Speakers 2022

Passionate food technologist, truly in love with food and food making processes.

I have been working in Barilla for more than 10 years, mainly in new product development and industrialization roles, with a significant experience in Barilla-France as head of R&D and Industrialization for Western Europe region.

Since 2019, I am the responsible for Global Suppliers Quality Management. The role of my team is to make sure that ingredients and packaging suppliers have the technical competences, the systems and the facilities to provide safe goods, in line with our Quality standards and in full respect of the regulations.

Andrea has spent more than 15 years supporting Manufacturing companies in their Digital Transformation journey. Ensuring continuous improvement and value realization through the implementation of different IT solutions: Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM/MES), Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

After a working experience in LATAM as Founder and Managing Director of a consulting company, Andrea joined Rockwell Automation to work with Enterprise and Strategic customers in EMEA with a focus on Food&Bev Industry. His mission is to bring Industry 4.0 to life, unveiling the benefits of introducing new technologies to support Quality and Sustainability initiatives

Technical background with many years of significant experience in web development, e-commerce management, database design, and deep knowledge of the retail industry.

For more than 12 years is working to promote the adoption of GS1 global standards, the best known of which is the barcode, for bringing efficiency to all supply chain processes.

In GS1 Italy he oversees all the projects focused on the GS1 standards adoption, the best data management practices, their quality, and their effective sharing, in the trading partner relationship and towards final consumers.

It also deals with GS1 digital innovation initiatives to support retail companies in their transformation strategy towards omnichannel.

Benoit Duculot graduated from the ESA Business School in Namur, Belgium started to work for Realco in 2004 as Field Manager in the I&I sector. In 2008 he became Product Manager for biofilm removal treatment and membrane cleaning, which are REALCO’s latest value added innovations. Since 2011, Mr Duculot has held the position of Business Development Director with the objective of developing partnerships with chemical manufacturers, OEMs and end users. He is currently responsible for the Expert & Technical Support department that provides technical expertise in the implementation of enzymatic solutions in Industrial and Institutional applications.

Bizhan holds an Hons. Degree in Biochemistry, PhD in Microbial Physiology from Aberdeen University, MBA from Warwick University and is visiting professor at Cranfield University. 

In 1994 he joined Unilever conducting research in S. aureus, Bacilli and managing the botulinum laboratory.  In 1997 he moved to Leatherhead Food International as Principal Scientist, engaged in developing, training and auditing food safety systems.  He then moved to McDonald’s Europe in January 2000 as Food Safety Manager overseeing food safety systems across the European Supply Chain from farm to front counter. Since 2015, his role has changed to Global Restaurant and Distribution Food Safety Director.  Bizhan is responsible for establishing, maintaining and driving for continuous improvement in food safety standards and procedures. He is on various advisory boards and committees with professional bodies and academia.

During his 35 year career at Mars, David Crean has become a globally recognized expert in Research & Development with particular expertise in Food Safety. Dave joined Mars from the U.K. Public Health Laboratory service, working as a microbiologist in Slough, UK. From there, Dave took on leadership positions in developing markets and newly acquired businesses, living and working in many countries across Europe and North America, as he rose through the ranks in several of Mars’ business segments. Dave’s many contributions to the company include developing novel analytical techniques, establishing global technology and research platforms, and many product and business innovations. More recently, he was the leader behind the further enhancement of Mars’ approach to Food Safety and Quality. Crean led the development of Mars’ Quality Management Process. His vision and passion supported the creation of Mars’ Global Food Safety Center, a center of research excellence focusing on groundbreaking technology breakthroughs and external collaboration. He also established many of the fundamental policies helping to guide and shape Mars’ highly-principled approach to science.  Dave retired from Mars in April 2021 and has embarked on career 2.0 where he intends to focus on impacting the issues of Food Safety and Food Security through working with business.  Dave established and is a director of STRIDE Food R&D Consultancy and is currently advising a number of Food startups and new venture businesses.

Jim Hartley currently leads the Global Sanitation organisation within Mondelēz International.  This group is responsible for defining the overall global strategy, and for designing, implementing and improving standards for Hygienic Design, Sanitation, Pest Control and Good Manufacturing Practices across more than 110 manufacturing facilities in 45 countries.  Jim joined Mondelēz International in 2018, with previous roles as European Quality & Product Safety Director for Sensient Flavors and over 15 years in quality, EHS and technical management for Nestlé.  In addition, Jim is an Advisory Board member of the European Hygienic Engineering & Design Group (EHEDG), representing the food manufacturing industry.

