Menu Analyst, Food Writer, and President,The Kruse Company| St. Paul, MN

Nancy Kruse is the president of The Kruse Company, which is dedicated to assessing trends and directions in food, menu, and restaurant concepts; and she has tackled these topics in the pages of leading industry publications like Restaurant Business and Nation’s Restaurant News. She is a recognized authority and widely quoted spokesperson on food and menu trends and one of the best-known menu analysts in the foodservice industry. In demand as a speaker, she has addressed national and state restaurant associations; major restaurant and supermarket organizations; food manufacturers and distributors; and promotion boards across the US and around the world. Prior to founding her own company, Nancy served as executive vice president for Technomic, Inc., where she conducted a wide range of consulting assignments for Fortune 500 food and restaurant companies. She has served on several boards, and she has been an active member of the Women’s Foodservice Forum and Las Dames d’Escoffier International. Nancy earned a Master of Arts degree from the Film School of Northwestern University and was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in Russian Literature at the University of Wisconsin. She has also completed coursework at The Culinary Institute of America, where she has served as guest lecturer. In addition, Nancy has been named one of LinkedIn’s Top 100 Influencers in the US, and she contributes regularly to the business-networking website.