Programme 2023

09-10 May 2023, Milan, Central European Time

07:45 - 08:35

Registration & Refreshments

09:35 - 10:05 - Keynote

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Quantitative Allergen Risk Assessment (QRA)– Current Perspectives from ILSI Europe

Simon Flanagan, Research Fellow, Food Safety  – R&D, Mondelēz

  • Application of QRA from raw materials to finished goods
  • Using QRA for allergen incident management
  • Upcoming projects and publications from ILSI Europe Allergen Task Force

10:10 - 10:40 - Solution Spotlights

Manufacturing, Operations & Technology

Driving Better Business Outcomes: The Value of Unifying Food Safety & Quality

Geert van Kempen, Global Head of Food & Beverage , Veeva Systems

Across the world, foods and beverages define the human experience - from essential nutrients to enjoyment to deep social traditions. In the Food & Beverage (F&B) industry, food safety, trust, and quality are imperatives, demanding the highest global process and practice standards.
Learn why F&B market leaders are investing in cloud technology solutions to unify food safety and quality management, enabling them to bring consistently safe, trusted, and more sustainable products to market faster.
In this session, you’ll hear how Veeva’s cloud software solutions for the F&B industry are:

· Empowering market leaders advance their reputations
· Drive better business outcomes
· Stay ahead of their competition
· Helping to reduce resources with our digital Certificate of Analysis (CoA) processing capabilities"

Safety, Quality & Compliance

‘CHANGE’ – The New Threat to Food Safety

Kimberly Carey Coffin, Global Supply Chain Assurance Technical Director – Food, LRQA

Change in the risk landscape is inherent, and the food sector knows this as well as any. Recent global events have accelerated the rate of change, increasing risk across the industry, but what can we do to keep up with the pace? During this session, Kimberly Coffin will discuss why now is the right time to extend our view of risk as well as the processes and systems needed to mitigate it to 35,000 feet and the critical role that data plays in establishing your business' risk appetite and how it can drive organisational focus of resource on what really matters.

10:40 - 11:30

Networking Break & 1-2-1 Meetings

11:30 - 12:00 - Case Studies

Leadership

Product Testing as Part of a Food Safety Program

Matilda Freund, Retired (Mondelez) VP Global Food Safety , Freund Consulting Company

Microbiological contamination events are seemingly on the rise and receive considerable attention in the media. Many companies respond to these events by implementing more testing. This presentation will discuss the important but specific role of product testing in a successful food safety program. It will cover how and why certain types of testing may be used and outline factors to consider when implementing a product testing program.

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Food Safety Emerging Risks: Identification, Assessment and Management in an Increasingly Complex External Context

Elisa Cavandoli, Food Safety Risk Assessment and Management Manager, Barilla

  • Identification of potential Emerging risks in a Food Company
  • Potential emerging issues risk assessment
  • Mitigation actions definition and communication inside the Company
  • Emerging issues anticipation: future opportunities and challenges
  • A case history: mineral oils

12:05 - 12:35 - Solution Spotlights

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Looking Beyond the Horizon: Global Intelligence Beyond Legacy Boundaries

Gary Nowacki, CEO, TraceGains

Nicola Colombo, Global head of SGS DIGICOMPLY, SGS DIGICOMPLY

SGS and TG bring you a “Webb Telescope” for seeing the risks and opportunities that exist beyond the traditional horizons of your business.

The global supply chain has changed, moving from static, linear relationships to a more flexible and interconnected world. Out of necessity, organizations have worked to develop agility, resilience, adaptability as critical competencies. A powerful, global network is forming, built around the flow of networked ingredient data throughout the supply chain, and that critical ingredient data can also be enriched and made more relevant and useful with meaningful global intelligence. Gary Nowacki, CEO of TraceGains, and Nicola Colombo, Global Head of SGS Digicomply, will discuss the growing criticality of risk, incident, fraud and regulatory data, and the importance of making that data relevant and contextual to the daily operations of the business.

Manufacturing, Operations & Technology

Embracing Food Safety at the Production Line 24/7

Stefania Cesarano, Key Account Manager, Nemis Technologies

Timely pathogen risk management is critical as they can be introduced at any stage in the supply chain. Once introduced, they either persist or grow to put consumers at risk. Traditionally, standard microbiology testing is time-consuming and laborious, requiring specialized personnel and equipment. Samples taken from the production line and sent to either an in-house or external laboratory can take several days for results.

