Programme 2019

With over 25 years’ experience in a variety of senior roles and acting as Head Global FSQ Management- Supply Chain & External Factories as part of The Kraft Heinz Company, we are once again very honoured to have Rachid Hassairi as our Chairman. He brings his strong commitment to excellence through improving organisations, teams and people at the highest level. Kraft Heinz is the fifth largest food and beverage company in the world, with eight $1 billion+ brands. To deliver on their trusted brand status, Kraft Heinz has implemented consistent, comprehensive Global Food Safety & Quality Management and Improvement Processes across their supply chain. Kraft Heinz’s vision is: To be the best food company, growing a better world! Rachid is responsible for Supply Chain & External Factories with a team distributed across the globe to mitigate Food Safety & Quality risk, lead various improvement initiatives, govern various global processes, manage change and trouble shoot where required cross functionally. As some of you may already know, Rachid is skilled at making events he chairs interactive while working closely with the audience to stimulate conversation and enhance learnings. We look forward to having Rachid back with us. Get ready for some exciting conference days!

Anita Scholte op Reimer is head of the Quality, Food Safety and Sustainability department at Albert Heijn. Educated as an organic chemist, she has worked in the pharmaceutical and flavour&fragrance industries in different commercial roles before starting to work at Ahold Europe 12 years ago. At Albert Heijn she first worked in the sourcing and merchandising departments and nowadays she is responsible for making sure that the customers shopping at Ahold can buy safe, tasty, healthy and sustainable products that meet their daily needs.

Elspeth has been Deputy Chief Executive for Food Standards Scotland since it was created in 2015, and as part of the senior management team, she leads on FSS’s strategy and policy. Elspeth joined the Food Standards Agency in Scotland in April 2001, having previously worked in the Scottish Government’s Marine Laboratory (now Marine Scotland Science) in Aberdeen. In 2011 she was appointed as Head of Policy and Operations, before undertaking a secondment to FSA HQ in London as Head of FSA’s Regulatory and International Unit. There, she led the development of the FSA’s future Regulatory Strategy and coordinated FSA’s EU and international work. Elspeth is a science graduate of the universities of Stirling and Aberdeen.

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.

With 6 years’ experience in Godiva, Jean-François is currently responsible to manage and lead Quality and Food Safety systems in EMEA regions. Among responsibilities, this broad definition of quality includes consumer complaints, franchisee quality agreements, supplier approval, quality systems regulations and process engineering. To support him, a focused team of 16 individuals dedicate to doing things “right the first time” while balancing business needs. In order to extend his managerial knowledge, Jean-François is currently completing an MBA at INSEAD.

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.

George Howlett is the CEO of Safefood 360° and one of Europe's leading food safety experts. Before co-founding Safefood 360° he worked with some of Ireland's most prominent companies and brings this expertise with him. George also lectures on the MSc for Food Safety Management in the Dublin Institute of Technology.

Faouzi Grebici has over 30-year experience in industrial automation with a solid specialization in mechatronics. Holding a master’s degree in machine control he spent most of his career in Omron Electronics Industrial Automation Business where he grew from product manager in mechatronics to be a global senior GM leading a global business unit in motion and robotics technology. Now he is putting that experience in developing the business of industrial solutions across the EMEA territory. The core strategy of industry solutions strategy is articulated around Omron core competence in machine automation and Omron world first technology in collaborative robots and autonomous intelligent vehicles. The synergy of those competencies is a real game changer in flexible manufacturing and especially in the growing field of personalized production. The other important aspect, that technological and manufacturing strategies often overlook, is the human aspect. Faouzi Grebici believes that smart factories need smarter people and that successful manufacturers are those who work tirelessly to turn the tedious job of operators into creators.

