Gayatri Kohli has 35 years of experience in the food industry both in the area of Food Science and the Culinary Arts both internationally and Nationally. She has over 25 years of experience in the US with food companies ranging from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 corporations and 10 years of retail food experience in India. She is a Cordon Blue Chef from Paris. Her speciality is development of a food product from concept to commercialization, Specialize in Global product development for the Health, Nutrition & Wellness Platform including Neutraceutical, All Natural, Fortified & Functional Food and Beverage products. Besides her food technology background (B.S. in Food Science from California State University), she has completed her Professional Chef’s Culinary Certification from Westlake Culinary School of California specializing in International Cuisine. She has also achieved the Le Cordon Bleu Patisserie Certification from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Paris, France.
Qualifications
Bachelor of Science Degree in Food Science, California State University, Northridge, California, USA, 1986. Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry and Nutrition, St Bede’s College, H.P. University, India, 1982. Completed the PROFESSIONAL CHEF’S CULINARY CERTIFICATE PROGRAM, in European & International Cuisine, Westlake Culinary School, Westlake, California, USA, 2006. Achieved Le Cordon Bleu Pâtisserie Certification from Le Cordon Bleu Culinaire Institute, Paris, 2005.
Achievements
In the area of product development, she has developed several food products for the retail US market with brand names like Weight Watchers, Fi-Bar, Oriental chef, Juanitas, La Victoria, Natures made etc. She has worked with retailers like Walmart and Ralph’s Grocery in the development of their Private Label/Generic brand. In the U.S. she has also worked with various Restaurant Chains in their menu development including Cheese Cake Factory, McDonald, Carl’s Junior and the Yoshinoya Japanese Chain.
From Dec 2006, Gayatri has been working for Spencer’s Retail in Kolkata as General Manager for Foods Innovation, Bakery Food Services & Packaging. She has set up the Food Innovation & Culinary wing for Spencer’s known as Spencer’s Gourmet Centre.
She has been responsible for developing Spencer’s Private Label brand of Food products, Patisseries and QSR within the stores. Her expertise also includes Quality Systems, Food Safety & Legal Compliance in all aspects of QA in the food industry. She specializes in Global product development for the Health, Nutrition & Wellness Platform including “Nutraceuticals, Fortified & Functional” Food & Beverage products. Her passion for driving business growth in Foods through technology and innovation led her to create her own consulting firm offering tangible end to end solutions to the Food & Restaurant industry. She is currently a Food Critic and conducts restaurant reviews/critics for various life style magazines. She has been a core member of external bodies as the Restaurant Association of India, BNI & CFTRI.