Innovation, Safety and Regulations: How do We Bring Them All Together?

Dr. Atanasios Moschos is a Quality and Food Safety professional with nearly 25 years of experience. He studied chemistry at Brussels University (ULB) and obtained his PhD in physical chemistry. He is also graduate in Occupational Safety and Hygiene and in Innovation Management. He was expert at the European Commission where he worked for 3 years. Since 1995, he works for Leonidas Confectionery, one of the larger “pralines” manufacturer in Belgium. As head of the Quality Department, he has a global and integrated vision of quality and safety. He participated within the Belgian association of biscuits, confectioneries and chocolates manufacturers (Choprabisco), in the verification of the official self-checking guide of the sector. He is also member of the Regulatory and Scientific committee and the Hygiene Group of Caobisco, the European association of biscuit, chocolate and confectionery industries.

John is a highly experienced food industry technical specialist having worked throughout his 40 year career in both branded and retailer branded businesses. John’s specialisms include technical governance, incident and risk management and supply chain food security. John worked across all categories of food manufacture from chilled to frozen to ambient. He spent the majority of his career working for Mars Inc. in a number of senior European technical roles culminating in his position as Head of Market Quality and Food Safety for Western Europe. Whilst in this role John managed all of the customer and consumer technical interfaces and related incident management. For the 12 years prior to establishing his own consultancy, John was Technical Director of British Pepper and Spice, the UK’s leading supplier of dried herbs and spices to the retail, food service and food manufacturing sectors. As a key member of the senior team in this £80m turnover business, he has played a leading role in building a secure supply chain, and managed the challenges of having suppliers spread across the world. This has given him first hand and wide exposure to the issues of global food authenticity, quality and safety. In addition he has tirelessly promoted the importance of food integrity to all of the major UK food manufacturers and retailers and in 2017 was awarded Technical Supplier of the Year by Marks and Spencer. John has built strong working relationships with the majority of the major retailers and food manufacturers in the UK and Ireland, as well as the regulators and has developed a deep understanding of their sector specific requirements. As a former Board member of the European Spice Association and current member of the Executive Board of the UK Seasoning and Spice Association, John has broad experience of the issues and challenges faced by the UK food industry. He has travelled extensively to the source countries of dried herbs and spices and is well known amongst many of the leading global suppliers. John has built up a close working relationship with Professor Chris Elliott and his team at Belfast’s Queens University (QUB), Institute of Global Food Security. He was instrumental in establishing a consortium of all of the major UK retailers and packers of dried herbs and spices which now works with QUB to develop non-targeted methods for identifying adulterants in food ingredients. His extensive network includes the Food and Drink Federation and the Food Standards Agency with a specific focus on allergen risk management and the prevention of food fraud. Finally, John is a frequent speaker at international conferences in the USA, India, Europe and the UK, sharing his expertise and knowledge of the challenges in the dried herb and spice supply chain with the suppliers, processors, retailers and regulators.

Tom Æ Hollands is the Innovation and Technical Director at Raynor Foods, he is an accomplished Food Scientist who has worked in both government (Food Standards Agency) and the private sector. Tom is a true innovator at heart and has won a number of national and international accolades in recognition of this. Tom’s innovations are focused around sustainability and has interests in meta food systems, its emerging technology and the complex links that connect them.

Denis Treacy is an engaging, driven & decisive Executive Leader with nearly 40 years of FMCG industry experience, the first 10 years in scientific roles, the last 30 years at Management, Leadership, Executive Chief Officer & President Level. After roles in Unilever, Arla Foods & InBev, Denis was until very recently, President & Chief Safety, Quality, Security & Environment Officer for the $5bn Global Snack foods business Pladis Global. Denis also lead the Health & Safety agenda for Pladis parent company, Yildiz Holdings, the $12bn frozen food, retail, engineering, mining, personal care company. Responsibility for global food brands such as McVities, Godiva, Ulker, Kellogg & Mars, together with the wellbeing of 52, 000 employees in 13 countries and 4bn consumers worldwide, needs a strategy & a strong organisation. Denis lives by values based principles, firmly believing that delivering across any agenda requires a combination of Policies, Organisation, Performance & Culture. Reducing defects, incidents, accidents and improving the quality, safety & integrity of products and working environments can be achieved and sustained with a positive focus. Denis is known in the food industry for an attitude of sharing best practice, working with customers and competitors alike to better the industry. Denis has many areas of expertise, developed over a long career, now helping other businesses to deliver transformational performance improvements themselves, in areas of safety & quality strategy, business culture, change management & organisational transformation. Using his rich knowledge, experience and his unique and entertaining character to illustrate his messages, he will keep the agenda energised and the day memorable.