The introduction of new rapid testing technologies enables a shift towards decentralizing accountability and action to the line, reimagining food safety by placing the responsibility of food safety in the hands of those closest to the process. The Swiss-made N-LightTM screening platform was developed with exactly that in mind, enabling almost real-time monitoring of potential risks directly at the production line.

In this presentation, NEMIS presents the growing N-LightTM portfolio with the most recent data from field studies, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the technology detecting pathogens such as L. monocytogenes and Salmonella in complex production environments. The results showcase that the rapid tests provide accurate and reliable results within 24 hours, making it an ideal solution for rapid testing directly at the production lines. While the technology can be used without requiring a laboratory infrastructure, NEMIS will also discuss validated protocols that use the platform to optimize existing laboratory workflows.

12:40 - 13:10 - Case Studies

Leadership

From Sales to Quality: Bridging the Organization

Eva Kläning, Director Global QEHS, Arla Foods Ingredients

  • I have moved from the Sales organization to the Quality organization
  • Personality types, objectives and organizational framework impact how we act
  • After one year in Quality, I would like to share my perspective on how we can build better bridges across organizations – from our roles in Quality – to strengthen the entire organization.
  • This is my personal take on things - served with humility

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Halal Certification and Requirements to Export in Conform with Halal Standards in the Middle East Area

Michele Gherardini, Group Regulatory and External Affairs Senior Manager, Perfetti Van Melle

13:10 - 14:10

Networking Lunch

14:10 - 14:40 - Case Studies

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Laboratory Process Digitalization: For Harmonization and Standardization of Laboratory Practices Leading to Greater Efficiency, Transparency and Reliability

Sagar Mahmood Khan, Head of QA Compliance Center, Metro

14:45 - 15:15 - Solution Spotlights

Manufacturing, Operations & Technology

Make Your Manufacturing Operation Sustainable Implementing a Virtual Twin

Marco Oldani, Business Development Director, Dassault Systemes

Recent event like covid and Ukraine war change drastically the way we run business: supply chain volatility, raw material shortage, sustainable innovation, energy efficiency are just some example of the new challenges food and retail companies have to deal.

We think that the best way react to this unpredictable and fast wave of changes is throw the implementation of a virtual twin of your supply chain and operation.

This session will provide you some example of how virtual twin can help company in food and retail to adapt itself and survive to this changes

Manufacturing, Operations & Technology

How Connected Workers Drive Food Safety on the Factory Floor

Richard Milnes, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Zaptic

Drawing on a unique vantage point of working with a wider variety of manufacturers Richard will compare two companies: One with a disconnected shop floor and how this leads to a poor food safety culture and one which augments it’s workers with the right information and tools to drive accountability & professionalism on the shop floor.

15:15 - 16:05

Networking Break & 1-2-1 Meetings

16:05 - 16:35 - Keynote

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Food Safety Auditing - How Well is it Working For You?

Roy Kirby, Past Co-Chair, GFSI

  • If we accept that in 99% of cases auditors and Audit Bodies do a good job auditing – is this good enough given the impact on consumers of unsafe food?
  • Do we have a mechanism for learning from cases where we could have done better?
  • Is there enough Due Diligence of audit integrity to support a Due Diligence Defence?

16:40 - 17:10 - Keynote

Leadership

Transformational Leadership. The Key to Advancing Mainstream Food Safety Systems

Adeniyi Odugbemi, PhD, Global Director of food safety & food defense, ADM

Effective leaders listen, guide, and motivate others to use change as a positive force to explore innovation and inspire action. Transformational leaders are the heart of inventive, meaningful, and sustainable change in food processing. Transformational leaders focus less on making decisions or establishing strategic plans, and more on facilitating organizational collaboration that can help drive a vision forward.  This makes leadership very important to business growth and success. The role of having the right leadership to shepherd the adoption of the right food safety systems and culture in the food industry value chain is vital in the quest for food safety, food security, and food sustainability. This presentation will expose how food facilities leaders and the entire food value chain can adopt the right systems and appropriate leadership concepts alongside integrity mantras that are vital for the future of the industry. Wise leaders tune into workplace culture trends and plan to help their organization and employees flourish. The front-line manager is the key link between the employee and the organization. This presentation will further define how a strong connection is at the heart of employee retention in the workplace. As you think about these trends and how they impact your organization, how can leaders prepare themselves and their team for this rapidly evolving season? This presentation will review assumptions about high-impact strategies that are worth investing time and resources in pursuing. High impact means the effort aims to change the mindset that created the organization or system of organizations.

