CJ FNT employees offer insight on the future of food and nutrition technology.
CJ Food&Nutrition Tech (CJ FNT) is on a mission to advance healthy and sustainable solutions throughout the food and nutrition market with innovative technology. CJ Newsroom sat down with Cosmo Verni, Sales Director for CJ FNT in North America, and Holly Swartz, CJ FNT Technical Application Specialist, during their time at one of the industry’s biggest annual events, IFT FIRST.
Q: Can you tell us about each of your roles at CJ FNT?
Holly: I take on the role of technical applications, where I help highlight our ingredients to customers. What we do is offer samples of products to clients so they can taste our ingredients in a meeting and know right away how good the flavor is. We even go a step further by crafting personalized blends, enabling them to incorporate our ingredients in their own product.
Cosmo: As the sales director in North America, my responsibility evolves around nurturing relationships with our significant clients, many of whom that I have worked with over the years and handling high-end, potentially global opportunities for our products.
Q: What is the significance of the IFT FIRST in the food and nutrition industry?
Holly: Undoubtedly, the IFT stands as the biggest food ingredient show where all of the IFT members around the world come to present their products and ingredients. And that’s why we’re here – to show what CJ FNT has been working on for the last year.
Cosmo: For us, the biggest initial challenge is gaining brand recognition for CJ FNT and educating people about our products. This year, our spotlight is on the wellness category, which is significant since the company is making a huge investment in R&D and developing new products that can lead to growth in this category. While our position is opportune, it is vital for us to boost our recognition. That’s why a show like this is really important to us.
Q: How were CJ FNT products received by attendees at IFT FIRST?
Holly: Our presence at IFT this year was highlighted by the introduction of our TasteNrich® products as a plant-based solution in a vegan chicken nugget as well as a sodium reduction flavoring solution in a sweet onion seasoned potato chip. The samples garnered significant attention and drew a lot of traffic and guests and had a lot of great questions about the product’s sodium reduction capabilities.
Cosmo: I think we’ve had a really successful experience. There seems to be a continued focus on sodium reduction, which shows us that there’s a lot of people that still haven’t found a suitable solution. This leaves the door open for us to continue working with companies and pursue new opportunities in this area.
Q: What lies ahead for CJ FNT and the food and technology industry?
Holly: I believe CJ’s vision to become a global total solutions provider is absolutely within reach. Our focus is on becoming the biggest and the best ingredient supplier for the wellness and umami categories. We have grown our product portfolio so much in the last year and will continue to do so based on our technology and know-how. We will be a one-stop shop, a total ingredient supplier.
Cosmo: Our objective is embodying CJ’s guiding principle of ONLYONE spirit. Right now, if you look at the global market, there’s no question that the highest potential for growth is in North America. I look at this as a remarkable opportunity to create a global leadership position right here in North America and work with customers to increase CJ FNT’s credibility and reputation. We are capable of providing unique products that allow other companies to set themselves apart in their business area. If we are able to execute well, we can literally make CJ history.
