August 21/Brooklyn, N.Y./Press Release -- Howard Smith, Jr., president of Virginia Dare Extract Company, announced the appointment of Robert (Bob) J. Verdi as business director – Health & Wellness.  Verdi will be responsible for managing and developing the company’s health and wellness strategy and business.

He brings over 20 years food ingredient business and scientific experience to Virginia Dare, most recently managing Farbest Brands food ingredient business. He has held food industry positions with Novartis, BASF, Pfizer-Cultor Food Science, Hoechst-Celanese and CPC International.

Verdi has a B.S. in Food Science and an M.B.A. in Marketing from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in Food Chemistry from Cornell University.