17:10 - 17:15

Chair's Closing Remarks & End of Day 1

17:15 - 18:15

Evening Networking Reception

08:00 - 08:40

Registration & Refreshments

08:45 - 09:15 - Case Studies

Leadership

Continuous Food Safety Assurance Within our End-to-End Supply Chain

Intisar Khan, Director, Global Food Safety, Mondelēz International

It’s fair to say since 2020 how we as FBO’s drive continuous food safety assurance within our end-to-end supply chain has been challenged! It has changed our outlook on the ‘How’ & we started our journey to Industry 4.0 revolution – conceptualising rapid change to technology, industries, societal patterns, and processes in the 21st century. We continue to face challenges with rising costs, raw material shortages, supply chain disruption, geographical challenges with climate crisis looming on the horizon. Now is the time to take proactive steps to build resilience within companies and ensure we’re delivering safe, high-quality food throughout supply chains. I’m delighted to be chairing this event alongside senior industry change makers to discuss how we can tackle the food safety issues of the future, through building resilient and adaptable processes today

09:20 - 09:50 - Case Studies

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Leading Food Safety and Quality Culture Across an Organisation Through Employee Engagement

Alexandra Ralston, Global Culture Lead , Kerry

  • Building a ‘Safety First – Quality Always’ Culture within a global organisation, ensuring consistently superior safety, quality and sustainability for all stakeholders
  • Creating a multi layered program to transform culture and behaviours
  • Developing innovative learning techniques to engage employees and drive ownership and awareness to potential food safety risks across the supply chain

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Bunge's Triple Safe Approach to Mineral Oils in Foods

Anton Hutten, Director Global Food Quality and Safety, Bunge Loders Croklaan

As the global leader in plant-based, edible oils and fats, we take responsibility for food safety also when it comes to mineral oils.  Our triple safe approach consists of dedicated sourcing, advanced analytics, and a specific portfolio of product solutions for target populations like infants and toddlers.  This approach takes full advantage of our experience and leading role in the mitigation of process contaminants, as well as our global foot-print with close collaboration with growers and upstream partners.  We anticipate the needs of our customers as well as external developments with regulatory and NGOs to ensure our operations are future-proof, and to support the continuity of our customers.

09:55 - 10:25 - Solution Spotlights

Leadership

Beyond the Storm: How Organizations Can Transition from Survive to Thrive in 2023

Nicolas Carneiro, Director of Food & Retail ─ Continental Europe, BSI

When times are tough, it can be tempting to look down, even look away. But if you want to see the way forward, you need to look up – because opportunity is always in front of us. The challenge is recognizing it. At BSI we don’t claim to have all the answers, but we want to be agents of positive change and are committed to collaborating with like-minded organizations to build a better global supply chain. Together.

Join our session to learn more about how you can:
  • Improve your organizations supply chain self-knowledge
  • Get ahead of EU food safety and ESG regulations
  • Understand new industry challenges and the solutions to address them

10:25 - 11:15

Networking & 1-2-1 Meetings

11:15 - 11:45 - Case Studies

Microbiology

Salmonella – What it Means to the Poultry Industry

Dr Gary McMahon, Company Microbiologist, Moy Park

Salmonella is an organism of concern to the poultry industry across the world.  How this challenge is approached, to reduce risk to the end consumer, varies from region to region.  This talk will focus on UK and EU control measures and regulatory monitoring which are in place at each stage of the supply chain.

Manufacturing, Operations & Technology

A Case Study of Allergen Quantitative Risk Assessment within Food Industry

Monica Molero, Operative Quality Director, Importaco

  • Today's scenario.- There is still a lack of harmonization in  when allergen QRA is  appropriate and how to perform
  • Our challenge for supplying peanuts without PAL in Importaco Poland factory
  • Next steps.- Sharing with our stakeholder the consensus guidance on the  application of allergen QRA for alignment & harmonization (ILSI)

11:50 - 12:20 - Case Studies

Leadership

Leadership and Food Safety Culture, Horizon Scanning and Upcoming Threats

Linda Cudjoe, Head of Food Safety & Technical, Harrods

Leadership

Food Fraud Risk Assessment in the Food Industry

Tanja Dinić, Director of Internal Audit for Food Safety, Fortenova Grupa

  • Developing a reliable food supply system is at significant risk under globalization. Still, Food Business Operators are legally obligated to implement and maintain food traceability and quality at all stages of food production, processing, and distribution.
  • Food fraud incidents have a strong negative impact on consumer confidence in the food industry. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to identify types of possible fraudulent offences with risk assessment methodology and set appropriate mitigation measures.

The presentation will show food and beverage industry case studies in the food fraud assessment.

