Anthony Knoerzer Joins 915 Labs as Vice President for Customer Success

"915 Labs is only successful if our customers are successful," said Matt Raider, Chief Operating Officer. "Ensuring our food manufacturing customers can rapidly develop, produce, launch and sell the highest quality and highest impact food products is crucial to both our growth and their growth. Tony Knoerzer has successfully integrated countless innovative technologies into some of the largest food companies in the world and served as a trusted advisor to their executive leadership. He knows how to foster a company-wide culture of customer success and how to launch successful packaged food products."

915 Labs is the exclusive provider of Microwave Assisted Thermal Sterilization (MATS™) and Microwave Assisted Pasteurization System (MAPS™) technologies, which offer a healthier and higher quality way to sterilize and pasteurize food. Compared to conventional thermal processing, MATS and MAPS systems shorten the time foods and beverages are exposed to high heat, which preserves nutrients, color, texture, and taste and eliminates the need for unnatural additives.

Knoerzer has a long track record of successful innovation in the food industry. During his nearly 20-year career at PepsiCo, he helped revolutionize packaging for the company's leading snack chip brands, including Doritos, Cheetos, Fritos and Lays, leading to increased product quality, sales and revenues. He led a multi-year program to transition from clear to metallized packaging, which resulted in higher revenues and more than $6 million in annual savings.

Throughout his career, Knoerzer has been the lead inventor on more than 40 patents for packaging innovations, including every new package released to the market by Frito Lay from 1994 to 2004. He also led the company's conversion from oil-based packaging to plant-based packaging, developing the first 100 percent compostable snack package for SunChips in 2009.

Most recently, Knoerzer worked as a consultant helping companies of all sizes with product development, new technology applications and material and equipment selection.

"New technology is what I do, it's what I love," said Knoerzer. "The MATS technology will change the food industry and I look forward to helping companies implement the technology to produce the healthy, convenient packaged foods and beverages consumers want."

As 915 Labs' VP for Customer Success, Knoerzer will use his expertise to support customers as they develop and produce MATS and MAPS-processed foods and beverages.

"Customers who have purchased or are exploring the use of MATS have a range of questions, from what products are possible and how they are packaged, to what resources and skill sets they will need in their plant. It's my role to guide them through that process," said Knoerzer.

Knoerzer will support customers from their first time running products on a MATS pilot system through production line implementation and ongoing product growth, providing consultation on a range of issues from brand development, product size and packaging, price point and go-to-market strategies.

"With MATS, companies can create products that are authentic and fresh, which is right on trend with what consumers want," said Knoerzer. "We have a strong commitment to our customers' success in developing great tasting, healthful products at the right cost point."

Knoerzer holds bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from the State University of New York, Buffalo.

915 Labs, headquartered in Denver, offers a pilot-scale MATS-B for recipe and food product development, several commercial scale MATS production systems with a range of processing speeds up to 250 packages per minute, and MAPS systems dedicated to pasteurization.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160823/400440 

SOURCE 915 Labs