Natural food ingredient firm, EDME, has just appointed Dr Jisun Lee as its new head of innovation. Dr Lee joins the company at an exciting time in its evolution. As managing director Mark Hodson says,

“Bakers and food manufacturers are more interested than ever in natural, wholesome ingredients – the very kind in which we specialise. Jisun’s appointment extends our support to customers’ research and development teams in identifying and developing valuable new opportunities.

“Jisun comes to us with a great deal of relevant experience and a fresh eye to look at our current range - including wholegrain, malted and gluten-free ingredients - but also, importantly, new ingredients and processes. She will work closely with the raw-material procurement, technical and production teams to create new ingredients - and combinations of ingredients - with specific functional benefits for both existing and new product categories.”

Dr Lee is a molecular biologist with a long-held interest in sports and nutrition. She has held roles in McCormick, famous for its herbs and spices; Rich’s, known for its sweet bakery products and vegan offerings; Pladis, owners of the McVities brand; and Campden BRI, which provides scientific and technological support to the food industry.

“It’s great to be getting my feet under the table - and around the site at EDME,” she says. “And I’m looking forward to getting to know our customers. By delving into their markets and exploiting our capabilities, we can support each of them in a tailored way, helping them keep ahead of the game.

“I’ll be tapping into the expertise here, and making sure there is inter-departmental working for all things innovation-related.

“Part of my job will be to showcase to customers all the different ways in which we can support them – and then delivering the results. And whatever new ingredients – or new ways of using ingredients - we come up with, they will add value in nutritional, taste, texture, appearance, and monetary terms. That’s my mission.”