Adam has been involved in the food industry for 25 years. His career began in retail and food service roles which eventually landed him in quality and research/development roles at several major food companies before finding his home at the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. As the Vice President of Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory Compliance at Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, Adam works with Wisconsin dairy industry partners to provide education, training, strategy, and support in the areas of research, food safety, quality, regulatory compliance, sustainability, and crisis communications.

Adam has extensive product and process knowledge in natural cheese, frozen appetizers, dairy and non-dairy-based sauces, dairy ingredients, seasoning blends, and both fresh and frozen meat products. He is also knowledgeable in the areas of new product development, dairy product food safety, process improvement, analytical and microbiological laboratory techniques, and supplier management.

He is a proud Phoenix (University of Wisconsin Green Bay - Chemistry) and Wildcat (Kansas State University – Food Science).  He is also a Certified Food Scientist, ASQ Certified Six Sigma Green Belt, ASQ Certified Quality Process Analyst, ASQ Certified Quality Auditor, and Preventive Controls (PCQI) Lead Instructor.

He is currently on the Board of Directors of the American Cheese Society and is a former Chair of the Regulatory & Academic Committee. He is also Chair of Wisconsin Dairy Rules Advisory Committee, Chair of the Wisconsin Laboratory Association, Treasurer for the Wisconsin Association for Food Protection, and Chair of the Wisconsin Agro-Security Resource Network.
He has been married for 17 years, has 4 children, and In his spare time, he coaches youth sports and supports local FFA and Master Gardener programs in the state of Wisconsin.

Allison Fowler serves as Chief Marketing Officer at Perfect Day, a consumer biology company on a mission to create a kinder, greener tomorrow by developing new ways to
make the foods you love today — starting in the dairy aisle. In her role, she leads the company’s marketing function, responsible for brand positioning and activation
planning, traditional and digital strategies, partner marketing, and new product launches.

Allison brings over two decades of experience building consumer-centric brands, with a track record of leading marketing functions at innovative CPG brands. She joined
Perfect Day from Perfect Snacks, where she served as Chief Marketing Officer, leading a team of 20 across their Brand Strategy and Activation, e-commerce and Innovation
functions. Prior to Perfect Snacks, she held Brand Marketing leadership positions at Kashi and MillerCoors.
Over her 20-year career, she has led brand strategies for both established CPG and small upstart brands. She has established deep expertise in leading high performing
teams, business strategy development, brand positioning and communications strategy, brand activation planning, and concept to launch new product development.
Allison enjoys advising high-growth brands, working alongside Founders, and serving on the Board of Directors for Copper Cow Coffee and Foodstirs. Allison earned her BA in Economics from the University of San Diego and her MA from the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Communication. She is passionate about the future of animal-free dairy and, with the rest of the executive leadership Team, is driving Perfect Day to its vision of building a more equitable, resilient, and diverse food system for all of us.

Insights leader. Creative mind. Big picture thinker. Chaos Pilot and agile problem solver.
Experience: 16 years of experience in insights, sales, and marketing in local and global roles across different FMCG categories.
Currently part of the Global Agile Innovation team focused on building the innovation pipeline for the next 3-5 years.
Methodology tester and pilot enthusiast. Sustainability advocate.

Andria is a leading growth expert and Food & Beverage Executive with  over 20 years of brand innovation and consumer insights experience across 5 Fortune 1000 companies food companies in the intensely competitive CPG space.
She has a proven track record of growth on over 12 brands and 30 categories across food and beverage and at top tier food companies like include Sara Lee, Kellogg, Keebler, and M&M/Mars.
She has built two Innovation Centers of Excellence from scratch in her roles as Vice President of Innovation & Strategy at Sara Lee and Vice President of Innovation & Consumer Insights at Johnsonville.
At Johnsonville, she led operations of a freestanding, independent operating unit focused on generating growth and consumer insights. At Sara Lee, she led the entire food & beverage North America Retail and Foodservice businesses during the transformation with a $1 billion growth P&L. 
Andria is known for scaling for growth and delivering  over $2  billion in revenue from sustaining innovation launches  like Cheez-It Cheddar Jack,  Ball Park Burgers and Gripz.
Andria leverages her deep expertise in innovation, brand and  strategy by providing advisory services to companies looking to accelerate growth, serving on the boards of Chicagoland Food & Beverage Network, Matot Inc., Neuco, Wesco and University of Florida Business School and speaking on cutting edge topics in the industry.

