# Ali Michel > CEO at Next Food Consulting for CPG Startups | Investor | Advisor | Helping food & beverage brands 🚀 Location: Palo Alto, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/alimichel 20+ years in Food & Tech. In 2020, I launched a vegan protein bar brand (including a “less sweet” Lemon & Basil flavor with a full serving of vegetables), working closely with manufacturers and deepening my customer insight. Since then, I’ve led end-to-end commercialization - product development, sourcing, manufacturing, pricing/packaging, and go-to-market - across the U.S. and Canada, including getting my own brand into Erewhon. I now help health-focused founders bring products to market with market research, manufacturer selection, unit economics, branding/packaging, operations, and launch strategy. ## Work Experience ### Head of Operations @ Autumn Sons Baking Co. Jan 2023 – Present Gluten-Free & Plant-Based Baking Mixes; Top-9 Allergen-Free ### CPG Startup Mentor, Venture Accelerator @ UCLA Anderson School of Management Jan 2024 – Present The UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator, part of the Harold and Pauline Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, is a transformative program designed for early-stage startups and their founders. It provides access to industry leaders, mentors, and UCLA's broad network, helping startups in various industries. ### CPG Startup Mentor @ SKU Jan 2023 – Present SKU provides an ecosystem that creates lasting change in CPG by providing all the resources founders need to accelerate the growth of their brands. SKU’s world-class program is driven by a community of the nation’s top CPG leaders, successful founders and industry experts. Our intensive programs offer best-in-class education, hand-picked teams of mentors and access to retailers and investors, all dedicated to building brands that change lives. ### Owner & CEO @ Next Food Consulting Jan 2022 – Present Unlocking Success in Food Innovation In the ever-evolving landscape of the food industry, we understand the hurdles new food brands face when launching their products. Many struggle due to the complexity of the field and the lack of experience navigating it. Our mission at Next Food Consulting is clear: to empower your success. We leverage our expertise and years of experience to fast-track your journey, helping you avoid the common obstacles that can hinder your progress. Areas of Expertise: ➤ Food Industry ➤ Go to Market Strategy ➤ Startups ➤ Market Research & Analysis ➤ Branding ➤ Packaging Design & Sourcing ➤ Manufacturing & Supply Chain ➤ Social Media Marketing ➤ Regulatory Compliance ➤ Costing Analysis With our dedicated team of experts and a comprehensive range of services, we're here to ensure your journey in the food industry is a smooth and successful one. Let's unlock the potential of your food innovation together. ### CPG Operations & Commercialization @ the greater goods Jan 2022 – Jan 2023 Helping CPG brands to develop, validate and successfully launch new food products directly into retail. ➤ Go-to-Market (GTM): Created strategies including product placement, messaging, pricing, and packaging ➤ Program Management: Led commercialization efforts across product development, ingredient sourcing, manufacturing, packaging, regulatory and design in multiple languages ➤ Manufacturer Search, Selection & Setup: Performed extensive searches for manufacturers across U.S. and Canada and selected based on location, equipment, certifications, and allergens processed in the facility, for initial product launches and to scale production of products already on the market ➤ Product Development: Managed the development of over a dozen different food products, working closely with a Food & Molecular Scientist to finalize recipes based on requirements for specific nutrition facts, packaging claims, and allergen exclusions ➤ Cost Analysis: Developed costing scenarios to determine unit economics based on cost of ingredients, packaging, labor, freight, marketing, MSRP, distribution Projects include: ➤ Premium Alcohol-Infused Popcorn: New manufacturer to scale in Canada and launch in U.S.; featured at the 2023 Oscars ➤ Allergen-Free Cookie Mix: New manufacturing facilities in U.S. and Canada for large-scale production and wider distribution in U.S. ➤ Healthier-For-You Ice Cream: Production and initial launch in the U.S. ➤ Multi-Purpose Baking Mix: Scale production for grocery store