Mastering Stage-Gate and Beyond with Lara Tiro and Christine Farkas, Food Industry Consultants and Podcast Hosts (#116)

Lara Tiro is the founder of Rebel CPG, where she helps food entrepreneurs take products from kitchen concepts to retail shelves. She brings deep experience in product development and project management, guiding clients through every stage of innovation to ensure ideas become market-ready products. Christine Farkas is the founder of IHeartFood and co-host of the podcast Munching on Molecules. With a background in culinary science and strategic consulting, she helps food innovators solve complex challenges and create products that resonate with consumers. In this episode, we talk about how food consultants use the Stage-Gate process to bring structure to innovation, why collaboration, humor, and flexibility are essential in their work, and how different approaches can lead to successful product launches. Lara and Christine also share insights from their own journeys in the food industry and show how even in the same role, there's room for unique perspectives and personal style. *** Shownotes *** This week's episode is sponsored by: The Faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC explores the connections between land, resources, environment, and health. Students tackle big questions in food security, sustainable agriculture, and community health. Learn more about undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs including the Master of Food Science and Food, Nutrition and Health programs at landfood.ubc.ca *** Lara Tiro: LinkedIn Rebel CPG: Website / Instagram / LinkedIn Christine Farkas: LinkedIn IHeartFood: Website / LinkedIn Munching on Molecules Podcast: Website / LinkedIn / YouTube / Spotify *** NEXT EPISODE TO CHECK OUT #166 – Bryan Quoc Le, Ph.D. Food Scientist, Food Industry Consultant and Author *** SIGN UP FOR WEEKLY FOOD INDUSTRY CAREER TIPS → Sign up for the newsletter *** COOL THINGS TO CHECK OUT  Explore FoodGrads Career Guides (Ebooks)  Get Career Advice (Blog) *** CONNECT  Connect on Twitter  Connect on Instagram  Connect on LinkedIn  Connect on TikTok  Subscribe on YouTube *** SAY THANKS  Leave a review on Apple Podcasts  Leave a rating on Spotify