Kemin Industries, a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80% of the world with its products and services, appointed Dr. Y. Joy Zhong as director of research and development (R&D) for its food technologies business unit in North America. Dr. Zhong will lead research, product development, and formulation—from conception to commercialization—for Kemin Food Technologies – North America.

Dr. Zhong is an expert specializing in various food ingredient categories such as fats and oils, emulsifiers, antioxidants, preservatives, alternative proteins, hydrocolloids, enzymes, and more. She has served in technical leadership roles and has made great achievements in the food industry. 

Dr. Zhong has several patents to her name and has completed various training and certification programs in management, sales, project leadership, intellectual property, and innovation. She has also served as an editorial board member for Food Chemistry, a leading food science journal. Her achievements and involvement reflect her dedication to advancing knowledge and promoting rigorous scientific inquiry.

Before joining Kemin, Dr. Zhong was Director of New Product Development at The EVERY Co., for which she guided initiatives developing fermentation-derived alternative proteins for food applications. She has also held technical and leadership positions at DuPont, Corbion, and Cargill. Dr. Zhong has extensive experience and expertise in product innovation, project management, and technical leadership within the food ingredient field.

Dr. Zhong earned both her doctoral and master’s degrees in food science, with a focus on food chemistry, particularly lipid chemistry and antioxidants for food and health, from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. She received her bachelor’s degree in food science and engineering from Hunan Agricultural University.