Dr Zoltan Syposs short CV Zoltan Syposs graduated at the Corvinus University of Budapest as Msc. Horticultural & Food Engineer. During his tenure with Det Norske Veritas Certification Body, he played a key leadership role in the establishment of the DNV Food/Agri Sector Product & System Certification across CE between 1997–2000. He joined The Coca-Cola Company as Region Quality Manager in 2000. His career development included various Leadership roles in Quality, Manufacturing and Supply Chain operations across the Coca-Cola Hellenic territories. Currently he is a member of the CCHBC Group SC Senior Leadership Team and holds a strategic position as Group QSE and R&D Director, responsible for 28 country operations. In 2010 he was nominated as the Head of the CCHBC Juice Technical Council. Parallel to his daily job, he has completed his research and Ph.D. studies in Microbiological Risk Assessment at the Corvinus University of Budapest between 1999-2004. Since 2016 he has been serving as an Associate Professor at the Szent Istvan University in Budapest at the Department Food Safety and Microbiology supporting the development of educational programs as well as bringing Academia and Industry closer together.

Roy Kirby is Director of Global Food Safety for Mondelēz International. He is a member of Mondelez International’s Global Quality leadership team and a Board Member of the Global Food Safety Initiative. Prior to joining Mondelez, Roy was a member of the European Food Safety Authorities Executive Office responsible for Quality Management. Throughout his 30 year career, Roy has worked in roles spanning academia, public service and industry but always focused on consumer safety. Roy completed his B.Sc. in Microbiology at the University of Surrey and his PhD in the Survival of Salmonella during Chocolate Mass production at the University of Reading and has subsequently published over 30 articles in peer reviewed Journals. Outside of work, Roy is married with 3 children and has many hobbies, with wine tasting being the principle one.

David works as Head of the Laboratory and Business Development Manager at Imprint Analytics GmbH. He is responsible for supervising and managing all operations related to the laboratory, for planning method development to meet customer demands and for reporting scientific results and expert interpretations to clients. He also leads the Business Development strategy, brand development and business collaboration within global networks and international synergies in the segment of food authenticity testing and food fraud prevention solutions. David has a PhD in isotope geochemistry and has performed research on paleo-environmental and paleo-climate reconstruction. His expertise on using stable isotopes to interpret changes of the past was enriched by studies in the applied science of isotope geochemistry in the areas of food, environment and biogeochemistry. Following roles with international and global research teams, he switched to commercial laboratories to become Head of the Laboratory at Imprint Analytics GmbH in 2013.

I began my career with Camfil 13 years ago and have never looked back. I am currently the Food & Beverage segment manager for Continental Europe & the British Isles. I work with the biggest food manufacturers in the world improving IAQ Standards & Reducing Energy Consumption without compromising processes, who exclusively use our products which are specifically designed for the F&B market to offer maximum protection for the customers product / people and process. I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering / Accounting and Business. I am always pushing myself to learn more. As someone who has spent the majority their career working within the Food and Beverage industry it is something I have a passion for. I enjoy working with like-minded people to progress and develop standards in our industry that offer the maximum protection for processes and products while also ensuring sustainability.

John Carter was up until recently Vice President Quality and Food Safety at Danone, responsible for the ‘Essential Dairy and Plant-Based’ Worldwide Business Unit. Prior to this, he was Global Director, VP Quality of Metro Cash and Carry. Before Metro he spent 24 years in technical roles of increasing seniority at Kraft Foods/Mondelez. John has a degree in Chemical Engineering from London South Bank University, and an MBA from Cambridge University in the UK

Shabeek Thayyil is with Agthia P.J.S.C - UAE since Dec 2009 and currently holds the position of Director- Quality & Food Safety (Water & Beverages). His educational background in in Food Science, Operation’s Management, Catering Management and TQM. He has over 16 years of experience in the area of Quality, Food Safety & HSE for the Airline Catering Industry and FMCG.  Prior to his association with Agthia PJSC, he held management and middle management positions in different companies – GFI (an Al Batha Group Company -UAE), Etihad Airline Catering -UAE, Qatar Aircraft Catering Company (QACC)- Qatar and Abu Dhabi International Airport Catering Company (AIAC)- UAE.    Shabeek has participated in several Food Safety, Quality, HSE & Halal conferences across the globe. His area of expertise include- Quality & Food Safety strategy development and management, TQM tools, Allergens & Sanitation Management, HALAL , GLP , IMS System Development, Six Sigma, Change Management, setting EFQM & SKEA models, Quality bench-marking and Quality Culture Development, accessing the FSMS, QMS, HALAL and HSE management system.

