HANOVER, PA. — Shannan Redcay, senior director of innovation and quality assurance at Utz Brands, Inc., was promoted to senior vice president of innovation and value creation.

Ms. Redcay joined Utz in 2015 as director of product innovation. Before that, she spent nearly a decade at WhiteWave Foods Co., where she held several roles, including food scientist and director of R&D for the company’s packaging and regulatory, dairy and Dean Foods divisions.  She also was a whey protein scientist at Leprino Foods.

As senior vice president of innovation and value creation, Ms. Redcay will be charged with advancing Utz’s entry into new categories, forms and formats and capitalizing on emerging trends.

“I expect great things to come from Shannan’s expertise, which is in bringing the highest quality products to market and developing new product and packaging ideas that are in lock-step with the needs of our consumers, both new and existing,” said Dylan Lissette, chief executive officer of Utz Brands. “Shannan and her team have demonstrated that the most effective way to solidify an emotional and lasting connection with our consumers is to give them something they haven’t even thought to ask for — and that comes from understanding what is most relevant to them.”

Ms. Redcay currently oversees product innovation, quality assurance and product and packaging development. A key responsibility for her team is facilitating communication to ensure new product and packaging ideas are customized for where and when consumers are snacking, she said.

“Working to understand where consumers are at is a big part of what we do, especially now,” Ms. Redcay said. “One of the current day challenges we face is the drastic shift in consumer behaviors. People went out of ‘exploratory mode’ and instead sought sources and brands of comfort in the early part of 2020, so we need to not just mine customer data and monitor trends but also make some predictions to a certain extent.”

Ms. Redcay will seek inspiration from other categories as Utz looks to enter new areas of snacking and gain product diversity, she added, citing the company’s recently announced acquisition of Conagra Brands’ H.K. Anderson filled pretzel brand.