Annette BüterTechnical Applications Manager Flour Fortification

Annette Büter holds a master’s degree in dairy science and technology from Massey University, New Zealand and started her career in the dairy industry in the mid nineties. She gained a broad knowledge of dairy products, dairy components and their applications, including analytical methods, while working at Fonterra before she expanded her field of expertise to include micronutrients. She joined SternVitamin in 2011 and started her work in flour fortification for Mühlenchemie in 2014.

Her main tasks have since been to formulate and develop micronutrient premixes for flour fortification, bakery and food aid products as well as giving technical support and training at all stages of implementation.

Simone FreyManaging Director, BioAnalyt

As managing director of BioAnalyt, Simone Frey combines her deep interest in life sciences and business. Under Simone’s leadership since 2011, BioAnalyt has grown to become a profitable business developing and marketing nutrient test kits. Simone leads an international team passionate about science and improving people’s lives through innovative hardware. Simone studied human nutrition and economics in Giessen, Vienna and at Columbia University and gained a life sciences doctorate from the University of Potsdam. In 2015, she received the management scholarship from ESMT, one of the TOP ranked European business schools. She coordinated the leaders network ENLP from 2012 to 2015 connecting 650+ key players in food and nutrition in Europe. She is also the founder of "Ernährung macht Karriere", a community providing trends on jobs, career, start-ups and innovative products to over 4200 nutrition students and young professionals.

Drew LernerSenior Agricultural Meteorologist
Founder and President World Weather, Inc

Drew Lerner is President and Senior Agricultural Meteorologist of World Weather, Inc. Drew has been forecasting international weather for 37 years. He began his meteorology career in 1978 when he participated in an international effort to collect data and improve weather forecasting for the Asian Monsoon. Since then, Drew has been supporting the agricultural industry by providing detailed short and long range weather predictions for each major crop area in the world. His daily assessments of crop and weather expectations support commodity market trade and help many companies make better agricultural business decisions. Drew started World Weather, Inc. in 2001 after leading Global Weather Services in the late 1990s. World Weather, Inc. is based in the Kansas City area and supports an expanding group of clientele residing in North and South America, India, Europe, Africa and Australia.

Charles SoslandChairman & CEO, World Grain

Charles Sosland is president and chief executive officer of Sosland Companies, Inc. of Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A., a family-owned holding company focused mainly in publishing magazines, newsletters and websites serving American and global food and agribusiness. He is chairman of Sosland Publishing Company which publishes business-to-business, print and digital magazines with titles; World Grain, Milling & Baking News, Food Business News, Meat & Poultry, Baking & Snack, Bake and Instore.

Charles is an advisory board member of the Commerce Bank of Kansas City, N.A. He is a member of the board of trustees of University of Missouri, Kansas City and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Charles is a member of the disbursement committee of the Oppenstein Brothers Foundation and Chairman of the Sosland Foundation, both charitable foundations funding not-for-profit agencies for children, education & arts and health services.

Hans-Joachim BraunDirector Global Wheat Program
CIMMYT, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center

Hans-Joachim Braun, a native of Germany with a background in wheat breeding based in Mexico, has led CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program since 2004. Responsible for technical direction and implementation of the program, he leads and manages 40 internationally recruited scientists, who develop wheat germplasm that is distributed to around 200 cooperators in more than 100 countries and grown of more than 50% of the spring wheat area in developing countries. From 1985 to 2005 he lived in Turkey, leading the Turkey CIMMYT ICARDA International Winter Wheat Improvement Program. He contributed to the development of more than 40 winter wheat varieties released mainly in West and Central Asia, which are grown on more than 2 million ha. Braun was instrumental in recognizing Zn deficiency and soil borne diseases as a major constraint for winter wheat production in the dryland areas of West Asia. In his 33 years with CIMMYT, he became familiar with all major wheat based cropping systems in the developing and developed world. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and received various awards, including the Friendship Award of China for his contribution to developing disease resistant wheat lines for Gansu province. Braun received his Ph.D. from the University of Hohenheim, Germany in 1983.

Jana RussnakResearch and Development, Pasta Application, Mühlenchemie GmbH & Co KG

Born in 1988, Jana Russnak graduated from Hamburg University of Applied Sciences with a Master´s degree in Food Science in 2014. During her studies she gained practical experience at different food companies in the fields of product development, sensory evaluation, and texture measurement techniques. After her graduation Jana joined the R&D team at Mühlenchemie, where she is in charge of all technical matters related to pasta. In her position she mainly looks after the development of new products tailored to the needs of consumers, customer training events and international workshops, as well as technical support on-site.

Katja RunkelResearch & Development Pasta Application, Mühlenchemie GmbH & Co KG

Katja Runkel is the pasta applications expert in the Mühlenchemie R&D team.
After finishing her diploma in chemical engineering she gained her first experience at a chemistry lab before she joined Mühlenchemie in 2003.
Katja spent her first years at Mühlenchemie working in quality assurance followed by rheological and chemical analysis of wheat and related products.
Since the introduction of pasta equipment in the technical laboratories, pasta and all technical aspects of pasta applications have been Katja’s main focus.