distribution in Canada ➤ Gluten-Free Toaster Pastries: Initial launch in Canada ➤ Vegan Deli Salads: Launch in U.S. grocery stores; replace the usual egg salad, tuna salad and chicken salad using vegan ingredients ➤ Chickpea Tofu: Initial launch of a novel product for distribution in Canada ➤ Asian Sauces: Developed in a restaurant for distribution throughout Canada ➤ Falafels & More: Move production of frozen, Mediterranean prepared foods with high-volume distribution to a larger facility ### Founder & CEO @ Zuda Bar Jan 2019 – Jan 2022 | Palo Alto, California, United States Developed and brought to market a vegan, gluten-free protein bar with a full serving of vegetables and no added sugars. Take your greens on the go. Zuda Bars are made from 100% real ingredients and sweetened exclusively with dates. With 10g of clean plant-based protein and a full serving of vegetables, Zuda Bars provide on-the-go fuel for your busy day. ➤ Product Development: Found a gap in the market and invented a new, “less sweet” vegan protein bar flavor: Lemon & Basil, which contained a full serving of vegetables. Developed the recipe with a manufacturer and produced 5,000 bars as an initial test to refine the definition of the target customer as well as validate the taste, texture and messaging ➤ Branding: Worked with a Visual Designer to create a unique look and feel that matched the unique and not-so-sweet flavor profile and refreshingly clean ingredients ➤ Online: Launched ZudaBar.com Shopify site in November, 2020, launched on Amazon with FBA offering free 2-day Prime shipping in January, 2022 ➤ Retail: Launched in all seven Erewhon grocery stores in Southern CA in January, 2022 ➤ Influencer Marketing: Identified and reached out to over 80 influencers and micro influencers with a 50% response rate after the initial launch in 2020 to gauge interest in trying Zuda Bar and posting Instagram stories to their followers. Collected feedback on taste, texture and messaging which informed important changes to the product and led to the Mint Cacao bar ➤ Sponsorship: Sponsored running and bike races such as Endurance Race Series, in Colorado and California ### Product & User Experience Executive @ AM Design Jan 2019 – Jan 2022 | Palo Alto, CA Design Thinking, Product & UX strategy, Product Design, User Experience Design, and User Research ➤ Enterprise decision trees for complex next best actions ➤ Consumer restaurant and grocery ordering platform for pickup and delivery ➤ Consumer video messaging ➤ Enterprise human-robot remote monitoring and control ➤ User research and customer journey maps ### VP of Product & UX @ Zingtree Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco Bay Area Designing user-friendly and accessible tools for enterprises. Zingtree offers the ability to create interactive decision trees and troubleshooters to improve the quality, consistency and efficiency of internal contact centers and business processes as well as external customer self-service. ### VP User Experience & Design @ Tophatter Jan 2017 – Jan 2018 | San Francisco Bay Area ➤ Joined the executive team as the first UX Design executive and championed the customer to ensure that the user experience was top of mind in every decision ➤ Built, led and inspired a high-performing Product and Design team as a highly-rated manager with seven direct reports including four Sr Product Managers, a Sr Visual Designer, Sr User Researcher and Product Designer ### Director of Product @ Tophatter Jan 2014 – Jan 2017 | Palo Alto, CA ➤ Led the redesign of iOS, Android and web apps, improving key business metrics such as CPA and LTV through data-driven iterations to help the company double revenue every year, scale from 12 concurrent auctions to 100, and become profitable in 2015 ➤ Simplified complex flows and designed elegant user interfaces for live auctions, catalog browsing, item details, checkout, order details, in-app customer support, order-related mailers, feedback, and seller tools ### Chief Product & Design Officer @ RockSpoon Inc Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 | Palo Alto Mobile / Online Restaurant Ordering & Delivery Social platform to redefine the way people search for, order, and review individual dishes from restaurants via a mobile application ### Senior User Experience Designer @ Sliced Bread Design Jan 2013 – Jan 2014 ➤ Project leadership: manage client relationships and keep projects on schedule and within budget ➤ User