Carmen Brace is an emerging trends expert with vast experience at the intersection of cannabis, wellness and the consumer-packaged goods industry. She identified cannabis as a disruptor to consumer health and wellness behavior in 2016 and founded a consulting firm serving cannabis and CPG clients.
 
Her futurist mindset and pioneer work ethic led to the first industry studies on cannabis, CBD and wellness in 2017, identifying CBD as an emerging trend and functional food ingredient.

She is a member of the Illinois Governor’s Committee on Cannabis and Health, serves on the board of directors for Chicago NORML, is an expert witness for the Illinois legislature and is a featured speaker across many of the industry’s top conferences.

Caroline Cotto is the Co-Founder & COO of Renewal Mill, a venture-backed startup upcycling the byproducts of food manufacturing into premium ingredients and delicious plant-based products. A food marketing and nutrition specialist, Caroline has experience at the UN World Food Programme, the White House (for Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative), Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator, and HubSpot, where she ran the women’s diversity program globally. Caroline grew up in food, working for her family’s ice cream business in the town of Sandwich, MA. She serves as the inaugural Board President of the Upcycled Food Association and formerly served as a Fulbright Fellow in Taiwan. In 2022, she was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 and the 50 Best's 50 NEXT lists.

Chris Hellmann was the Global Vice President and General Manager, Freestyle Division at The Coca-Cola Company. In this role, he is responsible for leading North America’s Equipment Innovation Center and technical R/D team encompassing strategy, customer and commercial leadership, innovation, equipment & software engineering, supply chain development and e-business to advance the global growth of this vital Company platform. There are currently +50,000 Freestyle dispensers globally and the Equipment Innovaton center operates as a vital innovation hub for The Coca-Cola Company. Chris is responsible for the Freestyle P/L which represents a $1b business for the Coca-Cola Company. Prior to this role, he was the Global VP leading the SUBWAY Restaurant business overseeing all of the Coca-Cola business and contractual agreements for approximately 45,000 customer outlets in 100 countries. He was responsible for leading sales, marketing, finance and operations as well as managing the Company P/L for this customer business. Previous to the above role, Chris was Vice President, Global Commercial Execution. In this position, he was focused against the Europe and Eurasia Coca-Cola Business units and was responsible for building Customer Leadership Capabilities for both Bottler and Company associates. He built and deployed The Coca-Cola Modern Trade Customer Management System across the global system. Chris was previously Marketing Director for Coca-Cola North America, responsible for planning and executing marketing plans for large-scale Coca-Cola Foodservice customers in the Northeast Region. Chris also served as a Segment Marketing Manager, where he was responsible for identifying and developing new opportunities for growth among U.S. customers in the casual dining trade channel. Chris joined Coca-Cola North America as a Marketing Manager and later as Assistant Brand Manager for brands including Minute Maid, PowerAde and Hi-C. Prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company, Chris held several positions in advertising and marketing, most notably BBDO South, where he was responsible for developing and executing marketing and advertising campaigns. Chris received a B.S. in Journalism from Ohio University, and a Masters in Marketing from Johns Hopkins University – Carey School of Business.

Debbie has expertise in engineering microorganisms for protein and chemical production as well as whole microbe products using synthetic biology and classic approaches like mutagenesis and screening.  She also has experience scaling microbes from lab to production and the use of beneficial microbes in applications. Before joining Nature’s Fynd in September 2021, Debbie spent two decades at Novozymes, where she was Managing Director of the company's site in California and Director of Production Strain Technology. She is an inventor on > 40 issued patents; is an author on > 20 peer-reviewed publications; serves on several advisory boards, and has been the recipient of multiple awards, including the inaugural Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology from Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

Ding Wang has over 10 years of experience in the food industry, focusing on monogastric animal nutrition research and food product development (farm animal feed, pet food, pet treat, and supplement). Ding works for Bright Pet Nutrition Group as the Director of Research and Development; Ding focuses on identifying new technologies and new ingredients and turning new concepts into pet food products.

Ding has done intensive research on food ingredient nutrient profiles, animal nutrition requirements, and the application of functional ingredients. Ding has developed a comprehensive system to customize pet food based on the unique requirements of pets and pet owners.

Ding graduated from the University of Kentucky, receiving his Ph.D. in Monogastric animal nutrition. Ding received his Master’s degree in Animal Nutrition from China Agricultural University. Ding has over 32 publications, including research papers, conference abstracts, and books.

