Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Gareth Rhys Williams83, Westwood Road, Tilehurst, Reading, BERKSHIRE, RG31 5PX, UK.

Tel: +44 118 945 1759Mobile: +44 7968 729008SKYPE: gareth.williams661

Email: gareth@williamsg37.fsnet.co.uk

I have worked in the Food Industry for 30 years, mainly in new product development (NPD), technical, process development and QA areas. I have been involved in several successful product launches, having developed products on bench, scaled up to commercial processing, instigated packaging trials, developed documentation and assisted with accreditation. I have also been employed as a project leader.

Amongst the products I have worked on are: dips (Bakkavor), prepared fruits and vegetables (Beacon); Branded baby foods (Ella’s Kitchen); ASDA chilled prepared meals; BA meals and breakfast (in an M&S site); J D Weatherspoon’s frozen meals (M&S site); Tesco & Costa sandwiches; JS, ASDA & Waitrose sandwich fillers; Splenda Sweeteners; Benecol Yoghurt drinks and snack bars; Shahzad's Authentic Curry Sauces; Japanese Sauces (Sachets); Tesco “Own Label” Malted Milk and Instant Hot Chocolate Drinks; Mars drinks; Horlicks; Vimto soft drinks; UHT yoghurt and juices (Beyti), sample submissions.

Employment History:

2010 to date: Interim NPD/technical Manager with Ella’s Kitchen, Abergavenny Fine Foods, Vimto Soft Drinks, GSK Horlicks, 2Sisters, Beyti, Beacon Foods and Freshway.

Interim Technical manager at Bakkavor Cerberus, Spalding (3months)Duties include supervision of QA staff, hosting audits and responding to any technical issues. Projects include allergen control, CIP optimization and validation. Retailer point of contact.Manufacturers of dips to all major retailers.

Submissions compiler at Abergavenny Fine Foods, Balenavon (1month)Duties include preparing submissions for party foods and desserts to major retailers, using Nutricalc, developing specifications.

Interim NPD & Technical Manager at Ella’s Kitchen, Henley on Thames(2014-15, 6 months)

Duties include development of 7 new extruded snacks, complaints management, writing specifications and QAS , review of recall/crisis management documentation.Suppliers of baby and infant products manufactured by 3rd party.

Interim Technical Manager at Freshway Chilled Foods, Wolverhampton (2014 2 months)

Duties include handling all technical issues during factory closure, complaints handling. Manufacturers of sandwich fillers, dips and premixes for JS, Brakes, Waitrose, ASDA, Greggs.

Interim NPD/technical manager at Beacon Foods, Brecon (2014 3 months)Duties include process development and NPD development, processing novel vegetable/fruit combinations during char-grilling, cooking, roasting and cutting and dicing; handling all technical & hygiene issues, hosting audits, HACCP, QC. Independent supplier of vegetables, fruits, sauces, marinades, compotes, herbs and spices for prepared meals. Peeling, dicing, roasting, char-grilling, sautéing, and boiling of ingredients.

NPD manager/quality manager at Beyti (Egypt) (2014 2 months)Duties include developing and arranging trials for new products (dairy/juices/puddings/desserts), control of QA department.Manufacturer of Yogurt, UHT milk and cream, juices. Joint venture between Almarai and PepsiCo.

Technical/Quality/Hygiene manager with 2Sisters Worksop (2013 3 months).

Duties include preparation for audits, control of hygiene, line standard and line controlsManufacturer of sandwiches for Tesco and Costa.

NPD & Process development manager with Horlicks (2011-2013 30 months)Using a combination of extrusion and enzymatic technologies to develop a base product for malted and chocolate based beverages. Arranging trials with co-packers, stability testing, extrusion and drying trials, developing product specifications, nutritional analysis, sensory testing, and recipe development.

Interim NPD & Technical Manager, Vimto Soft Drinks (2010-2011 4 months)NPD & Technical responsibility for Vimto brands soft drinks (cordials, carbonates, RTD). Assisting with launch of 5 new products (Reggae-Reggae brand) in tetra-pack, carbonated PET and cans. Complaints handling, Vimto sensory issues, shelf life testing, liaising with flavor houses (suppliers).

