About
Tall Hat Foods is part food development incubator, part food design studio, part food science laboratory – all infused with lean manufacturer prowess and savvy ingredient procurement.
Tall Hat Foods began as a product solutions division of a restaurant development company designing and producing proprietary ingredients for use in our restaurants. We found that strategically outsourcing sauces, soups, and sous vide proteins to a centralized operation contributed significantly to operational efficiencies and financial optimization.
Today, Tall Hat Foods is independently owned and operated by its founder, Chef Kent Andersen. The company was built upon the philosophy that the operational efficiencies and financial improvements that we created for our own brands were of significant value and could be readily employed as culinary solutions for other food companies.
Our focus has become creating sauces and soups that integrate into the workings of meal replacement companies, emerging and fast-growth fast-casual restaurant companies, and direct sales food companies.
Our collective team has a lengthy track record together and consists of chefs, culinologists, business leaders, supply chain experts, and manufacturing rock stars - all focused and committed to delivering real results for our clients.
Our Team
Chief Executive Officer / Founder
Kent Andersen
Chief Executive Officer of Tall Hat Foods, a proprietary food development and manufacturing company, with demonstrated accomplishment and distinction in New Product Development, Proprietary Product Innovation, Food Product Research & Menu Engineering, Purchasing & Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Distribution & Channeling, Concept Development & Expansion, Culinary Operations Optimization, Data Analytics, Menu Development, HACCP Systems Development & Administration, SQF Manufacturing, USDA & FDA Food Product Manufacturing, and USDA Certified Organic Manufacturing.
Experienced Chief Executive Officer (MBA), Worldchefs Certified Master Chef (WCMC), World Master Chef Society (WMC), American Culinary Federation- Certified Executive Chef (CEC) and Certified Culinary Administrator (CCA), Fellow-American Academy of Chefs (AAC) and SQF Practitioner (GFSI SQF-8.1).
Chef Kent enjoys working with his hands and when not in the kitchen, he enjoys designing and building furniture, blowing glass, and making stained-glass windows. Kent is an avid scuba diver and is always looking for ways to include some “grouper therapy” into any vacation or trip when traveling with his family.
Chef de Cuisine
Mark Piciulo
Chef Mark works hand-in-hand with our Executive Chef and production teams to guide operations from raw ingredients to finished products. In a previous life, Chef Mark led the kitchens for prestigious mountain resorts and designed foods for holistic meal replacement companies. Mark is a new dad and seriously considering getting a puppy just to add a little spice to his life.
Managing Director of Strategic Operations
Ryne Cardon
Ryne works to streamline the office and the manufacturing operations of the company. Ryne and Chef Kent have worked side-by-side for the last 15 years. Ryne is great with data analytics and deriving meaning from numbers to create meaningful solutions for clients. Ryne is father of a brood of Lego-loving lads.
Director of Operations
Taylor Andersen
Taylor has been with Tall Hat Foods since its beginning ten years ago. Taylor champions the specifics of our team members. He is sometimes referred to as the director of fun-fulfillment. Taylor and Rhys work together to make daily operations operable. Taylor is an HACCP Coordinator and SQF Practitioner and works in daily quality assurance initiatives. Taylor is a sports fanatic and a die-hard Warriors fan, even during their “building years.”
Director of Operations
Rhys Nelson
Rhys works on all things mechanical in the firm. Rhys has worked for the company for ten years. He is equally versed in the kitchen leading a team through a production run or servicing a key piece of equipment to operate at key capacity. Rhys is an outdoors kind of guy. He enjoys rock climbing, four-wheeling, skiing and getting out into the wild. Rhys however does not do well on boats, scuba-diving or pretty much anything that floats. Don’t ask, it’s not pleasant.
