OPERATIONS " Whatever coming out of the COVID environment looked like, we wanted to make sure we were building our innovation pipeline. " Rod Hogan, vice president of new business development, Sargento to perform at their best in hot applications. Hogan said this product was in part born out of consumer expectations for cooking at home. To introduce the product, they had to create a unique process to create the cheeses at scale while delivering all the desired properties. He said they have also introduced Balanced Breaks Cheese and Crackers in a partnership with Mondelez International. Hogan said in general their process for new product development takes about 18 months depending on the scope of the project, capital requirements, and development time of new cheese varieties. Hogan said some new approaches to consumer research are allowing them to move faster in product development. More consumer research is being done online now, which is speeding up processes and allowing them to get ideas more quickly. Sargento recently introduced a creamery line of sliced cheeses. FLAVOR BASES | VARIEGATES | INCLUSIONS WWW.STARKAYWHITE.COM Y F Sargento R I I R M D L - Y P N L A N T N E D IN O A I N G R E D I E N T Shttps://www.starkaywhite.com/