NPD managers RF Brookes (2010 2 months)Product development on 5 new meals for J D Weatherspoon’s; arranging trials, development of BOMs, SAP, sensory, line specifications, troubleshooting.

NPD manager Pennine (Northern Foods) (2010 4 months contract)Transfer of 6 British Airways meals to Pennine, plant trials, developing batching and line specifications to M&S standards, customer liaising, organizing sensory panels, commissioning new process line, developing HACCP, BOMs.

NPD manager Ethnic Cuisine (Northern Foods) (2010 2 months contract)Responsible for ASDA and Sainsbury’s NPD, plant trials, developing batching and line specifications, customer liaising, organizing sensory panels, developing HACCP, troubleshooting, part of SMT.

2008 to 2010 NPD & Technical director of G&S Associates/Garnayo Further development of rapid vanilla curing facility (Uganda). Developing Stevia plantations and extraction facility in Uganda.o Investigation into Gum Arabic cultivation/processing (Uganda, Sudan)o Technical manager for dried fruit suppliers (exotic fruits, banana chips, raisins, nuts)o Advising on sweetener processing (tablets and table top)

Duties included liaison with local producers, developing husbandry, storage and processing of raw materials prior to processing. Identifying and selecting co-packers and processors, assisting with quality management systems, working towards BRC accreditation.

2002 to 2008 Senior Food Scientist, International Food Network, Reading University

o New product development, using spray drying, tableting and extrusion techniques. Nutritional bar manufacture.o Investigation into the stability of beverage emulsions.o Development of product specifications, including intolerance and gm data

Duties include new product development, presentations to prospective customers; identification of suitable co-packers; shelf-life studies.

1995 to 2002 Technical director of G&S Associateso Food consultancy in all technical areas to The Speciality Sauce Company(Shoda Sauces) including New Product Development;o Development of rapid vanilla curing facility (Uganda).;o Gum Arabic processors (Chad, Nigeria and Sudan);o Suppliers of dried fruit, vegetable and nut products;

Duties include: New Product Development of Organic Japanese Soy Sauce, Oriental and Japanese sauces, dressings, ketchup and a range of curry sauces for retail and food service sectorsConsultancy in the processing and storage of botanical exudates, including the purchase and commissioning equipment for granulation sieving kibbling and packaging (Sudan and Uganda) Assisting with the developing and commissioning of a Ugandan vanilla pod rapid curing facility. New product development for processing nuts, dried fruits, and extruded fruits. Consultancy in and audit of ISO9000 systems and HACCP for local African retailers Developing label declarations and calculating nutritional data.

1993 to 1995 NPD & Factory Manager of Grand Foodso Beverage processor, supplier of own-label drinking chocolates, coffee, tea, malted milk and coffee whiteners to the major retailers (including

Tesco, Sainsbury, Safeway, Kwik-save, Coop, Waitrose, Aldi, Superdrug) and to the vending industry.

1991 to 1993 Sales and Technical Manager, Borculo Whey Products.o Suppliers of whey products to the food, feed and pharmaceutical industry.

1985 to 1991 Technical Director of Masterdry Ltdo Contract Spray Drying, evaporation, blending and sieving.£2.2M turnover.o Owners of Gum Arabic plantation in Chad from 1989-1991.

1982 to 1985 Quality Assurance Manager, Dairy Crest Foods.o Manufacturers of Skim Milk Powder (S.M.P.), Buttermilk Powder and Butter. Suppliers of S.M.P. to Mars Ltd

1979 to 1982 Higher Scientific Officer at Materials Q.A. Directorate(M.O.D.)

o Quality assurance of defense materials, R&D into biodeterioration of a variety of polymers.

1975 to 1978 Research Student at U.C. Cardiffo Researching into the biodegradation of cutting fluids using a battery of microbiological and analytical chemical techniques. PhD awarded January 1979.

Education:

3 "A" Levels (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) B.Sc. (Honors) 2:1 (Microbiology Department, U.C. Cardiff) Ph.D. (Microbiology Department, U.C. Cardiff)

Interests: Reading, music, sport (rugby (Grade 1 coach), cricket, badminton, scuba diving), travelling, cinematography, archaeology, paleontology.

Other Information:o Full Driving licenseo Welsh speakingo 18 scientific papers publishedo 9 Patents published