Jim holds a BSc and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Birmingham (UK), advanced qualifications in auditing, food hygiene and HACCP, and was a member of the technical working group responsible for revising Campden BRI’s Guideline 55: Cleaning and Disinfection of Food Factories.

Dr. Gülden Yımaz is working currently as director of the Healthy and Safe Food Systems Program in Wageningen University and Research.

She has obtained her engineering degree from Istanbul Technical University in food engineering and her PhD from Utrecht University in polymer technology. Her current responsibilities involve coordination of the strategic development, development initiatives and funds, as well as knowledge management within the field of healthy and safe food systems.

Gulden has over 20 years of experience in applied research in a wide range of areas. She has played a significant role in facilitating regional innovation in the field of Biobased Economy in several positions. She been the chairperson of the of the program board at Gelderland Transition Center. Her role in this position involved facilitating the transition process towards a Biobased Economy via identification and facilitation of high potential projects and programs. Furthermore, she is initiator and facilitator of Bioeconomy Innovation Cluster East Netherlands; a cooperation platform for stakeholders that are active in the Biobased Economy. Until 2016 she has been acting as the coordinator and innovation manager for Bioeconomy Innovation Cluster East Netherlands.

Her more recent activities involve program management in the area of biorefinery and Biobased products. In this role her responsibilities have been consisting of coordination of new business initiatives, knowledge management and coordination of ongoing research activities.

Her activities and interests involve being at the interface with research, strategy development and clustering as well as facilities development through programmatic approaches in a multi-stakeholder environment and multiple networks.

Dr. Matilda Freund is VP, Global Food Safety at Mondelēz International based in Zurich, Switzerland. She is responsible for leading food safety strategies to include microbiology, thermal processing, contaminants, and toxicology for all categories and brands across diverse markets globally.  After joining Kraft General Foods in 1990 as a microbiologist in Tarrytown, NY, Matilda held various positions in R&D, Sanitation, Manufacturing, Quality and Food Safety. Matilda holds a PhD in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the University of Florida.

Redouan is a customer centric professional with complementary expertise in translational science, technology commercialization, and business management. Throughout his international career in life sciences, he took on multiple roles and responsibilities including clinical research specialist (Geneva Hospitals), product development scientist (IBE), and sales manager (regenHU). At NEMIS he works towards delivering differentiated solutions that address customers’ specific needs and help advancing the field of bacterial pathogen detection.

I'm a food technologist with a significant experience - gained both abroad and in Italy - in a number of food and beverage sectors: milk, cheese, meat and coffee. In addition, I also have a considerable know-how about food packaging as I worked for 5 years in a packaging company. I have always been performing key roles - Technical Director, Plant Manager, Quality Manager - in the following departments: Production, Quality Control, Research & Development. Several experiences have allowed me to see different sides of the business process, appreciating the different faces of the same problem. I think my strength is the ability to learn new things quickly and I am very good at adapting to change in any situation. I believe in Teamwork and the strength it can generate by working for goals. I joined Kaizen's philosophy and believe in continuous improvement through optimizing organization and processes by eliminating waste. I love analysing problem with numbers and facts because across the Lean six-sigma Black Belt certification I understood the power of statistics. In my opinion, a company that wants to express itself at the highest levels should not only try to increase its margins through cost cutting, but also try to implement strategies that ultimately aim at customer satisfaction by making the right product with the fair price, at the right time. My favourite quote is: "Impossible is nothing"

Geert joined Veeva Systems in 2021 as Director QualityOne Strategy, focusing on the Food & Beverage industry. After receiving his PhD in Applied Physics from Delft University of Technology, he joined Unilever R&D in 1998. He has 23 years of experience in Foods, R&D, innovation, Quality and Quality systems. 

Geert has spent most of his career working for Unilever’s Spreads Division, developing expertise in oils & fats as well as product & processing technologies. He published his work in peer-reviewed publications and holds several patents. 

Geert has led several regional and global product innovation projects, and worked 3.5 yrs in Johannesburg, South Africa, leading the Spreads R&D group for Africa & Asia. In 2015, Geert joined Unilever’s global Quality group, initially responsible for Spreads & Dressings. Led the development of several GMPs, and supported Engineering in various factory design projects. From 2017, responsible for various Quality systems, including supplier and manufacturing systems, and led Unilever’s global digital Quality transformation project, introducing Veeva QualityOne.

