1998. Since 2005, he holds an academic appointment at the University of Alberta, where he is now appointed as Professor and Canada Research Chair in Food Microbiology and Probiotics. Current research projects focus on the functional characterization of more…

Born into a family of food lovers and explorers in the kitchen Erica grew up with a love of ingredients and innovation. She learned at a young age that food crosses all barriers and is the world’s way of bringing people together. Beginning her working life at an independent grocery store and working all departments provided Erica with valuable knowledge of retail, customer interests and product more…

Throughout his career Dan has worked with ingredients that have exhibited umami as a primary function.  His exploration of the topic started long before Umami was generally recognized as the 5th taste in America.  Whether the product was shitake mushrooms, salt cured anchovy or fermented foods, Dan has always strived to better explain this wonderful taste that is so hard to describe.  He has be more…

Jason Grauer is the crops director at Stone Barns Center. With a degree in economics from Tufts University, Jason spent the early part of his career in the financial industry. A year spent volunteering at Stone Barns confirmed his desire to farm full time, and he spent two seasons as one of our apprentices. Jason then developed a rooftop greenhouse for Eli Zabar’s Vinegar Factory, worked at Fou more…

After 10 years in banking with responsibilities ranging from Trust Administration to Consumer and Commercial lending, John acquired Bubbies in 1989. In his over 30 years running the company, John has overseen sales growth from just over $100,000 in sales to an international brand with a devoted customer base. He oversees the strategic direction of the company focusing on Strategic planning, mar more…

Dr. Hutkins is the Khem Shahani Distinguished Professor of Food Science, Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Nebraska where he runs the Hutkins lab which studies bacteria important in human health and in fermented foods. Dr. Hutkins also serves on the Board of Directors of the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP).

Adam Inman is the Assistant Program Manager for the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Lodging Program. He came back to the world of food safety in 2009 after three rewarding years as a case review officer with KDA’s Pesticide and Fertilizer Program. Adam was the food safety technical specialist for KDA’s Food Safety Program from 2004 to 2006 and a food protection investigator f more…

James Jin was born in Los Angeles but, with a dream to learn about the cultures and taste the food and drink of the world, he spent much of his time after college living abroad and traveling around the world.

He came back to LA and eventually found a job at a Japanese food and beverage distribution company where he had his first premium sake and felt that people had a misunderstanding o more…

Charlie Kalish is  is Co-Owner of Food Safety Guides, a food safety and quality consulting and training firm located in San Diego, CA. He has consulted and trained hundreds of individuals representing government, academia, and businesses at every stage, from start-ups to $300M brands.

Sandor Ellix Katz is a fermentation revivalist. His books Wild Fermentation and the Art of Fermentation, along with the hundreds of fermentation workshops he has taught around the world, have helped to catalyze a broad revival of the fermentation arts. A self-taught experimentalist who lives in rural Tennessee, the New York Times calls him “one of the unlikely rock stars of the American food sc more…

Jeremy Kean is executive chef and partner at Brassica Kitchen + Cafe in Boston’s Jamaica Plain. Having cooked at no.9 park, Rialto, garden in the cellar, Aquitaine and impatience farms. Jeremy was then the co-founder of whisk pop-up restaurant. The love for fermentation with the goal of umami and a 0 waste program has inspired brassicas constantly changing French menu. His goal is to gain and s more…

Vanessa Kimbell runs The Sourdough School in Northamptonshire. She is a sourdough baker who specialises in the relationship between fermentation, the gut microbiome and health. 

She began baking sourdough as a young girl working in the village bakery in South West France age 11 and is known for her specialist knowledge and understanding of the nutrition and digestibility of bread. Day t more…

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Mara has spent her 20+ year career as a food professional learning, practicing and sharing knowledge around Good Food. In 2011 she co-founded Ozuké, a fermented foods company that distributes nationally in the US. In 2017 Mara helped to produce a series of short films on Southwestern Chinese fermentation practices with Sandor Katz and Mattia Sacco Botto, and is cur more…

Meredith Leigh pursues stories and experiences that invigorate the land-to-people connection. She is a specialist in food and agriculture with expertise in ethical meat supply chains. She consults and writes from these foundations, with a focus on the lesser-explored and often ignored margins in the realms of science and food.  Her books are The Ethical Meat Handbook: Mindful Meat Eating for th more…

Alex Lewin is the author of "Real Food Fermentation" and co-author of "Kombucha, Kefir, and Beyond" (with Raquel Guajardo). Alex believes that food is "essential." His books make food fermentation as simple and unintimidating as possible. Given a choice, he will always prefer low-tech solutions, particularly when it comes to food.

