The next time you start your day with a steaming mug of Maxwell House coffee, you can thank a South Carolina State University graduate.

Named the university's vice president for institutional advancement in 2005, Dr. Jackie Epps spent the previous 33 years playing a significant role in product research and development at Kraft Foods Inc.

"I had my degree in chemistry, but I had no idea how I was going to use it," Epps said. "I had never heard of food chemistry or food technology. I thought this had to be something close to a chef. I didn't really want to do that, but I needed the job. I thought, 'Okay, I'll do this for about three months.' Once I was there, I found it very exciting."

Epps holds numerous company awards and United States patents, including one in 2007 for a shelf-stable shredded cheese product that requires no refrigeration. Epps developed hundreds of new products and line extensions that also included Cool Whip toppings, and Country Time, Capri Sun and Crystal Light beverages, just to name a few.

A lifetime of achievement in the food industry was not on Epps' mind when he first joined General Foods Corp., which later merged with Kraft, in 1971.

"It was almost serendipity, looking for one thing and finding something else," Epps said.

"I did my two years in Vietnam after going through the ROTC program at State. After I finished my active duty commitment, I was living in Connecticut with my brother," he said. "He was a scientist at Clairol, and General Foods was trying to recruit him. He was satisfied where he was, but he knew I was looking for a job. He told them, 'You may want to talk to my brother.' They gave me an interview, and the rest is history."

Early in his career, Epps worked out of General Foods' New York research and development office. He says the experience was more enjoyable than he dared hope.

"The exciting part of that was taking those products out to the consumers," Epps said. "In my first month, I took a trip from New York to Chicago, evaluated some products there and did some comparisons. From there, I went on to Seattle, then to L.A. and did some consumer testing, then to San Diego and Houston, New Orleans and Miami. And I thought, 'This isn't too bad for a single guy.'"

Consumer product testing consisted of focus groups in different regions across the country. Epps says that input would determine if the company would put an item into production.

"We would have a one-way mirror and a moderator in the room with the group. That's how we would develop products," Epps said. "Sometimes, we would just crack up at some of the comments they would make, like, 'This is garbage. Who would eat this stuff?' 'You would have to be crazy to eat this.' 'This must be dog food or something.'"

"We would go back to the lab and modify the formula based on their feedback. But we always used their input," he said. "It allowed us the tools to keep refining until we got it right."

Epps says the atmosphere was always competitive. Working with what he called "the best and the brightest" led him to earn his master's degree and doctorate in food chemistry at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

"When you get into food chemistry, you get really specific. You get down to proteins, carbohydrates, fats and oils," Epps said. "They each have their own specificity, in terms of how they help the body from a nutritional perspective. You have to know how these components interact together."

One example of breakthrough product development Epps was involved in came after he transitioned into alternative foods.

"I was working on this project called bacon analog, making bacon from vegetable protein, which was a little before its time in the late '60s and early '70s," Epps said. "We used wheat and soy proteins and artificial colors to make it look red and white, fat and lean. We had to take those proteins and texturize them so they chewed just like real bacon."

"We were ready to go, but General Foods acquired Oscar Mayer, which didn't support synthetic meat products," he said. "So, we discontinued our development and commercialization efforts. Five to 10 years later, meat alternatives started to hit the market in a big way."

Epps won several company President's Awards for his 15 years of work at Maxwell House, helping create coffee products that increased market share for General Foods. Other developments involved the creation of de-flavored coconut fibers used to add texture to food.

But Epps says he is proudest of the shelf-stable cheese product.

"I developed that with my team in the last year I was with Kraft," he said. "Our client wanted to use a natural cheese product. We formulated it so that the water was in the product, but it was bound so that the bacteria couldn't use it to spoil the cheese. It still had the taste and feel of natural cheese on your tongue, but it wouldn't spoil."

The corporate attitude toward product research changed midway through Epps' career, as more new products were purchased rather than developed in-house to save money.

"It was less creative and innovative," Epps said. "We would get hit with some enormous targets on productivity. Every year, we would have to find ways to cut costs. They would give us a goal of saving $10 million one year, and then the next, they would double it. Pretty soon, you would reach the point of diminishing returns."

Epps says the personal connections he made at Kraft continue to enrich him and S.C. State.

"We worked for Kraft, we develop a relationship, and everyone moves on and works for other companies. I'm able to use that network to tap into many different corporations because of that experience," he said. "That diversity covers former colleagues who are vice presidents at Wachovia, Starbucks and Kellogg's."

"Each year, we try to meet and maintain those relationships," Epps said. "We meet at Myrtle Beach to reconnect and talk about what we're doing -- and play a little golf."

T&D Staff Writer Phil Sarata can be reached by e-mail at psarata@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5540. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.