(PMCA — July 2024) — During PMCA’s Annual Meeting of Members, held Tuesday, April 16, 2024 at the 77th Annual Production Conference in Lancaster, PA members ratified the slate of officers and directors for the new fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024.
Shawn Houser-Fedor, The Hershey Company was elected vice president. Steve Genzoli, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company transitioned to chair of the board and Cynthia Angelo, Givaudan Flavors transitioned to president. Ed Minson, retired, Tate & Lyle remains as treasurer.
Incoming Vice President Shawn Houser-Fedor is senior director US Confection Product Development at The Hershey Company. In this role, she is responsible for leading new product development across the confection portfolio from chocolate to gummies and gum for Hershey’s iconic brands.
Shawn has worked for The Hershey Company for 28 years and has held many positions during her career, including senior director, Chocolate and Packaging R&D; director Snack and Adjacencies Product Development; senior manager, Chocolate Excellence; innovation and international associate marketing manager, and various scientist roles with increasing responsibility. Prior to working at The Hershey Company, Shawn worked in R&D for The Campbell Soup Company.
Shawn was recently inducted into the NCSA Candy Hall of Fame for her career impact in the confectionery industry. She served on the PMCA Board of Directors and Conference Program Committee over the past 10 years.
Shawn holds an MBA from The Pennsylvania State University and a B.S. in chemistry from Lebanon Valley College. She is a native to Hershey, born and raised, and currently lives with her family in the local area.
Sarah Woodling Houle, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company was ratified as the newest member of the PMCA Board of Directors. Her first term began July 1, 2024, at the start of the PMCA fiscal year 2024/2025. She is currently the director of Research & Development at the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company in San Leandro, CA. In this role, she is responsible for leading the team of talented technologists that work on developing new chocolate bars, squares, baking items, professional products, and ice cream fountain offerings. Prior to her role at Ghirardelli, Sarah was a senior scientist at Continental Mills in Seattle, WA. In addition, she has held positions as a staff scientist at The Hershey Company and a food scientist at General Mills. Her experience in product development has covered a wide category of products, including but not limited to fresh breads, breakfast cereals, caramels, sugar confections, baking mixes, popcorn, tortilla chips and chocolate confections.
Sarah holds a B.S. in food science from Penn State University and an M.S. in food science and technology from Cornell University. In 2022 she was awarded the Marie Kelso award for her presentation at the 2021 PMCA Technical Conference titled, “Nuts, Almonds, Chocolate – Functionality, Shelf Life & Liking”. Sarah currently lives in Hayward, CA with her two corgis Chloe and Ham and her Beagle Brian. In her spare time she enjoys camping, paddle boarding, showing dogs and tasting fabulous West Coast wines.
Directors renewing second terms are Tom Elsinghorst, Tomric Systems, Inc. and Angie Sanchez, ofi.
After several years of dedicated service to PMCA, Tom Houlihan, Guittard Chocolate Company completed his tenure as officer. Mr. Houlihan will remain a voting member of the board for six years, after which time he will become a lifetime honorary member of the board.
About PMCA
PMCA is an international organization that enhances the companies and careers of confectionery and snack professionals through inspired learning and the building of long-term personal connections, which empowers our members to create products that bring people joy.