Tim Hanni, MW, CWE, Founding Partner, CEOTim Hanni is a professionally trained chef, one of the first two resident Americans to successfully complete the examination and earn the title Master of Wine and is a Certified Wine Educator as accredited by the Society of Wine Educators. He has been involved with a wine and food related businesses, education and research for over thirty-five years.
Hanni has a unique perspective on the world of food and wine provides a modern and innovative approach to the subject. His techniques for creating easy to use wine lists and retail wine programs are combined with tried and tested culinary philosophies on "balancing" food and wine flavors and are employed by thousands of restaurants and hotel outlets around the world and provide the foundation for Napa Seasoning Company's unique new product Vignon™, the first Flavor Balancing Seasoning designed to simplify food preparation.
Hanni is recognized for introducing the concept of the "umami" taste phenomenon to the wine and food community. He has lectured in over 27 countries around the world on the topics of flavor balancing, sensory sciences, wine and culinary history. He currently serves on the boards of the Institute of Masters of Wine North America, the Napa Valley Symphony, Grapes for Humanity, the Koloa Rum Company and is a founding partner in WineQuest, a hospitality training company.
John Stallcup, Founding Partner, CMO
John Stallcup has over 30 years of experience developing new brands, repositioning existing brands and building brand equity for both large multinational corporations and small entrepreneurial enterprises. John has held senior marketing positions with The Wine Group (Franzia, Corbett Canyon, Foxhorn), Crystal Geyser, Zing Systems Inc, McKesson / Danone bottled water, and Lawry's Foods Inc.
John has executed successful consulting assignments for enterprises as diverse as, Unilever, Gay & Robinson Sugar, Suntory, Pasta Pomodoro, American Wine Wholesale, Namelab, Inertia Beverage Group, Claria Corp, Toshiba Power systems, and The European Bank for reconstruction and development.
John co-chaired the WineVision consumer research project with Tim Hanni creating one of the largest surveys of wine consumer preferences and behavior in the wine industry. John is a frequent contributor to wine trade publications and has been a featured speaker at The Unified Wine and Grape Symposium, the Napa Wine Industry Financial Symposium as well as the National Tea Association Conference. He also served as General Manager of the 1984 Olympic Basketball venue, contributing to the first ever Olympic profitability. John lives in Napa, California with his wife April and two children Quinn and Conner.
Sarah Scott, Culinary Evangelist
Sarah Patterson Scott is a 25-year resident of Napa Valley, has become an expert in the cuisine of California's wine country. Sarah currently works independently as a chef consultant and educator. She was involved with the Robert Mondavi family for more than 20 years. In 1993, she joined full-time as Executive Chef for Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Center in Costa Mesa, California, and in 1996, she became an Executive Chef for Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley. In 2003, Sarah was promoted to the position of Senior Executive Chef, with responsibilities for all the culinary programs and wine and food educations.
Sarah is a one of the original nucleus of wine and food experts and world-class chefs who worked with Tim Hanni from 1989 forward to bring change to the contradictory and confusing wine and food matching paradigms. As part of the 'investigative team' she was also an early adopter of the simple concepts, putting the ideas to work at Robert Mondavi Winery, and continues to promote the concepts with the Napa Seasoning Company.
A graduate of Georgia State University in Atlanta with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism, Sarah also attended the Madeleine Kamman School for American Chefs. She is an active member of the Women's Chefs and Restaurateurs professional organization. Sarah has appeared as a guest on the Television Food Network, and has been quoted in leading publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Dirona newsletter. She has been a featured author in Bon Appetit magazine.
John C Hawkins, Director, Market Research
John Hawkins is responsible for Napa Seasoning Company's market research, product design and leading our consumer focus groups. He brings over 30 years of experience in strategic planning and project management, consulting, market research, line marketing and sales management, real estate and creditor advisory analysis and negotiation, in a broad range of industries. John is an action-oriented, creative problem solver. He is a team builder and communicator, building on the disciplines of packaged goods marketing and professional management consulting.
John received his Masters in Business Administration with a second year concentration in Marketing and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, with minor in Architecture from Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.
John M Heil, Chief Advisor
John Heil joined the Lawry's Food Inc organization in 1977 and retired as President in 2006. The Lawry's brand is considered by many to be among the most elite businesses in the packaged goods industry, with a rich tradition of sustained and superior innovation, growth, entrepreneurial drive, and possesses one of the most studied corporate cultures in America. John was responsible for all aspects of Lawry's business, including Marketing, Innovation, Research & Development, Strategic Planning, Finance, and Sales. Actively served on the Unilever North American Board of Directors, and oversaw the development of one of Unilever's most visible and ambitious initiatives. John planned and executed the revitalization of Lawry's overall business, resulting in a dramatic acceleration in its growth and profitability, which has remained very successfully in place for the past two decades. At the same time he directed the Sales effort for Unilever's West Coast sales organization (which included 300 Direct Sales and Sales Management personnel), spanning 26 different CPG categories.
John currently serves, or has served, on the boards of Lawry's Restaurants, Hawaii Kai Corporation, Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles, Unilever Foods North America, The Chandler School and Lawry's Foods Inc. He obtained his Undergraduate Degree in Business Administration and Masters of Business Administration from the University of Southern California.
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