Meet Your R&D Chef: Kayla Hafer
Out-of-the-box thinking is the name of her R&D game…
Kayla has been with our team since 2012, she started working as an intern with R&D and QA to create spec sheets for the items we cook. Today, Kayla heads up our R&D department.
Always having a strong pull to food, Kayla began seriously considering a career in the culinary industry in high school. She graduated from Johnson & Wales University with degrees in Baking and Pastry, Culinary Arts and a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition. Kayla began her career in nutrition, focusing on special dietary needs, but knowing she eventually wanted to end up in an R&D kitchen. We are so glad she landed here with us at Ready Foods.
Kayla’s attention to detail, discipline and perseverance, combined with her patient demeanor, makes her a great fit for a job that requires lots of testing and retesting with new ingredients or formula changes. Some recipes have required 30 or more versions to be made in order to get the food item just right! Kayla’s small, calculated tweaks are needed with each iteration to make sure we can meet changing customer needs or perfectly match a recipe. Thankfully, we have great ingredient suppliers who pair well with Kayla’s out-of-the-box thinking to intelligently solve R&D puzzles.
When a customer comes to us with a recipe idea, Kayla helps them take their recipe or concept to a scaled up version that can be cooked in our kettles and produced at a larger scale.
Kayla’s favorite item that we make? Kayla likes eating our Mac & Cheese and Aged White Cheese Sauce the best.
Kayla aspires for the Ready Foods R&D team to continue to push boundaries and preconceived notions of what can be cooked in a kettle. Her adaptability is a true asset for our customers in this ever-changing food world. Recipe testing requires her to constantly be willing to try new ingredients or cooking techniques, ensuring her job is never boring.
Kayla’s favorite projects to work on? Kayla appreciates unique projects that provide the opportunity to work with new ingredients. In the past year, she especially liked working on a line of salad dressings with a customer who gave her freedom to experiment with on-trend flavors.
When not testing and tasting recipes, Kayla can be found out in nature, mountain biking and hiking. She also loves a good weekend brunch, especially at Lucille’s.
Questions about our R&D process? Click HERE.
Marco’s items can be found through distributors in several states, including Colorado, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho, Nebraska and more!