Stuart is Head of Commercial in the Customised Assurance team. He is a retail and hospitality assurance specialist with over 20 years of experience, developing and managing customised solutions for global businesses within the food sector. During his career, he has worked with many businesses to develop tailor-made audit programmes which use audit and compliance data to reduce food safety, operational and brand reputation risk. He is passionate about helping businesses achieve transparency and real-time visibility of their supply chains.

As Information Solution Sales Executive at Rockwell Automation and Chairman of MESA EMEA, Uwe Kueppers responsibility is to help manufacturers to release unhidden potential within their manufacturing and supply chain process towards Smart Manufacturing and Digital Transformation. Uwe joined Rockwell Automation in 2008 with more than 25 years’ experience in Manufacturing and Information Software and strong expertise in the Consumer Packaged Goods market. Prior to joining our company, Uwe has held management roles, in Sales, Director Business Development and Marketing.

Matteo Campagnoli is currently Food Safety Microbiology Specialist at the Nestlé Research Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland. After graduating in Food Science & Technology from the University of Bologna (Italy), Matteo held different positions at both research institutes and private companies focusing on the management of microbiological safety and quality for thermally processed foods. His main area of expertise is the validation of thermal processes for low acid, high acid and low moisture foods. He has experience in supporting R&D on developing new, safe products and Operations on managing microbiological food safety at factory level. In the present role at Nestlé Research, Matteo has been working on industrial applications of mild technologies with particular focus on the microbiological safety of fresh and dried produce.

I am currently Integrated Systems Manager (Quality, Food Safety, Environment,Occupational Health and Safety, Corporate Social Responsibility and Nutrition) in Camst Group After graduating in Biology at the University of Parma (Italy) and after many years of experience in implementing and running Company Management Systems, I am now focusing on microbiological safety in innovative food production techniques (sous-vide cooking, Modified Atmosphere Packaging) and sustainability in the food chain. In my current role I am coordinator for the “LIFE EFFIGE” EU project that is defining the ecological footprint of the catering industry

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.

With over 25 years’ experience in a variety of senior roles and acting as Head Global FSQ Management- Supply Chain & External Factories as part of The Kraft Heinz Company, we are once again very honoured to have Rachid Hassairi as our Chairman. He brings his strong commitment to excellence through improving organisations, teams and people at the highest level. Kraft Heinz is the fifth largest food and beverage company in the world, with eight $1 billion+ brands. To deliver on their trusted brand status, Kraft Heinz has implemented consistent, comprehensive Global Food Safety & Quality Management and Improvement Processes across their supply chain. Kraft Heinz’s vision is: To be the best food company, growing a better world! Rachid is responsible for Supply Chain & External Factories with a team distributed across the globe to mitigate Food Safety & Quality risk, lead various improvement initiatives, govern various global processes, manage change and trouble shoot where required cross functionally. As some of you may already know, Rachid is skilled at making events he chairs interactive while working closely with the audience to stimulate conversation and enhance learnings. We look forward to having Rachid back with us. Get ready for some exciting conference days!

With over 25 years’ experience in a variety of senior roles and acting as Head Global FSQ Management- Supply Chain & External Factories as part of The Kraft Heinz Company, we are once again very honoured to have Rachid Hassairi as our Chairman. He brings his strong commitment to excellence through improving organisations, teams and people at the highest level. Kraft Heinz is the fifth largest food and beverage company in the world, with eight $1 billion+ brands. To deliver on their trusted brand status, Kraft Heinz has implemented consistent, comprehensive Global Food Safety & Quality Management and Improvement Processes across their supply chain. Kraft Heinz’s vision is: To be the best food company, growing a better world! Rachid is responsible for Supply Chain & External Factories with a team distributed across the globe to mitigate Food Safety & Quality risk, lead various improvement initiatives, govern various global processes, manage change and trouble shoot where required cross functionally. As some of you may already know, Rachid is skilled at making events he chairs interactive while working closely with the audience to stimulate conversation and enhance learnings. We look forward to having Rachid back with us. Get ready for some exciting conference days!

