The Product Evaluations' team is uniquely developed to combine solid foodservice marketing and industry experience.

Jane Wood
CEO
Jane joined Product Evaluations in 1991 as President of the firm. Through her vision and leadership, the company has expanded from its roots in consumer packaged goods research to one of the leading strategic marketing and research firms serving the food-away-from-home industry. Jane is dedicated to improving the quality of market information to the foodservice industry as well as leveraging emerging technology to enhance client offerings.

To address changing industry dynamics, Jane spearheaded the development of Product Evaluations Success MetriX™ line of online innovation tools aimed at bringing cutting edge product innovation information to foodservice. To provide more reliable volume projections for foodservice companies, Jane directed the development and validation process for VolCalc™, Product Evaluations proprietary volume forecasting model, as well as the Product Evaluations Normative Database System.

Prior to serving as President and CEO of Product Evaluations, Jane was President of Investment Intelligence Group. She is an active member of several foodservice associations and has been frequently featured as a guest speaker regarding New Product and Concept Standardization and Testing for foodservice and has led a series of product innovation industry webinars.

Rich Tucker
President
As President of Product Evaluations, Rich is responsible for directing the firm and all of its custom foodservice research and consulting engagements. Strategically, Rich will continue to challenge the Product Evaluations team to raise the bar on foodservice research. Tactically, he works closely with our clients to insure that research initiatives are grounded in client strategies and have actionable results.

Since joining the firm in 1998 as VP Marketing and Sales, Rich has made significant contributions in supporting the firm's efforts with food-away-from-home manufacturers suppliers and trade groups.

• Created Product Evaluations' Sophisticated Research Partners, a forum that brings leading foodservice marketing professionals together to discuss critical issues affecting the industry.
• Initiated the Product Evaluations' sponsorship program for the National Restaurant Association's Scholarship and Mentoring Initiative, and remains an active judge for ProStart® and ProManagement® curriculum tracks.
• Ongoing member, and 2007 Conference Chair of the IFMA Sales & Marketing Conference.

Rich has invested over 20 years in the foodservice industry. Prior to joining Product Evaluations, Inc. he worked in sales and marketing roles with top foodservice manufacturing companies such as the Keebler Company and the Pillsbury Company.

Ann Czopek
Senior Vice President Research Management
Ann has designed and customized classic marketing research techniques and statistical analysis for foodservice over hundreds of research projects during the last 15 years. Ann specializes in a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies and is instrumental in determining the appropriate methodology for each client's specific objectives and research needs. As Research Director, Ann coordinates the research teams and implements quality control measurements throughout the process.

Sara Tucker
Research Manager & Client Services
Sara brings over 15 years of market research to the team, focusing on foodservice industry research for the past 10 years. Sara specializes in Innovation research techniques, keeping clients' new product pipelines active and robust through: idea generation, sorting and selection, concept development and refinement, and new product development testing and reformulation. Sara is an accomplished strategic session facilitator, is an active member of the Sophisticated Research Partners group, and has spearheaded the creation of Product Evaluations' educational workshop to assist clients in identifying and developing winning new product concepts. As part of the Client Services team, Sara also works closely with clients to strategize against goals and employ appropriate problem-solving activities.

Laurey Lee
Research Manager / Quantitative Programs
Laurey brings over ten years of quantitative foodservice research experience to the Product Evaluations team. Through her involvement in hundreds of research studies covering a myriad of product categories in foodservice, Laurey has gained a deep understanding of foodservice markets, operator segments, distributors and national account customers. This information is utilized as a basis to create the best sample plans and research strategies to meet our client's needs.

Joyce Williams
Research Manager & Client Services
Joyce brings over 20 years of quantitative and qualitative research experience to the Product Evaluations' team. Leveraging her vast experience, Joyce will create custom research solutions to help clients execute their innovation strategies against Product Evaluations' proprietary research tools, such as Success MetriX™. She has special interest and experience in leading operator segmentation studies and is currently leading "Project Illuminate," a major industry-wide segmentation and profiling initiative. Joyce also works with Product Evaluations' leadership team on finding and implementing emerging technology initiatives.

Prior to joining the company, Joyce served as President and Co-Founder of Wild Onion Research & Consulting, Inc. In that role, she designed, directed and interpreted qualitative and quantitative research including brand equity, segmentation analysis, brand positioning, communication and tracking. Joyce also spent 13 years with Leo Burnett Company, where as Vice President, Planning Director, she led a team responsible for designing market research studies to help provide strategic vision for agency/client teams. She earned an undergraduate degree in journalism and a master's degree in advertising from Northwestern University.

Andrea Bilotti
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Andrea's diverse foodservice background spans multiple disciplines, including market research, public relations, national account partnership development, brand positioning/strategy and new product evaluations and product testing. She has spent her 16-year foodservice career honing her skills at leading foodservice organizations, such as The Coca-Cola Company, National Cattlemen's Beef Association and Technomic, Inc. In addition to research engagements, Andrea works with the Product Evaluations leadership team on emerging technology initiatives and strategic partnership development.