12:25 - 12:55 - Solution Spotlights

Manufacturing, Operations & Technology

Preventing Contamination Through Compressed Air

Sara Deckers, Global Account Manager and Compressed Air Specialist, BEKO TECHNOLOGIES B.V.

  • How to identify and monitor the risks of contamination by compressed air.
  • How to translate the vague guidelines into clear figures.
  • How to treat compressed air to meet the regulations.
  • How to monitor compressed air quality for food safety.
  • How to benchmark the compressed air quality.

12:55 - 13:55

Networking Lunch

13:55 - 14:25 - Case Studies

Leadership

Transitioning from Dairy to Plant-Based Production – Handling Allergen Aspects

Laure Roger, Product Safety, Microbiology & Analytical R&D Manager , Upfield

Plant-based products are being developed as part of an increase in consumer demand in more natural and environmentally friendly foods. Dairy-based food products are linked to high food safety risk of allergenicity and intolerance. Transitioning to plant-based food would reduce the risk but not alleviate it. A significant portion of the population is known to be sensitive to plant-based protein – this also includes pulses. Validated analytical methods have been developed for regulated allergens but there is still room for improvement for non-regulated allergens such as pulses. Limit of quantification currently applied on the markets do not allow for an accurate assessment of the risk linked to these types of plant-based proteins. Cleaning is part of the mitigation but tools for validation and monitoring needs to be considered.

Manufacturing, Operations & Technology

Building a New Production Site. What to Do With Your Food Safety Plan? - Copy/Paste, Revise, Restart from Scratch?

Atanasios Moschos, Quality Director, Leonidas

Building a new site is a fantastic opportunity to thoroughly review your safety plan.

  • Why is it important to involve the food safety officer upstream?
  • Culture of Safety and Change Management, role of HR
  • Opportunity to test new methods of analysis or control.
  • Automate/digitise, what impact on safety?
  • Use digital tools (3D twin factory & VR) to check and test your plan before construction

14:30 - 15:00 - Case Studies

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Dual Quality of Food

Jacek Czarnecki, Head of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs, Nestlé Polska & Baltics

  • Why is that so sensitive in the CEECs?
  • Relevant legislation and interpretation: EU and Member States
  • Current situation, recent developments
  • Guidelines and practical comments

Safety, Quality & Compliance

Food Safety in The News: Fighting the Social Media War

Adeniyi Odugbemi, PhD, Global Director of food safety & food defense, ADM

New regulations, incidences, new technologies, and other happenings continue to shape the way food businesses are operated and the impact that food has on the lives of consumers. The diffusion of online fake news about food is becoming increasingly fast-paced and widespread, making it more difficult for the public to recognize reliable information. Reported news and the transmission of information across social media sites continue to deploy negative media trends. Misinformation about food processing and handling practices has had a negative impact on consumption patterns and created anxiety among consumers. These events deal with the negative impact of what has been categorized as fake news and rumors, which have particularly impacted the purchasing and consumption pattern of consumers.  In a fast-globalizing world where food is a necessity of life, the news in one part of the World easily makes the headlines in other regions fast!! And yet, despite better connections and a more informed public, no one is on the same page with fact-finding the erroneous information and having a major campaign of verified topics. Unfortunately, unverified and baseless information is increasingly being disseminated and accessed through social media applications. Food industry experts have urged authorities need to monitor inaccurate reports and put out clarifications as soon as possible on social media showing that food safety and quality parameter are non-negotiable.  This presentation will evaluate how food handlers can mitigate information on social media content on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The presentation will discuss the many ways unverified contest is affecting the food business.

15:05 - 15:50 - Panel Discussion

Leadership

How are Women in Leadership Promoting Equality Among Workers in the Food Industry?

Eda Fetahu, Open Innovation Expert , Amadori

Claudia Vasquez, CEO and Director , Origenal Story

Matilda Freund, Retired (Mondelez) VP Global Food Safety , Freund Consulting Company

Nicole Umana, Global Agile Innovation Human Intelligence Director, Mars Wrigley

Sharon Cittone, Founder and CEO , Edible Planet Ventures

  • Less than 20% of senior leadership roles in the food and beverage business are held by women, even though women make 80% of the world's food purchasing decisions. What steps are businesses taking to be more inclusive?
  • Examining the causes of the underrepresentation of women, the measures that companies may take to encourage gender parity, and the steps that can be taken to increase the effectiveness of efforts for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • Does corporate policy have a role in shaping a more inclusive company culture, and if so, what role is that?

15:50 - 15:55

Chair's Closing Remarks & End of Summit