Name: Jennifer Welchel

Title: Research & Development Manager, Chobani

What is your background and how did you become interested in the dairy/food industry?

I’ve always had a passion for food and started cooking at a young age. In 2004, when I was finishing my undergraduate degree, I found a marketing internship with a restaurant group in New York City and loved being able to combine my interest in food with my work. After working in the restaurant world, teaching cooking classes, and in grocery, it was my interest in making ice cream that lead me to pursue a Food Science degree and a career in the dairy industry.

What was your Cornell experience like? (i.e. coursework, dairy related activities, internships, jobs, etc.)

I was very lucky to have a MPS project centered around Greek yogurt and to work with Rob Ralyea and the Cornell pilot team. It’s work that directly relates to what I do every day and helped create a solid foundation and understanding of yogurt processing and quality.

Training with the collegiate dairy sensory team to understand flavor descriptors and product defects has also been important and relates to sensory work that’s integral to the new product development process and quality checks.

I also had the opportunity to take an animal science class with the Dairy Fellows when I was at Cornell. Visiting farms around central and upstate New York gave me a lot of insight into dairy farming and all of the factors that go into producing quality milk.

What is your current role in the food industry, and how does it impact the dairy industry?

I currently work in product development and get to come up with new products to showcase all of the great things you can do with dairy. There is still a lot of opportunity to get dairy products into U.S. homes and the team I work with is helping to come up with innovative new ideas that set market trends.

How did your Cornell training impact your career in the dairy food industry?

Cornell really shaped my career in the dairy industry—I had a lot of culinary experience before pursuing my masters, but food science and dairy processing was still new to me. I was able to get my job because of connections that Cornell has built within the industry.