Food Accelerator Program

Diane brings 30 years experience in the food industry.  In her role as Associate Director of Client Services at Rutgers Food Innovation Center (FIC) she oversees a team responsible for development and execution of business and technical programs and services essential to the growth of client companies.  Her strong skill sets in business development and marketing have proven to be instrumental to start-up and established companies and cooperatives. 

As a senior member of the FIC, since 2002, Diane has played a leadership role for a highly diversified range of food businesses, including strategic planning for the dairy industry, marketing research and marketing planning for the premium livestock industry, and funding and marketing strategy for members of the New Jersey agricultural community desiring to expand from commodity sales into value added opportunities. She has also assisted a wide range of start-up companies with customized mentoring in branding, positioning, product development, primary market research, strategic planning, and sales strategies. In addition, she is highly involved with the outreach program of the Center, working effectively to partner with local, state and regional constituencies on economic, health and social issues.  She is a recent graduate of Leadership Cumberland County and is committed to working across county sectors to enhance the region.

Previously, Diane held held roles of increasing responsibility for core brand growth for food corporations, including Campbell Soup Company and Unilever.  She has extensive experience with monitoring consumer segment and food trends in a multitude of food and beverage categories, including, beverages, sauces, soups, breads, confectionary, fresh produce, condiments and prepared meals.  Utilizing her vast knowledge in consumer attitudes and behaviors and her strong culinary skill sets, she has participated in bringing many successful products to market including the successful repositioning and expansion of brands, such as Chunky, Swanson, and V8 which catapulted many of these products into multi-year double digit growth.

Diane received a B.S. in Nutrition from Rutgers University and M.A. in Food and Business from New York University.