Dr. Daphna Havkin Frenkel built a distinguished career at the intersection of science, flavor innovation, and entrepreneurship, becoming one of the world’s leading authorities on vanilla.
Over more than three decades, she combined deep academic training—including a Ph.D. in Food Science and Biotechnology from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an Executive MBA from Rutgers University—with industry leadership. At David Michael & Co., she led the BioVan Group, advancing the science of natural flavor development. She later founded Bakto Flavors, where she championed scientific rigor, transparency, and high-quality standards in natural flavors.
A defining focus of her work was elevating the understanding of vanilla as a highly complex ingredient, spanning botany, chemistry, agriculture, and global supply chains. She also worked to make high-quality vanilla products more accessible beyond the industrial food sector.
Dr. Frenkel played a pivotal role in uniting the global vanilla community. In 2003, she organized the first international vanilla conference, which grew into a major forum connecting researchers, growers, and industry leaders worldwide. Through Bakto Flavors, she went on to host more than a dozen conferences and workshops, fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing across continents.
In addition to her industry impact, she was a dedicated mentor to young scientists, helping shape the next generation of professionals in food science and flavor innovation.
She is remembered far and wide among her many friends and colleagues for her scientific integrity, strong convictions, and lasting contributions to the global understanding and advancement of vanilla:
- "Daphna was an amazing advocate and supporter of all things related to vanilla. She was passionate about vanilla and possessed a keen understanding of the technical and commercial aspects of the product. And, as much as she loved vanilla, her first love was her family–her husband Chaim and her three sons who she loved deeply." -Howard Smith Jr., president and CEO of Virginia Dare Extract Co.
- "Like many in your mother’s orbit, I 'grew up' in the vanilla industry. In my mind, it has always been synonymous with Daphna. She was a big presence in our space and it was always reassuring to know that she was out there fighting the good fight for “the real thing” She was the real thing. For people like me who shared her vision of our vanilla world, she was a bit of a north star.” -Henry Todd, vice president, international, Virginia Dare Extract Co.
- "Daphna was a well respected scientist in the fields of food science, biotechnology, and flavor with a passion for vanilla. She fought fiercely for the integrity of vanilla.The industry and consumers should forever be grateful for her contributions." -George Rosskam, exec. VP, operations, David Michael & Co.
- "When I think of Daphna, I am reminded of one of her greatest passions in life – vanilla. Vanilla’s unique flavor profile is due to an intricate blend of hundreds of compounds. Similarly, Daphna embodied so many qualities, talents and traits that made her unmistakably unique. Just as vanilla is cherished for its rarity & complexity, so is Daphna. She will always be remembered as someone rare & truly exceptional." -Amie Byholt, business director, the Americas, biovanillin, Borregaard
- “Daphna’s scientific knowledge of all things vanilla was surpassed only by her passion for it and her willingness to share both with her many friends and colleagues.” -Rick Brownell, semi-retired, Virginia Dare
- "I worked with Daphna for over 20 years, since her days at David Michael when we first started exploring the biosynthetic pathway to vanillin. While being a staunch defender of natural vanilla, Daphna also saw that that the future of the industry would require innovations in biotechnology as well as in growing practices. She was a passionate advocate for "all things vanilla", and single-handedly promoted the science through the series of international symposia she organized, both in the US and across the globe in regions where Vanilla was grown. To many of us, she was the voice of vanilla, and the reason why we continued to work on a crop that received little research funding. My lab's discovery of C-lignin, a natural polymer with advanced properties for biomanufacturing , is in large part due to Daphna's curiosity as to the composition of the Vanilla seed coat and her refusing to let up until we had given her the answer! Daphna's tenacity, often in the face of adversity, is a lesson to us all." -Richard Dixon, retired distinguished research professor emeritus, biochemistry and molecular biology, University of North Texas
- "Daphna was truly royalty in the world of vanilla. One of her lasting legacies will be the advent of the International Vanilla meetings. These meetings originated from her vision in wanting to bring together vanilla experts and her entrepreneurship in organizing these major events. These meeting were held all over the world and attended by people from all over the world. The first was held in 2003 and the most recent in 2025. Daphna made friends easily and knew people working in all aspects of vanilla. The attendees and speakers came from different facets of the vanilla world: growers, flavorists, business, and academia. They all shared a love for vanilla. These meetings were the place to start and renew professional and personal relationships. It was Daphna and her meetings that brought so many people together. For me, Daphna was a dear friend as well as a professional collaborator. I am grateful to her for introducing me to vanilla as a research topic. We coauthored some books and some scientific publications. She was a wonderful collaborator on these projects. But more important than our collaboration, I am grateful for her friendship for over twenty years. I will be thinking of her every time I reach for a bottle of vanilla extract." -Faith Belanger, emeritus associate professor, Rutgers
- "I met Daphna at the famous vanilla conference in 2002 in New Jersey which she organized. It was an incredible achievement to have brought together almost all of the major players in the vanilla industry at the time from all over the world. It was a brilliant idea, because it was the first of its kind and set the stage for many more vanilla conferences in the years ahead. Daphna's passion for vanilla ran deep and it showed in her exhaustive work and research on the subject. An extremely good-natured person who was always polite and cordial, even in disagreement. The vanilla community has lost a family member, and she will be greatly missed." -David van der Walde, director, Aust & Hachmann (Canada) Ltd.