Roberto holds a PhD in Chemistry and Food Technology from Parma University. He started his career with Barilla in 1992 and has over 25 years' experience in R&D, innovation and food processing. Roberto has held several Research and Development management positions at European and Glbal level within Barilla Group, such as RD&Q Director in Kamps/Lieken in Germany until 2008, Vice President Product Development Bakery at Group level until 2014, Vice President R&D Region Italy and VP for the Center of Expertise Bakery at Global level until 2017. Roberto is currently Vice President Global Quality and Food Safety for the Barilla Group.

Virginie Rivas has 15 years’ experience within quality, regulatory affairs and clinical for various international pharmaceutical groups. She has successfully managed a lot of crisis (as mammary implants, vaccines, ….) and she has been faced to a lot of mitigation/counterfeit on finished products, but on excipients/ active principles during all years into pharmaceutical company. Since 7 years Virginie has joined the BEL GROUP and she is in charge of Regulation and Food SAFETY for the GROUP; Virginie Rivas is an international qualified auditor IRCA for 9001 version 2015 . Virginie is an external Professor for several universities either in pharmacy (for vigilance, recall, crisis) or either in agronomy (crisis management, recall products). Virginie is member of National French Council of Food, president of the Hygiene commission of the French dairy Association , co-president of the Crisis commission of the ANIA (French association of the food industry) and she has a lot of others positions in different Federations.

Michael is an experienced Member of the Board and Executive Committee of EHEDG and an active member in several National Committees concerned with Food Safety and Hygienic Design. After graduating in 2001 in Electrical Engineering, he completed his studies in Applied Psychology, Human Behaviour and several EHEDG (Hygienic design) areas of expertise. After working on various positions within the Friedhelm Loh Group, he started in 2016 as Business Development Manager at the Niedax Group. In his current position he is globally responsible for educating the food industry by sharing knowledge and experience on the concept and philosophy of hygienic cabling. Since 2012, Michael is an active board member of EHEDG Netherlands. In 2018, he received an international award for leading EHEDG Netherlands to become the Best EHEDG Region Worldwide. In 2015 Michael became Member of the Executive Committee and Co-Chair of the Subcommittee Communication of EHEDG International, where he is responsible for the global communication strategy of EHEDG. As such he presented the first EHEDG Connects Magazine during the World Congress 2018 in London. In 2014, Michael joined several National Committees of SafeFoodFactory, an initiative of the Dutch Food Industry and supported by the Dutch Government, where he is still active as Secretary and Working Group member of Hygienic Cabling. Michael is also active in professional sports, as a member of the Business Club Committee of ARIS Leeuwarden, a professional basketball club playing in the highest National Division (Dutch Basketball League) in the Netherlands.

Elena Sosna currently works as a Product Manager at TÜV SÜD, Food, health and beauty. She is responsible for following through products and services throughout the whole lifecycle, from ideation to execution. Her background in microsystems engineering with a focus on sensor technology (apprenticeship at IMSAS, University of Bremen, Germany) and food and biotechnology (Master of Science in Food & Bioproduct technology, University of Applied Sciences, Neubrandenburg) gives her an opportunity to address topics such as digitalisation and IoT in the food industry.

I joined ABP’s Food Group's graduate programme having completed a MSc in Pharmaceutical QA and Biotechnology at University. I worked in the red meat industry in technical management across multiple sites in the UK and joined Itsu in 2016. Since then I have been heading up the Technical department of our grocery business which has experienced exponential growth over the years.

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.

