Food production experts passionate about bringing your ideas to life

"Starting your own business is exciting and terrifying in equal measure. Your success often depends on the partners you pick to support the mission. True Leaves provides exactly that; technical expertise, reassurance, support and a shoulder to lean on."

"Karen is an amazing person and mentor that goes above and beyond consulting to actually help us get things done! From helping to build our quality assurance program to developing new seasonings we've always been impressed with her work. On top of any work she has done with us, we also recognize Karen's community engagement - running courses, offering consultations to small businesses and teaching kids the importance of eating healthy. We are lucky to have her on our team!"

"I worked with Karen for label regulations and she was such a treat to work with. There is SO much to know and she made me feel so well taken care of. I met her through a glowing referral from my mentor, who told me she is a magician when it comes to recipe development. Having listened to her speak with the Food Venture Program multiple times, I can confidently vouch for Karen. She is kind, knowledgeable, warm, and just the type of person you want to have in your corner."

"I began working with Karen in 2022 and hired her as an industry expert to help guide 50 food entrepreneurs in their product science journey. Karen possesses immense knowledge in her field and can distill her wisdom with ease and enthusiasm, making complex industry jargon accessible for entrepreneurs at all levels. She has since worked with all 200 of our entrepreneurs, who are lucky to have her on their roster."

"Working and meeting with Karen was amazing. She is so knowledgeable with what she does. Our meeting was invaluable to me. I left the meeting both with clarity on where my business is now and tangible steps I need to take to move forward. Thank you Karen!"

"I chose Karen to help me with my food product development because of her deep passion for food and creating new recipes. She is TRULY a food industry and product development expert and understands the underlying science behind food! She has also had a ton of varied experience in large manufacturing plants including Nestle, where I even got to experience some of the unique ice cream and sorbets she had created! I also LOVE her ability to think on the spot and be ultra creative and her fast ability to problem solve. She obviously has been doing this for long-enough that she is super ready and comfortable to help you with any issue you may have! She's really helped me refine my wheat-free cookie recipe and I'll continue to work with her when I launch a new recipe!"

"Karen came highly recommended to me via the Food Venture Program. From the moment she was introduced, the high level of professionalism stood out. From the Non-Disclosure Agreement to the finished product. Karen knows her craft well. The test recipes/products she delivered were amazing. The final products and flavours of my bammies are a hit with my customers! Her kind, patient, and professionalism make her fun to work with. She’s a superstar recipe developer!"

"I was introduced to Karen and True Leaves Consulting through The Foodpreneur Program. What was quickly evident upon meeting her is her depth of Product Science knowledge and her willingness to openly share that knowledge. Through Karen’s teachings and advice I’ve been able to improve my recipe formulation, create a real focus on ingredient costs and implement the right controls to properly manage business from the foundation up. Meeting Karen at this stage in my start up business is truly invaluable, using the tools, advice and knowledge she has imparted can only lead to a successful launch and scale up of my business. Words can’t express my gratitude for Karen."

"I had the opportunity to learn from Karen's expertise during our Foodpreneur sessions. She has a wealth of knowledge regarding product research and development and has experience working with industry leading brands. As a new food entrepreneur in the plant-based space, I was thrilled to learn that Karen has helped many vegan/plant based food brands with their recipe ideas development. Not only did Karen make me feel very comfortable and welcome, but listened to me attentively and worked with me to create a plan of action. If you are lost or need some guidance, Karen can help you! I highly recommend True Leaves Consulting!"

"Had the pleasure of working with Karen at True Leaves Consulting through the Foodpreneur Lab program. She was so personable and helpful and what a wealth of information she had! Looking forward to working with the team at True Leaves Consulting as I develop my new food product! Very excited for the next steps ahead!"

"It is very obvious that Karen is very knowledgeable in her field by the manner in which she presents what could be very overwhelming information to start-up businesses, leaving one with a better understanding of the intricacies of the food industry. I found the information she shared to be very valuable as I work on scaling my business."

"Karen at True Leaves Consulting was introduced to our brand through a connection at the London Economic Development Corporation and exceeded all expectations! Karen went above and beyond in helping our team with formulations, regulatory compliance, scaling formulations for a
co-manufacturer, and English-French translation. We worked through over 20 product iterations to improve the existing formulation while keeping the superior taste consistent. I continued to go back to Karen for input on launching production, improving formulations, as well as exploring ideas on how to increase our shelf-life. I would recommend getting in touch with Karen to see how True Leaves Consulting could be of help as the team has a breadth of knowledge covering many domains."

"We had the pleasure of working with Karen & Steve to help us create the perfect formulation for our plant based drink for children. It was challenging because there were so many aspects to consider such as consistency, flavour, ingredient nutritional value, available suppliers etc. But thanks to their expertise and knowledge, we found the right combination to create the formulation we needed and now we are ready to launch our product. Karen also provided guidance and support with the Nutrition Facts Table and our category’s regulatory aspects, which was very valuable for us. We highly recommend working with True Leaves Consulting; they are professionals, kind and experts in their field."

"Working with Karen was a great experience. Thanks to her expertise we can have comfort in knowing that our products meet all the requirements. Highly recommended."

"True Leaves worked with us on a very challenging product with many requirements and consistently took our feedback into account. She delivered a formulation with the exact nutritional profile we asked for, not an easy task, and one that is both scalable and cost effective, ultimately cutting our ingredient COGS in half while improving the nutritional profile of our product at the same time!"

"Working with Karen and Steve has been an excellent experience! They are responsive, knowledgeable and truly care about getting every detail right. Their expertise has been a key part of bringing our beverage to life."