Fabien Robert is currently head of zone AMS for Nestlé Quality Assurance centres. He has worked for Nestlé for 20 years, dedicated to the enhancement of the quality of life and contributing to a healthier, sustainable future. His past positions within Nestlé have included the Analytical Services Manager and Food Safety Platform Leader in Corporate international HQ, Project Manager in the corporate Nestle Nutrition Operation department, and Project Manager in the corporate Regulatory and Scientific Affairs department.  He previously worked for 9 years in R&D at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne (Switzerland). Fabien graduated from the University Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in France, where he earned, amongst others, his PhD in Organic Chemistry. Following his university completion in France, Fabien earned his post-doctorates in Bio-Organic Chemistry and Organometallic Chemistry from Université de Genève/Sciences II & III in Switzerland. Fabien earns 56 publications in peers reviewed scientific journals and is an experienced speaker in scientific congresses in food chemistry and food safety.

Jake Karls is the co-founder and Rainmaker at Mid-Day Squares. . We're here to build the world's next-largest Chocolate Company
Think, What would Hershey’s, Mars, Nestle or Mondelez look like if they launched in 2022. That’s what they’re trying to accomplish.
Over the last 4 years, they have built a fully automated chocolate factory (that can make up to $70 million of chocolate per year. They sell their bars in over 4,500 stores across North America and have officially sold over 13 million chocolate bars with help from 60+ amazing teammates based in Montreal, Quebec.
His purpose in life is to make people feel something deep inside, to spread good energy and show the world that you can win by being yourself every day. Jake passionately inspires others to be unapologetically themselves.

This year he was recognized as an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, Forbes 30 under 30 for the food & beverage industry, CPG influencer of the year & Canada's rising star.

As a former professional baseball player in the Chicago White Sox organization and college coach for the Nebraska Huskers, Jeff Tezak has always had a passion for sports and an interest in sports nutrition since it was always an important component of his performance. Sports nutrition led to an interest in everyday nutrition as he transitioned out of competitive sports. He found a passion for providing himself and others with natural nutrient dense foods while living overseas in Australia, where he started, owned, operated and sold a food company that sourced and sold local products. He returned to the U.S. to coach Division 1 baseball at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and received a Masters Degree in History with a thesis focused on international commodity trading. His passion for nutritionally dense food, trade and sustainability came together when he met one of his co-founders Harrouna from Burkina Faso, who was in graduate school with him. Harrouna introduced Jeff to the baobab fruit and they soon started Tiiga which uses the nutritionally dense, wild harvested baobab fruit.

Joaquin has developed a successful career in Sigma for more than 15 years, where he has held various positions in the R&D department. He has also overseen the development of products in the categories of Cold Meats and Prepared Meals and held the position of General Business Manager of the cold meats regional brand Nayar.
Joaquín is a graduate of the Food Engineer career from Tecnológico de Monterrey and has a Master of Science in management science and engineering from Stanford University.

Derived from its activities, it has participated in developing a large number of products across different categories, including the first healthy package meat line, Balance San Rafael and the portfolio of the vegetarian and vegan products of the Vegalia by Campofrio brand in Europe and Better Balance. He has played a vital role in the internalization of Sigma and participated in the most important M&As, Bar-S in the United States and Campofrio Food Group in Europe.

He is currently in charge of more than 100 people focused on research, development, and validation of technologies developing different solutions for 6 product categories and three areas of research service: sensory analytics, packaging and IP management. He led the team that envisioned Sigma's open innovation initiative, "Tastech", and has fled as a mentor and evaluator for many startups that have gone through the program.

Joaquín's vision has been crucial for developing the company's long-term vision in terms of innovation and the generation of new technologies in the 18 countries where Sigma has a presence.

 

Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D, CHE, CRC is Professor in the Department of Food and Hospitality Management in the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Drexel University. He is the Founding Program Director of Drexel’s Food Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programs. He is the Vice President of the Upcycled Food Foundation and previously was the inaugural James Beard Foundation Impact Fellow, leading a national curriculum effort on food waste reduction for chefs and culinary educators. He was named a Food Waste Warrior by Foodtank. Before moving to Drexel, Deutsch built the culinary arts program at Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York (CUNY) and the Ph.D. concentration in food studies at the CUNY Graduate Center and School of Public Health. At Drexel, he directs the Drexel Food Lab, a culinary innovation and food product research and development lab focused on solving real-world food system problems in the areas of sustainability, health promotion, and inclusive dining. He is the co-author or -editor of eight books including Barbecue: A Global History (with Megan Elias), Culinary Improvisation, and The Anti-Inflammatory Family Cookbook, and numerous articles in food studies journals, public health and hospitality education. He earned his Ph.D. in Food Studies and Food Management from New York University (2004), his culinary degree from the Culinary Institute of America (AOS, Culinary Arts, 1997), and is an alumnus of Drexel University (BS, Hospitality Management, 1999). A classically trained chef, Deutsch worked in a variety of settings including product development, small luxury inns and restaurants. When not in the kitchen, he can be found behind his tuba.

