05.26.22
The Women in Flavor and Fragrance will present its 2022 Recognition Awards Dinner on Thursday, June 16 at 6 p.m.
A cocktail reception and dinner will be held at the Liberty House in Jersey City as they honor the following four colleagues for their outstanding accomplishments: Gillian Bleimann Boucard, CEO Berje, Inc. with the Nancy Poulos Leadership Award; Christina Christie, senior perfumer at IFF, with the Perfumer Recognition Award; and Sarah Willet, pH.D, senior RD&A scientist ‒ Innovation at Kerry with the Innovative Excellence Award; and Elsa Howerth, RD&A director and senior flavorist III at Kerry with the Flavorist Recognition Award.
About the Recipients
Gillian Bleimann Boucard has been an active member of the flavor and fragrance community for over 22 years, with experience dating back to her early days in high school. As a student, she spent her summers in Berje’s fragrance lab which sparked an interest that would continue to grow throughout her college years, nurtured by the guidance of her father, Kim Bleimann. After graduating from Connecticut College with a bachelor’s degree in comparative religious studies, Gillian worked tirelessly to incorporate her newfound knowledge of anthropology and global history into her work in the industry.
As of 2021, Gillian Bleimann-Boucard has ascended to the role of CEO at Berjé, carrying the company into its third generation of family ownership. Along with continued focus on international sales and sourcing, Gillian oversaw the installation of more than 4,000 solar panels at Berjé’s Carteret’s New Jersey facility. This allows the company to generate 100% of its own electricity: one of many “Green Future” initiatives that Berjé has started to implement ever since Gillian took the reins.
Elsa Howerth has been in the flavor industry for over 30 years. Her career as a flavorist came about quite serendipitously. She came to the US as a foreign student to study physical therapy.
In 1994 after she earned her membership into the Society of Flavor Chemists (SFC), she became passionate about the organization and initiated concerted effort to expand the SFC to California which at that time was unheard of and today is well established with membership representation. She served as Membership Committee Chair for the SFC for three years, was on the board for five, and served as president in 2019. She continues to be active in the SFC volunteering in various roles behind the scenes. She is also a participating member of the FEMA Poundage Committee and FEMA Regulatory Affairs Committee.
In her current role as R&D director/senior flavorist in the beverage/sweet flavors area at Kerry in Beloit, Wisconsin, she continues to work on flavors across product categories, but largely spends her time as technical manager in complexity reduction initiatives and mentoring/training juniors.
Christina Christie trained at Takasago with Sensei/Master Perfumer Gus Van Loveren and remained there for 14 years. She worked at Fragrance Resources which eventually was acquired by IFF where she enjoys her role as a mentor and creator.
Sarah Willett is currently a senior RD&A scientist on the taste innovation team at Kerry in Beloit, WI. Her role focuses in the areas of lipid systems, enzyme processes, and encapsulation of flavors and bioactives. Previously, she completed her PhD at the University of Georgia in 2019 under the direction of Dr. Casimir C. Akoh. During her PhD, her research focused on production of structured lipids containing menhaden fish oil, oleogels, and the potential for addition of these health beneficial lipids into food products. Her undergraduate degree in food science was completed in 2016 at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Sarah has been an active member of the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) since 2016, winning multiple awards, including Biotechnology Student Awards and the Hans Kaunitz Award.
She is currently serving as the vice chair of the biotechnology division, chair of the Young Professionals Common Interest Group, and newsletter editor.
To register, go here.