Food scientist · policy analyst · Seattle, WA

Julia
Thompsonfood scientist turned policy analyst

Twelve years in food: bench, regulatory, sourcing and product strategy. Now I write about the rules that decide what gets made, sold and eaten.

Based in Seattle, WA Executive MPA 2026Open to relocation
View my resume →
Julia in a chef's coat in a test kitchen
Julia smiling on the lawn in front of the U.S. Capitol dome

Twelve years in six lanes

Policy training got stacked on top of a decade in industry, not swapped in for it. Every bar is a link. Open More experience details below for every role, newest first.

Career lanes, to scale by yearClick a bar to visit
20112013201520172019202120232025 EDUCATIONBENCH R&DPRODUCT MGMTSOURCINGPOLICYFOUNDER UMass AmherstBS Food Science London School of EconomicsExecutive MPA IngredionApplicationsIntern Arlon GroupGraduate Trainee High Liner FoodsFood TechnologistRegulatory Specialist Kettle CuisineProcessTechnologist CuliNEXFood Scientist IIITechnical lead KerrySelectTechnicalProduct Mgr Amazon FreshProductDeveloper Amazon FreshSourcingManager Expanded Access ProgramProgram LeadPro bono development City of SeattleCommissionerAppointed Policy Ref.PolicyWriter LoopNPDFounder TODAY
EducationBench R&DProduct managementSourcingPolicyFounder
More experience details
Gloved hands at a laptop showing the LoopNPD app beside bench samples
2026 –

Founder, LoopNPD

Software that puts ingredient sourcing inside the R&D workflow.

Launch app →
  • Founded a software company addressing the technical sales support gap at small and mid-sized food companies; the product integrates technical ingredient sales into the R&D process so developers can find ingredient solutions faster
  • Own product strategy and roadmap, and write database-driven product specifications translating R&D workflow problems into precise engineering requirements
  • Lead marketing, positioning, and sales: brand and messaging, the company website and LinkedIn presence, and direct outreach and discovery with food developers and ingredient suppliers
Market crates of strawberries and artichokes
2026

Policy Reformulated

How food policy shapes what gets made and sold. Ultra-processed food definitions, front-of-pack labeling, protein claims.

Read latest →
  • Policy Writer. An ongoing publication on how food policy shapes what gets made and sold, with analysis of the federal ultra-processed food definition, FDA front-of-package labeling, and protein content claims in packaged bread
Chief Seattle medallion, the seal of the City of Seattle
2025 – 26

Commissioner, Seattle Disability Commission

One of 21 appointees advising Mayor and Council. Co-authored the annual work plan.

  • One of 21 commissioners appointed by the Mayor and City Council to advise the Mayor, Council, and city departments on equitable policy, practice, and legislation for a city of 800,000, covering transportation equity, accessible infrastructure, emergency preparedness, and ADA compliance
  • Co-authored the annual Commission work plan, the document that sets the policy priorities City Council legislates against
Production line review, workers in hairnets and white coats
2025 – 26

Sourcing Manager, Amazon Fresh

Prepared foods and bakery. $2M in savings found, 202 products brought into compliance.

  • Evaluated consumer-facing program performance against baselines and year-over-year targets, applying elasticity and sensitivity modeling to score intervention options on impact, cost, risk, and implementation feasibility; diagnosed a failing mid-tier intervention through substitution analysis and recommended returning to a structurally proven model
  • Identified approximately $2M in annual savings (19 percent) by shifting prepared foods and bakery sourcing from small bespoke suppliers to large national manufacturers, and by leading category RFPs across soup, chicken, and bakery
  • Led supplier-side food safety auditing across 202 products, coordinating cross-functional teams to bring the portfolio into full compliance and establishing new supplier qualification criteria that shortened onboarding
  • Partnered with the food safety team on a portfolio-wide data audit, building an automated tool that replaced manual tracking with real-time ingredient visibility and supported direct qualification contact with 19 ingredient manufacturers; managed two recall responses with minimal business disruption
  • Built Python and AI-based analytics tools that cut error identification from two to three days down to under 15 minutes, eliminated four manual team handoffs, and saved roughly 50 hours per month of data maintenance and investigation
  • Diagnosed and remediated 49 cross-system data defects unresolved since 2020, taking one category from a 60 percent defect rate to zero; traced a single unit-of-measure error through inventory costing, product blocking, and financial reporting and coordinated remediation across finance, operations, accounting, and technology to resolve a $1.4M discrepancy with net-zero impact to the quarter
  • Sourced six major product resets on a 50 percent compressed schedule under a new everyday-low-price strategy
Julia throwing her graduation cap beside giant LSE letters and a sunflower
2024 – 26

Executive Master of Public Administration

London School of Economics. Economics-based policy analysis, applied to food systems.

