EDISON, NJ — AAK, a manufacturer of specialty vegetable fats and oils, has expanded its Innovation Center team. Megan Brazil has joined as a customer innovation scientist and John Lee has joined as an innovation technologist.

“I am pleased to welcome Megan Brazil and John Lee to the AAK team,” said Octavio Diaz de Leon, president of AAK USA and AAK North Latin America. “They will both be based out of our West Coast Innovation Center in Richmond, Calif., where they will utilize AAK’s wide range of fat and oil solutions to help our customer partners accelerate innovation, increase speed to market and enhance productivity to further the development of the plant-based food space.

Ms. Brazil will help manage customer-driven projects and assist in implementing capabilities at the center while providing comprehensive technical support for customers. Her focus will be to develop new solutions for plant-based foods. Ms. Brazil brings experience working with Kerry Ingredients; Albertsons, Boise, Idaho; and Spero Foods, Los Angeles. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in food science from San Diego State University.

Mr. Lee will support new product development activities at the center. He spent the past three years at Casa Sanchez Foods where he focused on quality and process development. Mr. Lee has a Bachelor of Science degree in food science from California Polytechnic State University.