Company Announces Next Era of Leadership
New Providence, NJ - June 1, 2021 -- Sensory Spectrum, Inc., a leading consulting firm specializing in connecting sensory and consumer insights to drive business success, recently marked its 35th Anniversary and is restructuring its leadership team, effective January 2022, to guide the next phase of growth and innovation in the field of sensory evaluation.
The Company will ensure continued success for its clients, and sustain its founder’s vision, talents, and strategic insights by tapping current executives to play new and expanded roles. The transition, announced by founder and owner Gail Vance Civille, begins an exciting new era for Sensory Spectrum, Inc. “I am enormously proud of our team’s collaboration, longevity, talent, and results over the past 35 years,” said Civille. “We have set the bar for the sensory industry, and enabled our client partners in business, academia, and government to understand both products and consumers and the link between them.” She continued, “Our leadership team, all innovative, multi-disciplinary experts, uniquely position us at the forefront of our industry. They share a guiding vision, and are committed to providing our clients business and technical solutions, and training and education —all rooted in a holistic understanding of the senses, and their impact on consumer needs, wants, and experiences—for confident decision making.”
Bob Baron will lead Sensory Spectrum, Inc. as President, overseeing day-to-day business operations. An accomplished leader in the fields of innovation, product development, sensory and consumer insights, Baron has served the company for the past seven years as Vice President. Baron’s career is differentiated by his demonstrated ability to drive business growth and increase consumer engagement through the combination of expertise in sensory evaluation, consumer insight, product development, innovation, and quality. He is also recognized for his passion for leading and developing others, raising engagement, and increasing employee retention. Prior to joining the company, Baron spent 14 years in a variety of R&D roles at Mars Chocolate, and four years as a technical specialist in the high intensity sweetener industry. Baron holds a Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology with a focus on Sensory Evaluation, as well as degrees in Hospitality Management, Dietetics, and Food and Nutrition Science.
Clare Dus will serve as Senior Vice President, overseeing the Managed Services, Education and Training and Innovation platforms for the company. Dus uses her tenure of some 35 years at Sensory Spectrum to leverage deep sensory attribute knowledge with consumer and market insights and needs. Dus is also recognized for her talent in connecting both creative problem-solving process tools and polarity thinking tools with sensory evaluation methodology tools to facilitate and uncover insights for innovation. Dus’s work in industry professional organization is equally notable. She currently serves as Chair-Elect for the Society of Sensory Professionals and served on the Board of Trustees for the Creative Education Foundation for several years. Dus earned a BS in Food Science from Rutgers University, a Mastery Certificate in Polarity Thinking and is trained in Facilitation of CPS Processes. During time away, Dus volunteers each summer with the St. Patrick's Appalachia Help Weeks, repairing homes for the rural poor of West Virginia.
Annlyse Retiveau Krogmann will expand her role as Vice President. She will now oversee the Sensory Spectrum team of sensory consultants, along with the Company’s ever expanding Product Understanding platform, and its growing Consumer Understanding platform. Krogmann was first introduced to Sensory Spectrum through a graduate internship in 2003. She joined the firm officially in 2005 after completing her Ph.D. in Sensory Evaluation from Kansas State University. She brought with her experience and passion for food engineering, nutrition, sensory, consumer and data sciences along with her curiosity for food and non-food products alike and a keen enthusiasm for creating practical solutions to everyday challenges. During her tenure, she served in various consulting and management positions, acquiring extensive knowledge of sensory methodologies, strategically applying these methods to help answer the real-life questions our industry, government and academia partners often face, and encouraging and mentoring her team members to do the same.
Founder and Sensory Spectrum, Inc. owner Gail Civille will remain actively engaged with the industry, providing strategic insight, technical support and expertise to consultants and clients, and continuing speaking engagements around the country and the world. A pioneer in advanced sensory evaluation approaches for the consumer product goods industry, academia and government, Civille is a globally recognized author, speaker and educator for her groundbreaking work in sensory science. Civille’s belief that the optimum use of sensory science is in the integration of business strategies and research objectives with the needs of the consumer, to develop the right product with the best sensory delivery. Her ability to strategically integrate both product capabilities and consumer needs has distinguished Sensory Spectrum, Inc. as the industry leader.
The new leadership structure reflects the firm’s long-held belief that its people make it great. The leadership team will continue to provide Sensory Spectrum’s employees with a positive experience, believing it is key to a positive client experience. The firm remains staunchly committed to educating and empowering staff to achieve their best for its clients, its industry, and each other.
In reflecting on his new role, Baron clearly embodies that vision: “It is an honor and privilege to take the reins of a company that has been a part of my professional life for over 20 years. I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to guide an incredible group of over 200 dedicated associates who deliver for our clients every day. I look forward to continuing to support the mission and vision that has made Sensory Spectrum an icon in the industry.”
About Sensory Spectrum, Inc.
Sensory Spectrum, a globally recognized management consulting firm, specializes in understanding the sensory-consumer experience for industry, academia and government. Our approach links advanced sensory methods to consumer research with the latest statistical analysis procedures to provide business and technical solutions for confident decision making. Our broad scope of customized services includes sensory program design and review, Spectrum Descriptive Analysis panel training, project
management, consumer research, short courses and workshops. Our mission is to generate high quality sensory information for insight and action-based decision making by linking consumer and product understanding, creating and extending sensory methodology and educating and empowering the people - all with integrity, collaboration and a sense of fun.
Sensory Spectrum’s team of over 200 employees work at its headquarters in New Providence, NJ, and a second location at The North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, NC, a 350-acre research center located just north of Charlotte, NC. The firm also maintains Sensory Support personnel in residence at three large consumer products companies.