  • Executive Master of Public Administration, London School of Economics and Political Science
  • Concentration in economics-based policy analysis, applied to food systems governance, nutrition labeling regulation, SNAP benefit adequacy, H-2A agricultural labor, and meat industry consolidation
Julia on a production floor in a white coat, hairnet and mask
2024 – 25

Product Developer, Prepared Meals, Amazon Fresh

Regulatory compliance across the product lifecycle; proposed the stage-gate restructure of the culinary team.

  • Managed regulatory compliance across the product development lifecycle against FDA, USDA, and state food safety requirements
  • Authored a proposal to restructure the culinary development team, diagnosing duplicated work and undefined handoffs and designing a stage-gate process, formalized documentation standards, and a redefined continuous-improvement food scientist role, projected to double team output
Julia in a blue blazer presenting blueberry ingredients for the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council
2023 – 24

Technical Product Manager, KerrySelect

Three-person team; escalation point for North American food manufacturers.

  • Supervised a three-person team and acted as primary technical point of contact for escalated R&D issues across North American food manufacturer clients, advising on product selection and troubleshooting
CuliNEX team gathered around a benchtop of blueberry samples
2020 – 23

Food Scientist III, CuliNEX

30+ products, plant-based authority, Blueberry Council research lead.

  • Guided project teams of two to three scientists across 30-plus products, designing the experiments, reviewing outputs, and redirecting programs when results warranted; supervised one direct report
  • Served as the company's technical authority on plant-based formulation, consulting across teams on ingredient functionality problems that had stalled their projects
  • Technical research lead: authored a comparative study of 11 blueberry processing methods for the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, assessing nutritional impact (anthocyanins, fiber, vitamin C) alongside sensory profile, functional performance, and cost; presented findings to manufacturers in the US and internationally, including Asia Fruit Logistica in Bangkok
  • Established and managed the Council's international samples and technical communications program from scratch for a new client, building the team and running every function, connecting global manufacturers with ingredient suppliers and contributing to 50 new products launched in India and a children's nutritional supplement in Malaysia
Entrepreneurs gathered around a tasting counter
2020 – 22

Expanded Access Program

Designed and launched a pro bono program: nearly $50K in development services for BIPOC founders in year one, renewed for a second year.

  • Designed and launched the Expanded Access Program, delivering nearly $50,000 in pro bono food development services to BIPOC entrepreneurs in year one; program renewed into a second year
A ladle of chowder from a steam kettle
2019 – 20

Process Technologist, Kettle Cuisine

Food safety and quality systems at manufacturing scale; launches across R&D, operations and quality.

  • Managed food safety and quality systems for large-scale manufacturing and coordinated product launches across R&D, operations, and quality teams
A raw salmon portion held in tongs at the bench
2017 – 19

Food Technologist and Regulatory Specialist, High Liner Foods

Clean-label Sea Cuisine line for Walmart and Kroger. FDA and USDA labels, child nutrition compliance, $50K ingredient savings.

  • Created FDA and USDA-compliant labels for retail and foodservice products, reviewing ingredient statements, allergen declarations, and nutrition facts panels
  • Led new product development for Walmart and Kroger and saved more than $50,000 annually through ingredient optimization; built a stage-gate R&D process from scratch
Market stall piled with tomatoes and squash
2015 – 17

Graduate Trainee, Arlon Group

Rotations through Door to Door Organics, The Chia Co. and Idaho Pacific: food safety, three product launches, stage-gate R&D.