Born in 1962, graduated in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Naples, Italy in 1986. Since then, Salvatore has gained four different professional experiences in Quality Assurance and R&D, working for Unilever, Quaker Oats/Pepsi and Esselunga (biggest private Italian retailer). Nine years ago Salvatore moved from the retail business back to food industry, assuming finally the position as Group Quality Director at the Ferrero headquarters in Luxembourg. The scope of the position includes food safety as well as food quality for the entire value chain, covering the global business of the Ferrero Group.

Dr. Adina Creanga is Quality and Food Safety Director Europe & Asia. Her role is to define and deploy a food and feed safety strategy in the company, to promote a ‘ Quality and Food safety culture’’. She leads the team responsible to implement, maintain and further develop quality& food and feed safety management systems in all Bunge Europe& Asia operation facilities. As part of Corporate Affairs she represents Bunge EMEA in different associations and organizations in Brussels. Adina started to work in edible oils and fats industry 22 years ago. She led the Quality Control Department in Bunge-Romania Group and worked in different Quality& R&D multinational projects in Cereol-France. In 2006, she became Area Development Manager in Danube region and in 2009 Product Safety Director in Bunge EMEA. Adina received a Master Degree in Physical Chemistry from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Romania. Later on, she has got a Ph. D. in Chemistry from the same University. During her business career she followed different Leadership programs in ESADE Business School Barcelona. In 2015 she has got a Diploma in Human Nutrition from CERDEN, Brussels.

Thanasis Kriaras is Regional EUAU Quality & Food Safety Lead for External Supply Chain (co-manufacturing) at General Mills. He has 15 years of experience in various key managerial roles related with Food Safety & Quality and a broad perspective of food industry worldwide. Thanasis holds a BSc degree in Agricultural Biotechnology from Agricultural University of Athens (Greece) and a MSc in Food Science, Food Technology & Food Management from Wageningen University (The Netherlands). He has also post graduate education on Organizational Management and TQM, while he is a Certified Lead Auditor for ISO 22000:2005. He has participated in several Food Safety & Quality conferences across the globe and in 2015, he was a guest speaker at GFSI Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Some areas of his expertise are: Food Safety & Quality Auditing, Supply Chain Food Safety & Quality Risk Management, 3rd Party Certification Schemes, HACCP, GMPs, Allergens & Sanitation Management. Thanasis has been at his current role since 2015, and he is responsible for developing strategies and driving execution of risk management and quality excellence across all GM co-manufacturers within EUAU Region.

Gary Ridgewell is the Head of Technical and sits on the Senior Executive Management Team at Sleaford Quality Foods. SQF, a subsidiary of Jain Farm Fresh Foods, manufacture products for retail, foodservice and are key suppliers to the food manufacturing industry. Gary is a supply chain and processing specialist with a vast range of experience spanning 20 years. A particular area of interest for him centres on the quality, safety and authenticity of dried Herb and Spices and various other food ingredients. As part of his role he has travelled extensively within the global supply chain conducting audits and developing relationships with major producers as well as conducting farm level investigations in response to industry incidents. The work Gary has undertaken has allowed him to develop a deep understanding of the vulnerabilities and challenges within these often extremely complex supply chains. Over the years, Gary has developed a network of contacts ranging from producing farms, primary processors, industry associations and regulatory bodies. Gary is an active member on the Technical Committee’s of the Seasoning and Spice Association (SSA UK), the European Spice Association (ESA) as well as sitting on the Technical Steering Group for the Food Industry Intelligence Network (FiiN). Gary has recently played a key role in the design, development and implementation of one of the world’s largest, state of the art spice processing plants, set within the Jain Food Park in Jalgaon, India. As part of this venture, Gary has supported Jain to implement brand new technologies aimed at reducing agricultural complexities and associated food safety risks. This has led to the development of processes that minimise traditional touch points thus further reducing potential for food fraud and food safety vulnerabilities within the Jain Spice supply chains. The development of new systems to support the mechanical dehydration of spices has had a significant impact in significantly reducing contaminants commonly found in traditionally produced spice raw materials, such as foreign bodies, mycotoxins and pathogenic microorganisms. Gary has supported the Jain Spice Project to develop a system of farm level traceability, leading to a 5000 strong base of contracted farmers, all producing fresh materials ready for direct processing within the new facility. These farmers are supported by 80+ field based Jain agronomists, guiding the implementation of JAIN GAP systems and monitoring. Alongside these new systems, sustainably controlled micro irrigation systems achieve ‘More Crop Per Drop’. As a direct result of this project there has been a significant reduction in the water footprint typically required to grow spice materials, leading to a greater level of sustainability and finished products with an increased level of product quality characteristics.

