The way most food and beverage R&D teams take a product from idea to label isn’t one workflow — it’s three or four disconnected ones. Formulation in spreadsheets. Labels in a point tool. Claims and compliance researched manually. People as the glue.
That model wasn’t built for the volume of change R&D teams have to absorb today — new regulations, shifting consumer expectations, supplier volatility, faster innovation cycles. It’s why compliance issues surface late, institutional knowledge walks out the door with people, and reformulations take longer than they should.
There’s a better way to do this work. Join Andy Stark and Matti Kakkori for a 45-minute session on what R&D should look like in 2026 — and how Specright R&D Workbench is making it real for food and beverage teams today.
What You’ll Learn
Why the idea-to-label workflow is broken in most F&B R&D organizations — and why it’s a structural problem, not a tooling problem
What an integrated, AI-native R&D workflow actually looks like — formulation, claims, and labels as one connected flow
How smart ingredient search, AI-driven starting formulas, and real-time compliance checks change the work day-to-day
Why generic AI tools fail in regulated environments — and how Specright’s deterministic architecture solves it
Live Q&A with the R&D Workbench team
Bringing together leaders in industry and technology to drive innovation.
Matti Kakkori
Sr. Director, PLM and AI Platform Product Management, Specright
Matti Kakkori is a seasoned product and technology leader with 15+ years of experience building and scaling AI-driven enterprise software. He has led product strategy, innovation, and cross-functional teams at startups and larger organizations, driving practical AI applications from concept to market. At Specright, Matti focuses on applying advanced AI to accelerate R&D workflows and elevate product development outcomes. His background includes product leadership roles and work shaping agentic AI platforms and complex SaaS products across industries.
Andy Stark
Vice President, Specright
Andy Stark is Vice President at Specright, responsible for the Specright Formulate product and go-to-market. He works with F&B companies of all shapes and sizes, from SMBs, to mid-market and enterprise, transforming how products are created using latest advancements in AI to centralizing R&D activities across formulation, labeling, and regulatory compliance.
Prior to Specright, Andy founded two B2B SaaS startups and brings over 15 years of experience building and scaling software platforms and driving digital transformation across B2B, including CPG and supply chain. His expertise spans product, go-to-market, and growth, with previous roles in startups, corporates, and management consulting. Andy is also an active advisor to early-stage technology companies, as well as emerging CPG brands.
“Specright enables us to track everything from the early stags of development, to production and end of life. Preparing to use Specright forced us to hold up a mirror and absorb a lot of reflective moments. It was very eye-opening and we feel much better prepared for the future now.”
Brittny Ohr
Director of Product Management, Sugar Foods
Why You Need Specright
When everyone has access to specifications, amazing things happen – faster product development, improved quality, and less waste.
With 5 million+ products on Specright’s Specification Data Management (SDM) platform, we’re helping some of the world’s largest companies and challenger brands optimize costs, accelerate innovation, and reduce waste. See how you can join the Specification Management movement — we’ll start with a brief call to understand your goals and then schedule a tailored demo experience that fits your needs.
