Rockleigh, N.J./Press Release -- Brian Buck, senior vice president and general manager, Takasago International Corp. (USA) Flavor Division, announced that Takasago Flavors continues to expand its resources through the addition of new operational, technical and marketing experts.

Joseph P. Leone was named director, Flavor Manufacturing for Takasago’s Flavor Division. Prior to joining Takasago, he held key operations, supply chain and procurement roles with Bontoux, Dale and Thomas Popcorn, Kerry Ingredients, J. Manheimer and Givaudan. He holds a Master of Business Administration from St. John’s University, Queens, New York, and is a member of the IFT and the American Production and Inventory Control Society. Leone will be reporting to Takasago’s vice president of Operations, Bill Bushman.

Craig Kostick joins Takasago USA as a sensory analyst. He becomes part of Takasago’s global sensory group, which applies sensory techniques and insights to support its innovative product development and will be reporting to Teresa Pendergast, manager of Sensory Evaluations. Kostick holds a Master of Science Degree in Food Science from Drexel University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Delaware Valley College.

Sarah McCabe joins Takasago USA as a senior flavorist. She brings more than 12 years of experience to Takasago from Dragoco and Symrise, where she developed a track record of creating winning flavors for sweet and beverage applications. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Rutgers University. In her new position at Takasago, she reports to Amby Mankoo, vice president, Flavor Division.

Takasago USA has also expanded its marketing department. Carolyn Chen has joined the company as senior marketing coordinator, with responsibilities that include fulfillment of product requests from Takasago affiliates, assisting the marketing team with data collection and conducting trend research. Jean Merrill comes to Takasago as a senior graphic design specialist, and works on customer presentations and handouts, promotional marketing materials and displays for events.

In making the announcements, Buck said, “We’ve very pleased to add these professionals to our Takasago team. We anticipate notable contributions from them in advancing our growth and we welcome the opportunity to wish them well.”