Maria Marco is a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis. Prof. Marco received her BS degree in microbiology from the Pennsylvania State University and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. She then worked as a postdoc and subsequently as a scientist at NIZO food research, The Netherlands where she also led a project supported more…

Emilio is a third-generation owner at Di Bruno Bros. and serves as the Vice President of Culinary Pioneering. Emilio is instrumental in growing the family business from one small retail store to an omnichannel presence in specialty food; a company with six gourmet retail stores with an artisan cheese focus, 3 craft producer wine and beer bottle shops with a focus on natural wines, a successful more…

Brittany Moore is a Data Product Manager with the Product Intelligence team at SPINS. The Product Intelligence team supports SPINS through the development of attribution that gives our customers the ability to better understand marketplace dynamics. Brittany works closely with stakeholders to identify market opportunities and activate innovation while addressing client needs. With nearly ten ye more…

A former newspaper reporter, Amelia is an accomplished writer with a diverse portfolio. Her articles have appeared in newspapers, magazines, websites, blogs and social channels. A big foodie, Amelia loves researching and writing about fermentation for The Fermentation Association (TFA). She handles TFA's social media account, writes the editorial content for the website and newsletter and hosts more…

Anahad O’Connor is a bestselling author and reporter for The New York Times. He joined the paper in 2003 and writes for the paper’s science and health section.

Twin brothers Trevor & Nolan O'Malley started CiderScene in 2016 to create a space where individuals who like cider - or even are just trying it for the first time - could go to learn about this fermented wonder. Our goal is to open beer- and wine-drinkers' minds to the craft of cidermaking.

We started simply as cider enthusiasts trying to take an active role in growing the cider sce more…

Kheedim Oh is the founder of Mama O's Premium Kimchi based in Brooklyn NY. A life long food enthusiast and accidental entrepreneur. Kheedim asked his Mama O to teach him how to make kimchi because all the kimchi in the stores was not to his liking. Starting with $50 and a skateboard he started selling at Jeffrey Meat Market in Essex Market. Fast forward ten years and now his products are sold i more…

Maria Pearman is a Certified Public Accountant who provides accounting expertise and a deep operational knowledge to the beverage alcohol industry. She has also taught Finance and Accounting for Craft Beverage at the University of Vermont, Portland State University, and through the Distilled Spirits Council of the US. Her book Small Brewery Finance: Accounting Principles and Planning f more…

Joshua Rood was born and raised in Maine, Joshua began his formal beverage training in his early twenties in Los Angeles. After almost a decade he shifted his focus to food and transformational healing. After moving to the Bay Area and working with lululemon in the yoga and fitness communities, Joshua fell in love with the innovation and authenticity brewing in craft beer and kombucha. He met a more…

Patrick Rue is the Winemaker in Training and Owner of Erosion.  His career in beer started at The Bruery, which he founded in 2008.  He has developed hundreds of different beers and experimented with many ingredients, techniques, and microorganisms to create unique and delicious flavor profiles.  Along the way, he became a Master Cicerone in 2014.  Patrick, co-founder & spouse Rachel, and d more…

Dr. Mary Ellen Sanders' is the Executive Science Officer with the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP). Her professional activities focus on providing evidence-based guidance to food and dietary supplement companies on the role of probiotics in human health. She advises on scientific substantiation of probiotic claims, product development and safety of prob more…

Rich Shih is one of the leading culinary explorers of koji and miso in the United States and an in-demand food preservation consultant. He is also the Exhibit Engineer for the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) based in New York City. Find out more on his blog at OurCookQuest.com.