Research: create test plans & discussion guides, conduct user research to gain consumer insight, define product strategy with a clear point of view ➤ Concept Generation: lead brainstorms & ideation and drive to convergence quickly under tight timelines ➤ Product Definition: build prototypes using HTML, JavaScript & CSS to demonstrate functionality, test usability and define product specification ➤ Platforms & Industries: mobile and web applications for finance, home networking, home automation, big data analysis, insurance, education, and communication ➤ Clients: Google, Intuit, The Climate Corporation, NetHero, SGI, Xactly, Stanford University ### Senior User Experience Design Lead @ Control4 Jan 2010 – Jan 2013 ➤ First UX/UI Designer at Control4 ➤ Designed UI for multiple devices: touchscreen (including mobile), TV, and web, across multiple platforms: Flash, iOS (iPad & iPhone) and Android (tablet and phone) ➤ Helped the Energy Systems division bring their first product to market in November 2010: the Energy Controller (5" Touchscreen) with applications designed to help homeowners monitor, manage & control their electricity use: Thermostat (wireless programmable), My Energy (real-time consumption), Electricity (historic consumption graphs & trends), Utility Bills, Weather (forecast), Messages (from utility company), and Energy Events (participation in utility company-driven demand response energy-saving events) ### Lead UX/UI Designer @ Hewlett Packard Enterprise Jan 2008 – Jan 2010 ➤ Worked with partners in China and France to establish technical feasibility and develop UI ➤ Led User Experience and Interface design of Netbooks and touch-slate devices with Web-based OS ➤ Designed cloud services software UI for consumer Notebooks & PCs; conducted Heuristic Evaluations ➤ Developed strategies for centralizing UI Software Design activities within a Hardware company and developed best practices for UX/UI design within the organization ➤ Created prototypes for user testing and conducted user research on new software concepts ### Lead UX/UI Designer @ Hewlett Packard Enterprise Jan 2006 – Jan 2008 ➤ First UX/UI hire within the division; delivered on high expectations, tight budgets, aggressive timelines ➤ Worked with partners in Japan, Taiwan, and India to establish technical feasibility and develop UI ➤ Led negotiations with Marketing and Engineering functions as well as corporate partners, such as Microsoft ➤ Led award-winning user-centered design of MediaSmart TV, MediaSmart Connect (DMA), and Wireless Network Adaptor ➤ Prototyped, developed and documented task flows, screen layouts and instructions to set up and operate products (Out of Box Experience) ➤ Conducted usability testing and incorporated customer feedback from usability and beta testing into designs ### Design Engineer @ Hewlett Packard Enterprise Jan 2003 – Jan 2006 ➤ Designed control panels emphasizing usability, low-cost, high-volume (1 million units per month) production ➤ Led multiple concurrent control panel products and managed Engineering team in Singapore ➤ Improved design based on frequent visits to manufacturing and assembly plants in Malaysia and Indonesia ➤ Designed and developed web-based interactive tools for usability testing ### Graduate Teaching Assistant @ Stanford University Jan 2002 – Jan 2003 | San Francisco Bay Area Graduate Teaching Assistant for the ME310ABC "Engineering Design Entrepreneurship and Innovation" Class Series ### Design Engineer @ Design Phase Jan 2000 – Jan 2001 Designed display products for Xbox launch, Point of Purchase Advertising Industry. ### Summer Intern @ IDEO Jan 2000 – Jan 2000 Participated in initial phases of product design including brainstorming & concept generation, feasibility studies, benchmarking, concept integration & refinement, comparison & selection, and prototype fabrication ### Research Assistant @ MIT Media Lab Jan 1999 – Jan 2000 Designed products and conducted research in Hiroshi Ishii’s Tangible Media Group ## Education ### MS in Mechanical Engineering - Product Design (d.school) Stanford University ### BS in Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology ### The Winsor School ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/alimichel - Website: https://www.coroflot.com/alimichel/portfolio --- Source: https://flows.cv/alimichel JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/alimichel/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-08