In Ep. 92, Wendie Phelps ­– who leads a team of 12 scientists who support Cargill Inc.’s protein ingredients and international segments – describes the how communication, strategic partnerships and innovation leads to the creation of new ideas and, ultimately, new food products. Phelps – Research Development and Innovation Manager at Cargill – also discusses the “chicken-and-egg” challenge of balancing new ideas developed internally versus requests from customers seeking to improve their product offerings. She additionally outlines the traits and capabilities that people who want to enter the R&D and innovation portion of the protein industry should have if they want to succeed in this arena.