Dennis R. Fry, founder and president of FFTI, developed an early interest in food. By age 14, after winning 4-H awards for his vegetables and strawberries, he was named assistant produce judge at the local county fair. Later, after undergraduate and graduate studies, Dennis began his food career at the Indiana State Food and Drug Laboratories as a microbiologist. Within two years, he advanced to Senior Food Analyst. A year later he was assigned to the U.S. FDA, where he did collaborative research on new food testing methods. Some of the resulting methods were published and adapted nationally.
Four years after beginning his career in food regulation, Dennis moved to private industry, where he began as a division supervisor for Standard Brands, Inc. Soon, he advanced to a management position in corporate technology. After the merger of Standard Brands with Nabisco, his responsibilities continued to grow. He directed a corporate technology laboratory; had responsibility for quality control and technical support for 20 contract packaging facilities; and technical support responsibility for 14 company owned facilities. Later, he also assumed management responsibility for a company flavor production facility. After the combining of Del Monte with Nabisco Brands, Dennis had an opportunity to work with Dr. Donald Corlett, one of the pioneers of HACCP. He developed a strong interest in HACCP and eventually was also given corporate responsibility for establishing HAACP programs throughout the company.
During a 16 year career with food multinationals, Dennis had opportunities to work on many product research and development projects and product startups. Being keenly interested in food and process technologies, he seldom missed an opportunity to get into the manufacturing plants and evaluate new technology or processes. In late 1991, Dennis founded what would later become Fry Food Technologies International . Since then, he has spent nearly two years of project time in Europe; served as a consultant on privatization to a Russian Trade Union; worked as consulting vice-president for a Warsaw, Poland based food company; developed products for Asia; and worked on quality improvement projects in Argentina, Chili, China, France and Germany, as well as extensively in the U.S.
Dennis was elected to Professional Membership in The Institute of Food Technologists and the American Society for Microbiology in 1977. He is the author of three papers and books on Food Safety and HACCP, and has been a speaker at several professional meetings and universities. His food products have received international recognition and have been featured in cookbooks by noted chefs in Asia and Europe. Dennis has also been featured in Agricultures Magazine, CASH Business Weekly, and Indianapolis Monthly, among other publications.
Dennis Fry may be contacted at: dennis@fryfoodtech.com