Laurent Delhalle has a phD in food microbiology with a specialization in risk analysis in the food chain. He is a scientific assistant at the Food Science Department of the University of Liège since 2005 and he is the author of numerous publications on the control and the management of pathogens and spoilage bacteria in the food industries. He has collaborated with different industries to control the safety and microbial quality of food products. Finally, he has joined Realco in 2018 as a microbiologist to develop several research projects about biofilms in the food process.

Kathleen Van Steenbergen has more than 25 years of experience in professionalising training in production environments such as food service, retail, food manufacturing but also pharmaceutical industry and professional laundry. Since 2011, she is Head of Christeyns Academy, the training department of Christeyns. Christeyns is a Belgian B2B family business, operating in different sectors of the international chemicals and detergents market. The company was founded in Ghent in 1946. Over the years, Christeyns developed extensive expertise and in-depth technical knowledge relating to cleaning, hygiene and disinfection. Christeyns is active in over 30 different countries with a turnover of 350 million euros turnover, based on a 17% average annual growth rate. Christeyns’ passion for hygiene and for providing excellent service are key in our strategy. Our training department, Christeyns Academy offers and deploys customer trainings that actually benefit and help our customers get more value out of their products. Being convinced that we are at a tipping point in the area of training, we strongly believe in the future of online learning as a tool to develop a food safety culture.

Jerry Tracey has been working as member of the management team of GS1 Netherlands since December 2012. He was first responsible for the implementation of GS1 standards in the general merchandise and apparel sectors. Later he became responsible for the food, health and beauty industries. Since January 2019 he is heading all industry engagement and implementation projects regarding retail and consumer products in the Netherlands. Jerry has extensive experience with the exchange of product data in the Dutch FMCG/retail industry and the Benelux Do-It-Yourself & Gardening industry, particularly for omnichannel commerce. Leading a comprehensive nationwide data quality program in the Netherlands that involves over 1.000 suppliers and all major retailers, he has many insights on the way manufacturers are trying to meet the increasing demands of retailers, consumers and legislators for accurate information on their products. Prior to his work in GS1, Jerry held senior marketing positions with retail organizations including Staples, Halfords and Praxis. He has a Master’s in Business Economics from the University of Amsterdam.

Carolyn Lee has been working for GS1 since June 2011, leading the GS1 Global Traceability Programme, a capacity building initiative involving 65 countries. She is a contributor to the development of traceability guidelines on industry best practices, other key traceability related documents such as the GS1 Global Traceability Standard as well as the author of the GS1 Global Traceability Compliance Criteria for Food Application Standard, December 2016. Using experiences gained from this work, she collaborated in the development of materials for the GS1 Master Data Services Programme and is the lead auditor for traceability audits in various markets. Carolyn is currently an expert in the ISO/TC 34 workgroup where key outputs were the ISO 22000:2018 Food safety management systems-Requirements for any organisation in the food chain, and has been a speaker for various events such as the EU-ASEAN Forum on Food Safety, International Dairy Federation Symposium and the World Bank. Prior to her work in GS1, she has been in laboratory management (ISO 17025), product development on food packaging materials, quality manager and an auditor for food management systems. She is a registered Food Hygiene Trainer by the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH), Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) trainer and an ISO 9001 lead auditor. Possessing a European Masters in Food Science, Technology & Nutrition (SEFOTECHNUT) from 4 partner universities; KU Leuven, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Dublin Institute of Technology and Universidade Católica Portuguesa, she maintains a close relationship with academia, being invited as a guest lecturer for the Food Safety Module in KU Leuven, Ghent campus.

