Culinary Design Studio is a Research & Development group that specializes in the development of high quality frozen food products. We work with a variety of customers including retailers, manufacturers, marketing companies and people searching for creative meal solutions. The test kitchen is located in the warehouse district of Minneapolis, Minnesota. CDS is chef managed, combining years of technical expertise with unique flavor profiles and techniques. CDS prides itself in the ability to develop top quality products tailored to our customer needs. Turn around times are among the quickest in industry. All products designed come with solid methods of preparation for manufacturing based on thorough knowledge of industry equipment.
CDS also offers its customers state of the art custom recipe batching software designed on the Microsoft Access platform. The software allows us to present new concepts with firm realistic cost models including manufactured food cost, yield expectations and methods of preparation. We also supply preliminary nutrition information along with ingredient decks provided by our Genesis software. In addition to these services, we also coordinate food photography and packaging layout at your request.
Kevin Towles formed CDS in 2003 with the idea that high quality frozen food could be developed for large-scale production while remaining cost efficient and innovative. Kevin brings 16 years of professional development experience along with a keen sense of manufacturing process. Since graduating from Scottsdale Culinary Institute, Kevin has gained extensive experience in frozen food manufacturing at plants in both the United States and Canada. Most recently, 2006-2009, Kevin occupied the role of Director of Research & Development at Bellisio Foods, based in Minnesota. Bellisio is a global supplier and manufacturer of frozen meals, generating over $600 million in annual sales and employing over 1200 people. In August 2008, Kevin developed and successfully launched into production a full line of frozen ready meals for the best selling cookbook “Joy of Cooking“.
Over the course of 16 years, Kevin has personally developed products for most retailers including Wal-Mart, Costco, Whole Foods, Wegmans, Loblaws, Meijer, Target, Kroger, Albertsons and Safeway. Kevin has also developed several items for major corporations including Kraft, General Mills, Bellisio Foods, M&M Meat Shops, Newman’s Own and Schwan’s. Kevin’s portfolio also includes development of ready meals for international airline carriers and national restaurant chains. His ability to carry a product from bench-top to production has enabled him to develop a diverse range of product lines while maintaining high quality and consistency in production.
email: ktowles@culinarydesignstudio.com
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