OUR TEAM

Bringing Your Passion to Purpose

Our Experience

Our team of consultants come from diverse backgrounds and have unique skills to support you. We have Operations Experts, Food Scientists, Quality Experts, and Engineering Associates.  Our extended network includes partnerships with marketing, strategy, and sales consultants, a Fractional CFO and bookkeepers. FoodOps provides solutions tailored to our clients’ specific points in their growth journey.

John Castillo

President

Adam Smith

Beverage and Operations Specialist

Bill Long

Sr. Project Manager

Craig Vanderwaal

Food Science Advisor | Formulator

Dan Devenport

Safety and Quality Expert

Debbie Stewart

CFO and Business Advisor

Jim Costello

Founder | Advisor

Our Values

RESPECTFUL

We always put the client first and are customer service oriented.

OWNERSHIP

We have a passion for our craft.

COLLABORATIVE

We leverage our network and collective experience to creatively solve problems.

HUMILITY

We only make promises we can keep.  

AGILE

We are quick to pivot to focus on the client’s changing priorities.

We want to handle your day to day activities, so you can focus on building your brand and planning your category takeover.

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John Castillo

President | Visionary

John Castillo is an expert project manager with over 25 years of experience in corporate operations, leadership, management, and training. John’s leadership style emphasizes team building, mentoring, and cross-functional alignment at both the lab and plant levels. John is one of the founding board members of Naturally Minnesota
His extensive background runs the gamut of corporate manufacturing operations, with a broad spectrum of corporations ranging from small entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 companies. He has worked full time and/or consulted for the United States Army, Boston Scientific, Malt-O-Meal, Post Consumer Brands, and Angie’s Boomchickapop. John’s expertise includes manufacturing startups; research and development platforms; FDA-regulated manufacturing; quality assurance; and training for both skills development and team building.

Adam Smith

Beverage and Operations Specialist

Adam Smith is a results-driven operations executive. Most recently serving as Vice President of Operations at Illicit Elixirs, Adam has consistently demonstrated his ability to drive operational excellence and bottom-line results.

Throughout his career progression from Supply Chain Analyst to Vice President, Adam has built a reputation for combining analytical precision with practical leadership. At The Lab’s pilot production and quality testing facility, he successfully scaled operations and fostered a culture of innovation and problem-solving, driving over $300,000 in gross profit year over year. His tenure at BevSource showcased his talent for business development, where he secured nearly $1M in new development and pilot service agreements while building lasting partnerships across the industry.

Known for his “yes, how?” attitude and hands-on leadership style, Adam excels in autonomous environments where creativity meets clear objectives. He brings a unique blend of strategic thinking and practical experience to his work, having managed everything from complex supply chain logistics to quality control in shelf-stable beverage production. His commitment to team development and customer satisfaction has consistently resulted in improved operational efficiency and strong business relationships throughout his career.

Craig Vanderwaal

Food Science Advisor

Craig Vanderwaal brings 30 years of food science experience to the Food Ops team. Over the span of his career, he has worked with such industry giants as General Mills, Cargill, and Malt-o-Meal/Post Holdings, but also with smaller companies like Ronnoco Coffee in St. Louis, Missouri. At General Mills, Craig helped to develop many popular products, such as Totino’s pizza and snack rolls, Chex Mix, and various breakfast cereals. He has worked on research and development; product testing; cost savings in the manufacturing process; quality assurance; and training employees in GMP, HAACP, and quality assurance. As a consultant, Craig has overseen the development, testing, and marketing of new products, as well as advised on institutional culture issues in various companies, helping to improve productivity and company morale. Craig is interested in using his experience to mentor new and innovative food entrepreneurs.

Dan Devenport

Safety and Quality Expert

Dan Devenport is a food safety and quality assurance specialist with over a decade of experience. Dan’s expertise is in quality management systems and supply chain development. He is also an accomplished trainer able to work with a variety of audiences, from the individual to 100-person seminars. He holds multiple certifications, including HACCP, SQF, and FSPCA Certification in FSMA Preventive Controls. Prior to joining the FoodOps team, Dan served as an in-plant Quality Assurance Manager and as a Regulatory, Food Safety, and Quality Manager at Angie’s Boomchickapop. In the latter position, he oversaw all the company’s policy, procedural, supplier and co-manufacturing areas. Dan assisted in building Angie’s from a 19-employee, one-shift company into a national brand with multiple production, warehousing, and distribution sites. He played an integral role in creating Angie’s SQF system and cultivating fruitful relationships with suppliers.

Debbie Stewart

CFO and Business Advisor

Debbie assesses and translates business analytics and finance data into actionable insights, knowledge, and guidance on the financial health and growth potential of the organization. She sees the organization from a holistic perspective and understands the interconnectedness between data, systems, process and infrastructure to set the stage for improvements and growth. She builds strong foundations and advises on business strategy, annual and quarterly planning and forecasting, raising capital, identifying opportunities for growth, managing risk and business challenges, or exit strategy.
Debbie’s approach blends deep business acumen with finance expertise to deliver a higher level of value for my clients. She collaborates closely with business leaders to develop strategy, plans and execution that meet organizational objectives whether to achieve or build financial stability, drive and manage scalable growth, create long-term value, achieve profitability, or position the organization for a material event.

Jim Costello

Founder | Advisor

Jim Costello has over three decades of experience in the food manufacturing industry. As Founder and President of FoodOps LLC, Jim oversees all company operations; facilitates new partnerships and manufacturing relationships for clients; and develops successful quality control programs and procedures.
Under Jim’s leadership, FoodOps has enabled entrepreneurs to successfully commercialize dozens of products. Prior to founding FoodOps, Jim served as a consultant (2009-11) and then Vice President of Operations for Angie’s Boomchickapop (2011-16) in Mankato, Minnesota, guiding the company from a $1 million startup to a major producer grossing $80 million. At Angie’s, Jim developed and launched new products (including the company’s top seller); oversaw the entire supply chain; and directed the Quality and Food Safety programs.
Before joining Angie’s, Jim held a variety of positions with companies such as Pillsbury, the Service Engineering Group, and Boston Scientific. He has directed award-winning Research & Development Teams and successfully managed multimillion-dollar budgets.