Kirsten K. Shockey is the co-author of bestselling Fermented Vegetables; Fiery Ferments; Miso, Tempeh, Natto and Other Tasty Ferments;  The Big Book of Cidermaking; and the new Homebrewed Vinegar. These books came from her desire to help people eat in new ways, for their own health, the health of the planet, and to push these culinary arts to new flavors.

Abby Snyder is an Assistant Professor of Microbial Food Safety in the Department of Food Science at Cornell University. Dr. Snyder received her B.S. in Food Science from The Ohio State University and her Ph.D. in Food Microbiology from Cornell University. Dr. Snyder works with members of the fermented food industry to improve food safety practices and help facilitate regulatory compliance, part more…

Soirée-Leone left the pharmaceutical industry in 2008 to grow and preserve food in an urban setting. She moved to rural Tennessee in 2016 to return to her roots growing up as part of the back-to-the-land movement of the 1970s. She sees the opportunity for small, community sustaining fermentation enterprises to support vibrant regional foodsheds.

Neuroscientist, researcher, nutritionist, communicator…Miguel is a multifaceted professional working to bridge the gap between research and practice. His professional interests span the fields of nutrition, biotechnology, microbiology and neuroscience. He has been able to bring these together while working as a Research Fellow at the School of Applied Sciences of London South Bank University. M more…

Jeremy Umansky is a chef/owner of Larder: A Curated Delicatessen & Bakery in Cleveland, Ohio, which was nominated by the James Beard Foundation as the Best New Restaurant in America in 2019. He has been featured in numerous publications like Bon Appetit and Saveur and was named “The Deli Prophet” by Food & Wine in the March 2019 Makers Issue.

Sebastian Vargo. Vargo is a Chicago-based chef who previously worked at Merchant, Dixie, Schwa and Girl and the Goat. Vargo, like the rest of the restaurant industry, was forced to leave his head chef role at Merchant during the Covid-19 pandemic. During that time, he created Vargo Brother Ferments with his fiancée Taylor Hanna, also a Chicago-based chef. Vargo Brothers Ferments is a chef-drive more…

Karen is a classically trained chef, certified nutritionist, food writer, expert fermenter, and the Chief Fermentation Officer at ChouAmi and Kraut Source. She has launched three crowd sourced campaigns on Kickstarter which were all successfully funded and fulfilled. Most importantly, they were all fermentation related projects!

Hannah has a PhD from the Bioengineering Department of Stanford University. Her research interest lies in studying the microbiome and how it relates to the immune system in human studies through machine learning and statistical methods. Hannah’s broad interest lies in engineering a computational framework that relates complex systems and generates testable hypotheses that move towards effective more…

Dr. Josephine Wee is Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). She obtained a BS in Food Science and dual PhD in Food Science and Environmental Toxicology from Michigan State University. Dr. Wee conducted her postdoctoral fellowship in yeast evolutionary biology at Cornell University. Her research team at Penn State uses genomics an more…

Zak works at the Good Food Institute (GFI), an international nonprofit focused on creating a healthy, just, and sustainable food system through plant-based, fermentation-derived, and cultivated protein innovation. He consults with leading foodservice operators, food manufacturers, growth-stage startups, and alternative protein supply chain companies to help increase the quality and quantity of more…

Jonathan Wheeler is Coordinator for the Special Processes at Retail program at the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control. He is responsible for processing special process applications, and is committed to providing guidance and education as customers prepare HACCP food safety plans for specialized processes at retail. Degreed as a chemist, Mr. Wheeler has over 40 years’ experience, more…

 Rodd Willis has been in the food industry for over 25 years.  After college, he started his career at Hormel Foods and then moved on to Dot Foods.  He has held various roles at Dot Foods in Sales and Supply Chain management.  He started the Natural/Specialty business for Dot in 2015 and currently manages all aspects of this fast-growing business.  He holds an MBA from the University of Missour more…

Benjamin E. Wolfe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Tufts University, running the Wolfe Lab. The work in the Wolfe Lab will help develop principles of microbial community assembly that can guide the design and manipulation of microbial communities in agriculture, industry, medicine, and nature. Prof. Wolfe received his BS degree in Natural Resources/Plant Science from Co more…