Jean Spence

Jean Spence

Member of the Agri-FoodTech Investment Committee & Industry Advisor

Jean Spence has spent her career in the consumer goods industry on the product development, food safety and regulatory side.

Jean spent 34 years at Kraft Foods Global (Nasdaq: KHC) and then with its spin-off Mondelēz International (Nasdaq: MDLZ), two of the largest food conglomerates in the world, with combined revenues of over $50bn and combined market capitalization of over $120bn.

At Kraft/Mondelēz, she led the global R&D, Product Quality and Scientific Affairs group, leading a team of 3300 people.

During her time in the company, she was responsible for raising the bar on quality and food safety on a worldwide basis, coordinating global compliance programs, scientific relations, regulatory issues, microbiology, and auditing.

She frequently interacted with regulatory agencies and her leadership led to her appointment to the US Department of Homeland Security’s Private Sector Advisory Council representing the food industry.

Jean currently serves on the Board of Directors for TreeHouse Foods (NYSE: THS), a US leading private label food and beverage manufacturer and was, until recently, a longstanding member of the Supervisory Board of GEA Group AG (XETRA: G1A), one of the largest global technology suppliers for food processing and the Board of Advisors of Regis Technologies, a provider of services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. She also is a Bain & Company External Advisor.

She is a Certified Food Technologist and has been recognized as one of the Most Influential Board Directors and as a Top 100 Women in STEM.

Jean received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University and a Master of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from Manhattan College.