  • Product Commercialization Project Manager, The Chia Co.: built the company's project management process from scratch and led an international team through three product launches spanning R&D, marketing, QA, operations, co-packers, and suppliers
Julia in cap and gown holding a Food Science sign
2011 – 15

BS Food Science, UMass Amherst

Team captain, Developing Solutions for Developing Countries.

  • Team Captain, Developing Solutions for Developing Countries (2014-2015). Developed Maisha Kitamu, a $0.30 shelf-stable product for East Africa using locally harvested insects and sweet potatoes, delivering more than 50 percent RDA for vitamin A, zinc, iron, iodine, and B12 on refurbished processing technology appropriate to the region

Three unique vantage points, one analyst

I know how a rule gets written, and how a company will respond to it.

What each experience contributes
The benchNational retail businessCity government Policy analysis that predictsthe industry response how a product actually gets made how a business weighs cost, margin and risk how a rule gets written and passed FORMULATION · LABELING · STAGE-GATE R&D RFPS · $2M SAVINGS · P&L · SUPPLIER AUDITS · 202 SKUS APPOINTED COMMISSIONER · COUNCIL WORK PLAN EXECUTIVE MPA, LSE2026

Where each capability was proven

Seven capabilities, three settings.

Capability by setting Led it there Contributed Not claimed
CapabilityBenchRetail scaleGovernmentEvidence
Regulatory analysis (FDA, USDA)Labels at High Liner; compliance lifecycle at Amazon; labeling policy research at LSE
Cost and trade-off analysis$50K ingredient optimization; $2M sourcing shift; SNAP adequacy research
Supply chain impact analysisSupplier qualification criteria; two recall responses
Stakeholder engagementBlueberry Council international program; cross-functional remediation; Commission work plan
Program designExpanded Access Program; team restructure proposal; SNAP nutrition platform proposal
Data analysis and automationTrial design, sensory and shelf-life data at every bench; Python and AI tools at Amazon; 49 legacy defects cleared; elasticity modeling
Technical research authorship11-method blueberry study; policy papers on labeling and meat consolidation

Policy work

Rules I have worked under, programs I have designed, and markets I have opened. Then the graduate research behind them.

Civic

Annual Commission work plan

One of 21 commissioners appointed by the Mayor and Council. Co-authored the work plan that sets the priorities Council legislates against: transportation equity, accessible infrastructure, emergency preparedness, ADA compliance.

Seattle Disability Commission · 2025–26Open →
Regulatory

FDA and USDA regulatory work

Built retail and foodservice labels, ingredient statements and allergen declarations. Managed compliance across the product lifecycle at Amazon, led supplier food safety audits across 202 products and two recall responses.

High Liner Foods, Amazon Fresh · 2017–26
Program design

Expanded Access Program

Designed and launched a pro bono development program for BIPOC food entrepreneurs: nearly $50,000 in services in year one, renewed for a second year.

CuliNEX · 2020–22Open →
Policy proposal

Nutrition guidance platform for SNAP households

A proposal engaging SNAP benefit structures, SNAP-Ed, GusNIP, EFNEP and USDA SBIR/STTR funding, with regulatory risk assessed across FDA, HIPAA and CMS food-as-medicine frameworks.

2026
Agricultural trade

Taking U.S. blueberries overseas

Built and ran the Council’s international samples and technical communications program from scratch, connecting global manufacturers with U.S. blueberry ingredient suppliers. Contributed to 50 new products in India and a children’s supplement in Malaysia. Presented at Asia Fruit Logistica, Bangkok.

U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council · 2021–23Open →
Graduate researchEight papers · LSE Executive MPA

What I studied

Each paper opens as a PDF.

1 / 10

R&D Portfolio

High Liner Foods · 2018Sea Cuisine clean-label line

Salmon, cod and tilapia. Bench to shelf for Walmart and Kroger, labels and child-nutrition compliance included.

 The Chia Co. · 2016–17Chia Pod

Commercialization project manager for three international launches across R&D, QA, co-packers and suppliers.

 CuliNEX for Rebellyous · 2021Plant-based nuggets, sofi Award winner

2021 sofi Award for plant-based protein and the KeHE On Trend Frozen Award. Formulation and scale-up.