Bart Ingredients supply a wide range of ingredients including herbs and spices from origins around the world. These products are widely considered to be at risk from adulteration and contamination. Bart Ingredient’s Food Defence Team focusses on the Integrity of Ingredients throughout the global supply chains. Gideon has worked in the UK and overseas in primary food production and technical management for 15 years, with experience of the challenges of emerging ingredients and new technologies.

Jacek Czarnecki is an expert in the field of food law, food safety and quality, and consumer communication.

At Nestlé Polska, he is responsible for the scope of food legislation and scientific contacts. He also manages the area of master data quality and completeness in the processes of developing recipes, creating labels and communicating technical information about products.

He is the vice-president of the Polish Federation of Food Industry, where he chairs the Committee for Food Legislation and Safety. He is also the vice-president of the Polish Association of Food Industry Employers in the Employers Confederation and a participant in the works of the Advertising Council and Food Sector Council for Competencies.

Associated with the Faculty of Human Nutrition of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, where he graduated, obtained a doctoral degree and with whom he actively cooperates, among others. as a co-author of the publications and a member of the Faculty's Curriculum Council.

With more than 25 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, Johan has dedicated his career to providing the industry with innovative new ideas and offerings to help companies of all sizes grow their business. As Chief Product Officer, Johan is responsible for Dawn’s R&D and Category marketing globally, prioritizing innovation efforts within Dawn to provide customers with the best bakery products in the business. Since joining the team in 2012 as vice president of R&D in Europe, Johan has led the research and development of multiple Dawn product launches, specifically the Dawn Balance Line, which contains clean label, vegan and better-for-you products. In addition to his focus on product development, he also drives global technology projects to keep Dawn at the front of introducing new industry capabilities both for bakers and within the walls of the company. Prior to joining Dawn, Johan was the Innovation Director at Sara Lee and also previously held various R&D roles across food product categories at Unilever in the Netherlands and the UK. He holds a masters and a PhD in Molecular Science from the Agriculture University of Wageningen, and an MBA from Rotterdam Erasmus University.

Johanna Ramirez is currently the Global Microbiology Director at The Coca-Cola Company. Johanna has 20 years of technical experience in FMCG industries, previously working for Unilever in Latin America, United States and Europe. Holding different roles within R&D and Quality, with either regional or global scope.

Johanna has a wealth of experience in product development, manufacturing processes, quality assurance, and project management.  During her career, Johanna has contributed to the development of quality and food safety governance and has worked closely with operations and suppliers to elevate their good manufacturing practices and to support their factories in troubleshooting. She has been for many years dedicated to improving people’s capabilities; training face to face more than 400 colleagues at Unilever in the Dressings Academy and now in Coca-Cola training virtually more than 4000 colleagues in the Microbiology Academy. Johanna has led several global virtual networks aiming to enhance capabilities in areas like ingredients, processing, microbiology and troubleshooting.

Johanna holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the Los Andes University in Colombia.

Passionate about helping global food businesses understand, manage and mitigate the risks to their products and brands; Kimberly’s reputation as a thought leader in food safety/supply chain risk and deep domain food sector expertise has been built through +30 years working for and with leading global food companies and associated service organizations across major world markets.

Kimberly has extensive experience as a technical professional specializing in design, development, implementation, assessment and training within the arena of retail agrifood risk management systems specifically relating to auditing principles and more broadly the control of food safety, product quality, authenticity and legality

Luiz Guedes is the Global Director of Quality Assurance with Chr Hansen. In this role, Luiz leads a team providing all aspects of developing, maintaining, and follow-up on the quality and food safety system enabling Chr Hansen to effectively comply with customer, market, industry, and regulatory requirements, including developing and implementing the Quality and Food safety strategy, up-to-date quality systems enabling the supply chain to operate effectively and efficiently and ensure proper organizational development to maintain an efficient and capable organization supporting the business. Before joining Chr Hansen in 2021, Luiz worked for 15 years for different organizations, including Fonterra, Nestle, and Danone. In his career, Luiz has led teams in procurement, sustainability, and quality in other geographic areas such as LATAM, NA, Africa, and the EU. Luiz is an MS Veterinary and holds a Ph.D. degree in Food Microbiology. He is also a certified Project Manager and Green Belt Lean Six Sigma.