Lalaina is a Technical Manager at the IFS and specializes in food safety management programs applicable from farm to fork; with experience from manufacturers and retailers side. Lalaina’s primary passion is consumer protection. Her responsibilities at IFS include Integrity Program activities, auditor management and overall technical support. Following an international Master degree in Food Safety Management, Lalaina started her career in the dairy industry as HACCP Team leader and quickly moved into a Quality Control Manager role, setting up a brand new factory for ready meals in the UK. Her experience conducting supplier audits for British and French retailers provided a unique exposure to the implementation of retailers’ food safety policies across the supply chain. Additionally, Lalaina deepened her expertise in GFSI recognized programs as a Food auditor at a Global Certification Body. Consequently, Lalaina joined Yum! Brands, leading the effective implementation of Yum! Policies at supply chain level across 24 countries; whilst actively contributing to global food safety standards and policies. Last year, during her time at the GFSI as Senior Technical Manager, Lalaina was involved in government collaboration on food safety and benchmarking Certification Program Owners seeking GFSI recognition. Now, as a member of the IFS technical team, Lalaina is enjoying the unique opportunity to drive consumer trust in the industry, working for a Certification Program Owner where conformity to customer specification and regulatory compliance with regards to food safety prevail.

Andy began his law enforcement career almost 30 years ago as a specialist investigator in the globally respected Investigation Division of HM Customs and Excise. The focus of this role was tackling the threat to the UK from international drug trafficking and serious economic crime. After a secondment in national police training as a covert surveillance course manager, Andy returned to frontline law enforcement leading serious and complex investigations into financial crime and international bribery and corruption at the Serious Fraud Office at its London headquarters. In 2009 Andy designed and built a proactive criminal intelligence function at the SFO. He was subsequently appointed as the SFO’s first Head of Intelligence. In 2010 Andy left the SFO to join the Serious Organised Crime Agency (now the National Crime Agency) with responsibility for tackling child sexual exploitation and abuse. In this highly challenging yet highly rewarding role, Andy became internationally recognised for his expertise in understanding the criminal threat from and response to online child sexual abuse. Andy joined the Food Standards Agency at the end of March 2015 with the task of designing, building and leading the Agency’s National Food Crime Unit to provide a national response to serious crime in global food supply chains. He currently leads the unit’s Intelligence and Vulnerability Reduction Command.

Dr. Luiz Guedes is a Brazilian and Italian citizen, graduated as a veterinary with a PhD on Biotechnology applied to Dairy products. He has held various positions in Supplier Quality & Food Safety Management at Nestle until joined Danone as Director Milk Quality & Food Safety in 2017.

With over 25 years’ experience in a variety of senior roles and acting as Head Global FSQ Management- Supply Chain & External Factories as part of The Kraft Heinz Company, we are once again very honoured to have Rachid Hassairi as our Chairman. He brings his strong commitment to excellence through improving organisations, teams and people at the highest level. Kraft Heinz is the fifth largest food and beverage company in the world, with eight $1 billion+ brands. To deliver on their trusted brand status, Kraft Heinz has implemented consistent, comprehensive Global Food Safety & Quality Management and Improvement Processes across their supply chain. Kraft Heinz’s vision is: To be the best food company, growing a better world! Rachid is responsible for Supply Chain & External Factories with a team distributed across the globe to mitigate Food Safety & Quality risk, lead various improvement initiatives, govern various global processes, manage change and trouble shoot where required cross functionally. As some of you may already know, Rachid is skilled at making events he chairs interactive while working closely with the audience to stimulate conversation and enhance learnings. We look forward to having Rachid back with us. Get ready for some exciting conference days!