Joseph Friedman RPh MBA was the founding member and principal at Professional Dispensaries of Illinois (PDI) Medical LLC, a unique medical cannabis dispensary owned and operated by healthcare professionals and cannabis experts. PDI Medical was acquired by Cresco, a leading multi-state operator in 2019.

Prior to that, Joseph held numerous roles across pharmacy operators, including Mark Drugs, Topco Associates, and the Nash Finch Company.

Friedman is a content expert in the scientific, legal, social, political, and financial challenges facing U.S. entrants to the burgeoning medical cannabis industry. He has contributed to several published articles in the Chicago Tribune, Pharmacy Practice News, Crain’s Chicago Business, TheStreet.com, The Daily Herald and the UIC College of Pharmacy newsletter.  Most recently, he was appointed to Illinois Medical Cannabis Advisory Board by the Governor of Illinois.

Luis Carlos Chacón leads the BusinessCase team, a global boutique consultancy that works with multinational FMCGs to identify emerging and future business opportunities. Also, he has been a columnist for Forbes Latin America for several years (being nowadays top-rated) and currently finishing a postgraduate degree in Global Business at the University of Oxford (where he previously graduated in Strategy and Innovation); his educational background includes studies in Design Thinking of Stanford, and Futures at The University of Manchester, and Houston. In business, he has worked for more than nineteen years for the operations of Fortune 500 Companies such as Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, LVMH, Diageo, Kellogg’s, Unilever, Dannon, and AbInbev, among many others. Behavioural economics enthusiast (understanding the cross between needs and contexts) and believer in connecting the distant (linking the disconnected but inseparable) under the influence of socio-cultural changes in industries and consumption.

Michelle L. Slimko, DrPH, MPH, RD, is the senior vice president of Environmental & Nutrition Research at Dairy Management Inc., where she is responsible for the dairy checkoff’s investment in environmental and nutrition research to help position U.S. Dairy in a global food system.  Slimko is a registered dietitian and holds a doctorate in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. She also holds a master’s degree in Public Health and bachelor of Nutritional Sciences from Benedictine University.  She joined DMI in 2013, leading various science areas translating science, creating public-private partnerships, and shaping the dialogue in global food systems and nutrition. Previous professional roles include working in Scientific & Regulatory Affairs, Medical Communications for Abbott International Nutrition, and Abbott’s global Corporate Health & Wellness and Executive Health Programs. Prior to DMI, she spent almost 10 years at PepsiCo Inc., working on global food and beverage brands in various capacities for international markets, including R&D, innovation, global health policy and supporting U.S. Quaker Brands.

Miri is an economic and organizational sociologist at Northwestern University, specializing in food consumption in the US and Western Europe markets. Highly accomplished academic and winner of the emerging scholar award from the food studies research network in 2021. In addition to her academic career, Miri is a Senior Research Analyst At Euromonitor International, researching the food and beverage industry in the US.

Nicky is the VP Marketing at Aleph Farms. With 15 plus years of experience in marketing and branding across multiple sectors, including finance, biotech, and consumer goods, Nicky leads Aleph Farms' global marketing strategy. She is responsible for driving company growth, new product development, and commercialization into markets all over the globe. Aleph Farms grows beef steaks from non-genetically engineered cells isolated from a living cow without harming animals and significantly reducing the environment's impact. 
Before Aleph Farms, Nicky was the Managing Director of Spring Design Partners, an award-winning boutique creative agency. She oversaw all aspects of the business and led the agency's focus on working with mission-driven, innovative companies. Before this, Nicky held various in-house leadership positions for cult indie brands such as wellness, One Lucky Duck, and the coffee company Brooklyn Roasting Company. She drove growth through product innovation, marketing strategy, and operations optimization.

