Mary Kamm heads the research, quality, and safety team at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in Columbus, Ohio. Mary has a food science degree from UC Davis. And she’s worked with all manners of food companies—from chocolate at Nestle to spices at McCormick, frozen product at Dean Foods to quality and product development at Ben & Jerry’s. She came to Jeni’s by way of Byrne Dairy in New York where she was tasked with building a yogurt plant from scratch.

Mary understands and truly appreciates the intersection of science and real food. While at Ben & Jerry’s in the ’90s, she led an R&D team built up of pastry chefs, not scientists, who knew the ins and outs of flavor and food. She realized it wasn’t enough that a product was safe or that it technically works, but it has to taste really good, too.

She has a similar role at Jeni’s where she works alongside founder Jeni Britton Bauer and the R&D chef to make sure every ice cream isn’t just exceptional in flavor, but is also made with utmost safety in mind.