After the graduation in Economics at Università Bocconi and a Master of Science in International Public Policy at UCL (University College London), Matteo joined The Monitor Group, a strategy consulting firm, supporting companies' business development in EMEA. He joined Barilla in 2008 and moved from Marketing to Innovation in 2012 to develop and launch CucinaBarilla, which he led as the CucinaBarilla Managing Director. In 2018 he was appointed Global Marketing Director at Barilla, leading of the most dynamic and vibrating product categories of the company with a global footprint. He is passionate about Food, business modelling, trends and innovation. He will be chairing the Food Innovate Summit for the second time and attending it for the third time

After graduation at Law School and a Diploma and University Master in Advanced European Studies, Michele started his career as a lawyer in international law firms with a specific focus on competition law, consumer protection and food law. During this activity he had supported many clients active in the food sector in relation to product compliance, advertisement, food safety, crisis management and trade issues.

After these experiences, Michele joined Perfetti Van Melle, a global leading company in the manufacture and trade of confectionery products very well-known among consumers thanks to its famous brands.

As Group Regulatory and External Affairs Senior Manager, he has an extensive knowledge in the food law and regulatory area and in his role Michele has achieved a significant experience in managing multi-jurisdiction projects and product launches, helping the company in developing safe and compliance products and mitigating possible risks as well as dealing with trade associations, authorities and regulatory bodies.

Michele also has in-depth knowledge of Codex Alimentarius and he follows the relevant of the Committees on behalf of his Company.

Mihalis Papakonstantinou is a Data Engineer and Team Leader at Agroknow. He has been involved with FOODAKAI since day#1, implementing its data platform that currently contains more than 800M food safety related data points. Over the past years, he has worked on providing data-powered solutions to sectors varying from academic institutes and media to financial institutions.

Mohammed B. AL-Angari , section head of microbiology and head of technical microbiology group on Saudi food and drug authority Labs on his position he is responsible for the improvement and developed the methods, since the most concern from the regulatory firm to increase the ability and accuracy of the result.

Relevant B2B sales experience gained in wine export markets and at a later time in Assurance services​. Showing a proven record of achievement in high-value sales, new business development and account retention

Paul brings 32 years of experience in beer & cider production, Food Safety and Quality within Heineken, as one of the 50 Master Brewers of Heineken globally. After finishing his Ph.D. in Yeast Genetics & Physiology in Amsterdam, he started his career in Heineken R&D. He was for years the ‘Yeast doctor’ within Heineken. He gained practical operational experience in breweries as Quality Manager and Head Brewer in Shanghai, Panama and Den Bosch breweries. And he was also for several years technological consultant for Heineken for our breweries in South America, the Caribbean and Europe. In 2013 he became Quality director of Heineken USA, till 2019. Currently he’s senior Global Lead for Licenses & Quality, within Heineken Global Supply Chain team, based in HQ in the Netherlands.

Kraft Heinz’s vision is: Sustainably grow by delighting more consumers globally! Rachid is accountable for External Manufacturing & Supply Chain and with a senior professional team distributed across the globe to mitigate Food Safety & Quality risks, lead various improvement initiatives, govern various global processes, manage change and trouble shoot where required cross functionally and creates real long-lasting partnership wherever he goes.

As some of you may already know, Rachid is very 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!

A seasoned Executive in the FMCG world with unique leadership skills in transforming businesses in severe internal and external circumstance into a profitable sustainable model. He is a visionary who comes with a proven track record in building a business from the ground, based on the lean accelerated model within the largest F&B company. While creating the first pure born brand in Nestle since 35 years (Nespresso 1986). His open-mindedness, strategic thinking and creativity helped inspire the organization to transform, following the same model in other businesses. He successfully renovated a failing business challenged by forex devaluation along with a major restructuring risk, renovating it to the fastest growing business retaining market leadership and its employees. Deep knowledge across the entire value chain of the businesses, with sustainability credentials. A professional with deep experience in building business, growing and inspiring people besides leading innovation through collaborating with startups, scouters and incubators.

Roberto has 30 years experience in Food business, spent mainly in managerial roles across R&D and in Q&FS, from Innovation to Research, from Product Development to Industrialization.

Roberto holds currently two roles, being Vice President Global Quality & Food Safey and RD&Q Strategy & Portfolio Management at Barilla group.