Olaf Gruess has over 23 years of experience in the food industry, having led new product development (baked goods, yoghurt, cereal bars, shelf-stable and frozen meals), strategic research initiatives (sodium reduction technology, human taste perception), as well as roles in Marketing, Connected Innovation and early start-up evaluation. Gruess was the Head of Connected Innovation and led strategic partnership development at General Mills’ long-term research platform. Gruess focused on identifying technologies externally, developing implementation strategies for those technologies in the broader organization and developing mutually beneficial external partnerships around the globe.
Gruess serves as a judge and mentor at MassChallenge, the world’s most start-up friendly accelerator and the European Food Venture Forum; he was on the Industrial Board of the Integrative Food and Nutrition Center at the EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Institute for Food Technology (DIL).
Gruess received his master’s degree in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Bonn, Germany and the University of Ghent, Belgium, as well as a PhD in Food Science from the University of Bonn, Germany.
Gruess holds several patents and shares his expertise globally through keynotes, summits and conference presentations as Director of Partner Development for Cargill.

Rachel Calomeni is the SVP of Growth & Innovation at HowGood, the world’s largest product sustainability database. HowGood’s platform helps brands measure their environmental and social impact, as well as identify opportunities to improve sourcing locations or practices to create products that are better for our planet. Rachel has 25 years of experience working in or alongside consumer goods companies, such as Procter & Gamble. She holds a Law Degree from the University of Western Sydney and an MBA from Fairfield University. Her passion for preserving our planet stems from her childhood, where she grew up in the picturesque Blue Mountains in Australia, a UNESCO World Heritage Listed site.

Rich Dillon is the CEO of leading cultivated meat company Ivy Farm, a disruptive food-tech start-up on a mission to create the best guilt-free, real meat, to tackle one of the world’s biggest climate polluters - industrial agriculture - and to help the world reach its net zero goals.

Simon Carr is VP and Head of Evalueserve’s CPG practice. He has over 20 years of experience in the CPG space in innovation and IP-based roles. With Mondelez International, he was IP & OI Manager for their global coffee business and Crown Holdings as Global IP Manager. He has a degree in Engineering Design and a Postgraduate Diploma in Strategy and Innovation from the Säid Business School, University of Oxford. He has been a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in their 2016 production of King Lear.

Santiago started his career 11 years ago after obtaining a Master's in International Business and Marketing at Grenoble Ecole de Management. His experience and contribution helped the development of brands in a wide range of fields, such as sports, luxury and mass consumption, and having an active role in mentoring the new generation of entrepreneurs as a tutor.

Sergio is a Food Science and Technology professional with more than 25 years of experience working in the food industry, mostly in the R&D of new products. During this time, he could launch more than two thousand products to the market in 5 continents and more than one hundred countries. He got his bachelor's Chemist degree at the University of Buenos Aires and his post-degree studies in Food Science and Technology at the same school. He worked in international food companies in different R&D roles in three continents and five countries which allowed him to gain a big and diverse experience in terms of managing consumer-centric innovation.

Paul is a veteran product development and product marketing professional with over twenty years in the technology and consulting industries, with a longstanding focus on the food and beverage, restaurant, and retail verticals. He has worked with, and learned from, some of the largest and most dynamic brands in the industry and is a passionate but pragmatic advocate for the power of technology to help businesses achieve the resiliency and scale necessary to thrive in a complex global marketplace.

Michael Frankel is Vice President of Sales in North America for Selerant Corporation, a leading global provider of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions for process manufacturers in the food and beverage, personal care and speciality chemical industries. Michael has been with Selerant since 2011 and has over 15 years of highly successful PLM sales experience working with leading global companies to both justify and automate their product development processes. The topic of his presentation on "Analytics Utilization in PLM for Decision Support and Project Visibility" is a critical component of consideration in the extended value of PLM for food manufacturers.

Eric is, first and foremost, a research scientist with a biology and food science background. He began his career in 1994 working for The Keebler Company as a pilot plant technician. From there, he went on to work for Kraft Foods, where he spent nearly 13 years as a research scientist and qualified specialist. During this time at Kraft, he became deeply involved with R&D and Quality specification management systems. After leaving Kraft, he spent several years working as an industry consultant for Siemens. Later, he went back into the industry and worked for Wrigley / Mars in their global quality organization. In total, he has 20 years of working experience in the process manufacturing space. Eric joined Infor in 2014 to support the process manufacturing PLM team as a solution consultant. He has been integral to the continued growth and expansion of Infor’s PLM practice in North America.