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Life at Campbell’s

Dr. John T. Dorrance, a Campbell chemist with a passion for food, invented the recipe for condensed soup in 1897. By removing half of our soup’s heaviest ingredient—water—his invention lowered the cost to package, ship and store the soup, leading to its popularity and widespread use.

The invention of condensed soup set the stage for our history of innovation, including culinary staples like Margaret Rudkin’s wholesome Pepperidge Farm bread, Donald Goerke’s SpaghettiOs, known as “the best invention since the napkin,” and Dorcas Reilly’s iconic side dish the Green Bean Casserole. And more recently, soup and snack innovations like the new Campbell’s Well Yes! and Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse Cookies.

More than 130 years later, Dorrance’s inventive spirit continues to inspire our Research & Development (R&D) team as we bake, cook, and make tasty new food today.

Dina Reagan and her team take chip flavors very seriously

As the Senior Director of Salty Snacks for Campbell Snacks, Dina Reagan’s job lets her try new and interesting snacks, like Kettle Brand chips!

Creating the many varieties of Kettle Brand chips—we have over 25 flavors!—may sound like it’s all fun, but Dina and her team take flavor innovation very seriously. “One of my favorite parts of coming up with new chip flavors is our flavor workshops. The team tries hundreds of flavor options like those found in specialty shops, on trendy restaurant menus, or the latest international flavor trends,” she said. “As we taste each item, we identify the flavors that we want to recreate in our chips and the ones we want to avoid.”

What’s the best part of inventing snacks? Dina says it’s the moment “when a new snack I’ve been working on hits store shelves, and I get to share what I helped make with family and friends.”

Courtneay Friday loves seeing the sauces she develops on store shelves

As a R&D Manager on the Meals & Sauces product development team, Courtneay Friday has worked on products like Prego Farmers’ Market sauces, and recently helped launch Prego+, our new line of plant-based sauces. She describes her role as equal parts art and science—there’s an art to making food that tastes great, but the science is critical to making sure food is safe and easily produced.

“It gives me a real sense of pride to know that I’m making food that impacts so many people’s lives, and to see that food on shelves at the grocery store,” she said.

Courtneay has worked for us for the past 14 years, but her history with Campbell started way before then—her grandfather worked for Campbell his whole career, and even met her grandmother here!

Andy Narotsky follows social media trends to brainstorm new ways to create soup

On the soup and broth team, Andy Narotsky officially started his product development career at Campbell as a co-op when he was a student at Penn State University, but his love for cooking and science began years prior when he was a Boy Scout.

Andy loves reimagining products and processes, and he recently collaborated with our chefs, nutrition, and marketing teams to launch 14 new and reformulated Well Yes! soups. “We’re constantly on our feet in R&D,” he said about his favorite part of the job. “One day I’m working on a way to make a new version of a classic soup, the next I’m troubleshooting with our manufacturing team, and after that I’m brainstorming the next soup to launch.”

Where does a product developer go when brainstorming new food in 2021? Andy says he often starts on social media: “Reddit, Instagram, and Tik Tok can uncover a ton about food trends.”

Guisselle Cedillo: The snack innovator

Guisselle Cedillo, Senior Manager and Food Scientist at Campbell Snacks was born and raised in Mexico City, and grew up in a house where preparing dinner was a team sport. Whether it was making mole sauce and tamales, or one of her family’s favorite homemade dishes, the way her family worked as a team and the care that went into each step of the recipe inspired her decision to pursue a career in food.

Her job is to find creative ways to make new products. Guisselle works closely with our plants to perfect recipes, so that the final snacks come out tasting just right.

Her favorite snack she’s worked on? Late July’s No Grain Tortilla Chips made with Tigernut and Cassava flour.

“I didn’t have a lot of experience in tortilla chips, so helping create the No Grain Tortilla Chips was so much fun,” she said. “I love to be challenged; problem solving and troubleshooting gets me excited.”

Hye Won Yeom’s veggie expertise helps her create meals and sauces

Hye Won Yeom’s love of food and cooking led her to a career with us as a Principal Scientist.

These days, you can find her in our kitchens working with different natural ingredients like tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, and jicama, and plant-based alternatives for our meals and sauces, including Prego. She’s spent a lot of her 23-year career in the food industry learning about a Campbell staple—the tomato!—and visiting our tomato processing plants in California.

What motivates Hye Won in her job? She said it’s creating food “that’s nutritious with good ingredients that taste great, at the right price.”

Over 150 years of innovation inspire our R&D team every day! Want to join the fun? Explore our open jobs across the company.

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Life at Campbell’s

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