Over 30 years experience at the highest levels in blue chip companies , regulators, universities and NGOs

leading on food and consumer safety from program, policy and product design to verification of system effectiveness and enterprise risk management

leader of the mondelez food safety team that was recognized in 2021 with the iafp black pearl award

Currently co-chair of the global food safety initiative   and dedicated to developing thinking on the future of food safety management and helping organizations effectively manage their food safety risk

A Food professional with a proven track record of 16 Years of management and technical experience in the Wholesale/retail and food industry, especially in the areas of quality management, product development, supplier development, food safety systems and standards. Responsible for Quality assurance function throughout professional career while working with Wholesale/retail and FMCG. An innovative leader and passionate professional who thrives on the challenge of change and maximizing available resources to develop and achieve strategic, long-term objectives. Attributed with the key strength of Global food safety management system implementation, Compliance & Governance, Supplier Management & product development.

With 2,5 years in Bunge, Senay has over 24 years of experience in the field of R&D , Regulatory and especially Quality and Food Safety.

She is Quality and Food Safety Director, Europe & Asia in Bunge. Her role is to define and implement Bunge Quality and Food/Feed Safety strategy ,key programs, operation standards and leverage Quality and Food Safety Culture.

She started her career at a Packaging Company and later at Unilever where she performed different roles; R&D Engineer, Factory Quality Manager and Global Quality Excellence Manager responsible for Food, Refreshment, Home and Personal Care Categories.

Before joining the Bunge, she worked as the Head of Quality and Regulatory Affairs in Lactalis Turkey for two years.

She graduated with a degree in Food Engineering and later completed Business Administration and Management, BBA.

Senay is passionate about excellence in quality, food safety, IT technologies and leadership development.

I’m Director for Global Regulatory Affairs, at Arla Foods Ingredients. I’m responsible for Food ingredient policy advocacy and for internal regulatory policy within corporate regulatory affairs.

I have over fifteen years of experience in the food industry, including quality, clinical, and regulatory affairs. During my time as Director for the Global regulatory team I’ve been involved in food ingredient approvals in many parts of the world, such as China, EU, US and Australia. Further, creating market access through governmental affairs relations is a big part of my job, where interactions with e.g. Chinese authorities (SAMR).

I oversees compliance and timing as well as defining and paving the way for government approvals.

I’m chairman of the board for Sedan, the Danish industry association for companies that in Denmark produce or market specially designed foods intended for child nutrition, further a member og SNE (Specialized Nutrition Europe) and ADPI (American Dairy Product Institute)

Work experience of 20 years in leading positions in quality assurance, quality control and system management in the food sector and retail.

In addition, I managed an authorized accredited laboratory for research and development of health safety of food, cosmetics, and animal feed, and I have worked as an economic inspector in the State Inspectorate of Croatia Government.

Experience and knowledge of HACCP, IFS, BRC, ISO 14001, ISO 9001, KOSHER, HALAL Standards, In-depth knowledge of GFSI standards and legal regulations.

Also, I am a Lecturer in numerous conferences in food safety and an active member of working groups within Croatia and the EU in applying legislation and implementing food safety control standards.

Currently, I am the Director of Internal Audit for Food Safety in the Fortenova Group in Croatia.

Fortenova Group is Food and Beverage Company with over 50,000 employees. It operates in three core activities: agriculture, retail and food, and non-core operations in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia.

My primary responsibilities are to audit the implementation of all legal requirements and internal standards related to food safety, quality control, consumer protection and the establishment of good laboratory and manufacturing practices within our manufacturing companies and retail business within our Group.

Before that, I was the Director of Quality Assurance and Environmental Protection in Ledo, a company that produces industrial ice cream and is the largest distributor of frozen food in the region.

I gained experience in retail, working for six years at the position of the Director of Legal Affairs, Quality, and Internal Control in the Mercator retail chain.

My career started in the State Inspectorate of Croatia Government, as a State Inspector for the economy for six years.

I have a master's degree in food technology from the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology,

A degree as Certified Internal Auditor, Specialist in the area of the economy from Croatian Accounting and Financial Workers Community

I am an Internal Auditor for Quality System Management (IFS, HACCP, HALAL, ISO 14001), Internal Auditor for Accredited Laboratory Management System 17025, Lead Auditor (ISO 9001), and I am also an NLP practitioner trainer.

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.