 CuliNEX for Seemore · 2022Vegetable chicken nuggets

Chicken and vegetable nuggets for a brand built on vegetable-forward sausages.
CuliNEX · 2022Plant-based burgers

Crumb and bind trials at the bench, then continuous forming on the line.

CuliNEX · 2022Plant-based pepperoni

Texture, fat release and bake performance on pizza.

CuliNEX · 2021Crooked Spoon Ice Cream

Retail ice cream line developed and commercialized for a CuliNEX client.

U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council · 2021–23Blueberry ingredient comparison study

Eleven processing methods compared on nutrition, sensory, function and cost. Presented in the US and at Asia Fruit Logistica, Bangkok.

 Kettle Cuisine · 2019–20Kettle-cooked soups at scale

Food safety and quality systems for large-batch manufacturing, and launches across R&D, operations and quality.

 Amazon Fresh · 2025Bakery and prepared foods resets

Six major resets sourced on a 50% compressed schedule under a new everyday-low-price strategy.

The loop I have worked every stage of

A rule gets written, a company responds, a product lands on a shelf, someone eats it. Most policy analysts have sat in one of these boxes. I've sat in all of them.

LSE executive cohort in graduation gowns
Commissioner · policy research

Rule is written

FDA, USDA, City Council

Julia in a lab coat pouring into a stand mixer
Food scientist · regulatory specialist

Company responds

Reformulate, re-source, relabel

Julia grinning in front of a freezer case stocked with Sea Cuisine products she developed
Product developer · sourcing manager

Product on shelf

Retail buyer, supplier audit

A wooden board of bread, cucumbers, tomatoes and olives
Policy Reformulated

Consumer outcome

Nutrition, price, access

evidence feeds the next rule

What I'm building

Founder · 2026 –

LoopNPD

The food R&D platform that learns your science as you build it. Formulation management, stage-gate tracking, nutrition and labeling tools, a supplier directory, and Millie, an AI co-pilot that reads your trial data and suggests the next experiment.

Built from the problem I lived for twelve years: developers find ingredient solutions slowly because technical sales support sits outside the R&D process. LoopNPD puts it inside.

Stage-gateFormulation managementNutrition factsTechnical data sheetsTriangle testsIngredient marketplaceMillie AI
Launch app →
LoopNPD dashboard with a needs-attention alert, active products and formulations
Millie AI suggesting a formulation change with a mechanism explanationNutrition Facts panel with a labeling warning

What I'm writing

Policy Reformulated · 2026

Policy Reformulated

How food policy shapes what gets made and sold, written by someone who has reformulated the product in response. Each essay takes a live rule and follows it to the shelf: the federal ultra-processed food definition, FDA front-of-pack labels, protein claims on bread.

Read latest →
Diagram from the ultra-processed food essay: whole ingredients split into fractions sold as other ingredients or destroyed during processing
Sep 2026

Imported Beef Is the Wrong Outrage

Trimmings are 2% of the supply. The slavery, the child labor and the ten listeria deaths are what nobody gets punished for.
Aug 2026

Defining Ultra-Processed Foods for a Nutritious Outcome

The government is defining ultra-processed food right now. The definition decides whether we get a more nutritious nation.
Aug 2026

Bread part 2: MAHA Is Affecting the Wrong Things

A movement that wants healthier food is monitoring what goes in, not how the food ends up.
Aug 2026

The New FDA Front-of-Pack Labels Will Not Improve Anything

An economic policy analysis of front-of-package schemes and consumer outcomes.
Aug 2026

Half the Protein, All the Credit

A loaf can advertise 22 grams of protein and legally deliver less than half. How the trick works and the fix that would stop it.

By the numbers

  • 12 yearsin the food industry, from the bench to the sourcing desk
  • $2 millionin annual savings identified at Amazon Fresh, about 19 percent
  • 202 productsbrought into full food safety compliance
  • 30 or more productsled as technical lead at CuliNEX
  • 1 of 21 commissionersadvising a city of 800,000
  • $50,000in pro bono food development for BIPOC founders in the program's first year

Connect with Julia

Hiring for food, agriculture or nutrition policy? I would like to hear about it.

Connect with Julia →View resume →
julia.thompson11work@gmail.compolicyreformulated.substack.com
Julia Thompson, smiling, in a black blazer