Our Company
For 35+ years, RFI has been recognized as a trusted, science-driven ingredient company focused on whole food nutrition from Field to Formula™.
Our Mission
To improve the health of people around the word by innovating, manufacturing, and delivering high-quality ingredients, custom formulations, and turnkey solutions for dietary supplement, functional food, and beverage companies.
Our Vision
To be the global leader in developing the most advanced and sustainable supplements, ingredients, and delivery systems — creating more effective nutrition solutions that improve lives across generations.
Whole Food Nutrition
Field To Formula™
Proprietary/Specialty Branded Ingredients
Advanced Delivery Technology
Custom Blends Designed for Market-Ready Applications
Our Team
Jeff Wuagneux
PRESIDENT & CEO
Jeff comes from a successful career in the food ingredients industry, and founded RFI in 1989 with a vision to establish a vertically integrated, global source of natural specialty ingredients and formulas for the food, functional food, and dietary supplement industries. He has led RFI to become one of the most diversified and quality-driven developers, manufacturers, and marketers of natural products. Jeff leads the executive team, provides vision, and is deeply involved with corporate, sales, business, and product development strategies.
Trish Devine
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Trisha has been with RFI for more than 20 years, and has occupied key roles in several important areas of the company. Trisha began her tenure at RFI as an office manager, and quickly moved up to managing RFI’s customer service and internal sales departments. Currently, Trisha focuses on working with key accounts, as well as assisting in the development of strategic supply partnerships. Her depth of relationships with customers and extensive knowledge of company operations and products make Trisha a very important member of RFI’s executive team.
Paul Altaffer
CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER
Paul has more than 30 years of experience developing, sourcing, and marketing natural products. He was the founder of Nat-Trop, a pioneer in the development of natural and nutritional ingredients from South America, which merged with RFI in 2002. Raised in Brazil, Paul has a multi-cultural background and brings with him many important relationships in sourcing and product development. Paul’s primary concentrations are product development, technical sales, strategic and sustainable sourcing, program support, managing strategic industry and association relationships, and business development.
Pat Smith
EXECUTIVE VP BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Pat is the Vice President of Business Development at RFI LLC, where he leverages extensive industry experience to drive strategic growth and expand market partnerships for the company’s vertically integrated ingredient supply and processing operations. Based in Broomfield, Colorado, Pat is known for building strong client relationships and unlocking new business opportunities across the natural products and ingredient sectors. With a proven track record in sales leadership and market development, he plays a key role in advancing RFI’s mission to deliver high-quality solutions across the supply chain.
David Araya
VP OPERATIONS
David is the Vice President of Operations at RFI LLC, where he leads operational strategy and execution to support the company’s ingredient supply and processing infrastructure. Based in Broomfield, Colorado, David brings strong leadership and a focus on continuous improvement to streamline workflows, optimize performance, and enhance cross-functional collaboration. Known for his operational expertise and commitment to excellence, he plays a central role in driving efficiency and supporting RFI’s growth in the natural products and specialty ingredients sector.
Pi-Yu Hsu
VP TECHNICAL & APPLICATIONS
Pi-Yu has been with RFI since 2002. She holds a bachelor’s degree in food science and technology, as well as a master’s degree in food chemistry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Pi-Yu has more than 15 years of global technical experience in the nutraceutical and food industries, and she has developed more than 50 major commercial products as a result. Her diverse technical skills include QA programs design, food and dietary supplement regulations and compliance, product formulation and application, and analytical method development. At RFI, she manages the technical department, which includes QA, QC, regulatory, applications, and technical service.
Peter Jacobson
GENERAL MANAGER
Peter has more than 10 years of experience in quality control, manufacturing, and regulated testing. Prior to RFI, he spent four years with Eurofins as a study director under FDA and EPA guidelines. As the head of the quality group for RFI, he is responsible for the quality and safety of the ingredients and finished products, and the general GMP compliance of the facility.
Amanda Relf
DIRECTOR OF APPLICATIONS
Amanda is a seasoned professional in the ingredients and food-industry space, currently contributing her expertise at RFI Ingredients in the New York City metropolitan area. With a strong foundation from the State University of New York College at Oswego, she brings a practical and collaborative approach to ingredient solutions, supply-chain execution, and customer engagement. Amanda is known for building lasting relationships across industry partners and leveraging her broad experience to support product development, innovation, and business growth.
Smita Chandran
DIRECTOR REGULATORY
Part of the RFI team since 2008, Smita is a trained food scientist who holds a bachelor’s degree in dairy science and a master’s degree in food science from South Dakota State University. She is certified PCQI and HACCP, and is an SQF practitioner. She applies her expertise in regulatory compliance for the food and supplement industry, works closely with formulators for product scale-up, and reviews nutrition facts and supplement facts labels for regulatory compliance.