Klaus OldachTeam Leader Cereals Biotech at KWS Lochow GmbH

Klaus Oldach was awarded his PhD in 1999 at the University of Hamburg in the field of wheat improvement using biotechnological means. In 2000, he was granted an Alexander-von-Humboldt Fellowship and left Germany to continue his research on wheat and barley at the University of Adelaide, Australia. In 2006, he took up the position of Program Leader at the South Australian Research and Development Institute, to support breeding programs for wheat, barley, oats and pulses (faba beans, chickpea and lentils) with molecular and physiological analyses. Topics of interest were quality parameters, disease resistances and resistances to environmental stresses. In 2014, he decided to return to Germany in a role as Team Leader Cereals Biotech at KWS Lochow GmbH in Einbeck, where he complements the company´s wheat, barley and rye breeding program by the efficient application of biotechnology tools.

Luciano MondardiniDirector Research and Development at Pavan Group

After graduating in Biology at Turin University in Italy in 1981 he started his career in the food processing sector in Ecuador as a researcher at the Politechnics School of Guayaquil in 1983, working on a composite flour product development programme sponsored by the Italian government.

He has been working with the Pavan Group since 1986, when he entered the Mapimpianti company; from the start he has been concerned with food extrusion as applied to cereal flours.

After the merger of the dry pasta and extrusion sectors of the Pavan Group in 1991, he became director of R&D for the entire group.

He is the author or co-author of several publications on extrusion cooking and fresh and dry pasta. He has presented several lectures at specialist food conferences and gives lessons on extrusion and drying processes at the Pavan School of Technology and various seminars and in-house courses organized in major food manufacturing companies around the world.

Lutz PopperHead of Research & Development, Mühlenchemie GmbH & Co KG

Lutz Popper read food technology at the Berlin University of Technology, followed by research and instruction activities at the Institute of Food Technology. In his Ph.D. thesis he treated the extraction and application of anti-microbial enzymes. Since December 1993 Popper has been with Muehlenchemie, as head of research and development, and since 2009 also as scientific director of the Stern-Wywiol Group. He is an external lecturer in food technology at the Kiel University of Technology since 1997 and at the Beuth University of Applied Sciences, Berlin, since 2015 he has contributed 160 articles and lectures to the field of food science.

Marco GalliArea Manager for North America – Ocrim

Born in Brazil in 1960, he grew up in Italy, started working for Ocrim in 1983.

With Ocrim Marco Galli held various positions, first as a technologist in charge of commissioning and testing of milling plants all round the world.

He spent three years in Indonesia working as a Production Manager for the largest milling complex in the world (today total grinding capacity is about 12,000 tons of wheat/day) that is the Bogasari Flour Mills, bringing with him international high profile experience.

He returned to Ocrim as Area Manager for North America and since 2006 he has hekd the position of Ocrim Technology Manager and head of the International School of Milling Technology of Ocrim although the relationship with the school dates back to 1983 when he was a student.

Marco Galli is happily married to Manuela and has two sons. The family has supported him throughout his career..

Margo WhitefordPresident International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus

Margo Whiteford, is a Consultant Clinical Geneticist, who works in Glasgow, Scotland. She initially trained in paediatrics and has a special interest in congenital malformations. She provides genetics input for two Managed Clinical Networks in Scotland: one for orofacial clefting disorders and the other for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.
Margo was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IF) in 2010 and became President in June 2013. She is also Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland and in 2009 was voted Scotswoman of the Year in recognition of her work for the health service and charity. Margo has personal knowledge of spina bifida having been born with the condition.

Michaela PichlerICC Secretary General / CEO

Since 2015 Michaela Pichler has been Secretary General/CEO of ICC - the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology www.icc.or.at, based with its Headquarters in Vienna/Austria.

There she manages and coordinates the global activities of ICC as the pre-eminent international association in the field of cereal science and technology, committed to the international cooperation by disseminating knowledge, conducting research and developing standard methods that contribute to advance innovation, improve food quality, food safety and food security for the health and well-being of all people.

Michaela Pichler acts furthermore as Vice-President at the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology – Austria, as Board Member at the Harald Perten Foundation, as Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Global Harmonisation Initiative and as jury member for the Eberhard Paech-Preis Foundation.

In the past she was working in the Agriculture Administration within the Austrian Paying Agency and the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management where she has been more than 10 years actively involved in the management and implementation of various EU funded projects in the field of agriculture and rural development as well as capacity building in new Member States, Candidate Countries and Potential Candidates. From 2012 to 2014 she was working in Pristina as Resident Twinning Adviser in the EPA (European Projects Association) awarded EU Twinning Project to support the Kosovo Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAFRD).

She holds a MSc degree in Business Administration from the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Austria) and has certificates as EOQ Quality Manager and Quality Auditor.

Peter KöhlerVice Director of the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt for the Food Chemistry

Peter Köhler is a food chemist by training and obtained his PhD from Technische Universität München. Currently, he is vice director of the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Lebensmittelchemie in Freising, Germany. His research is focused on basic and applied topics in cereal science. Typical examples are studies on celiac disease, on structure and functional properties of wheat gluten and other cereal proteins as well as enzymes and emulsifiers in breadmaking. Since 1999 he has been teaching as a professor for food chemistry. Peter is Fellow of the ICC-Academy, Fellow of the AACC International, and Chairman of the Working Group on Prolamin Analysis and Toxicity.

Peter StrieglHead of Business Development Industrial Milling, Uzwil, Switzerland

Mr. Peter Striegl joined Buhler in 1998 after graduating as a milling technologist. After completing assignments in plant commissioning, he was made responsible for the milling technology in Northern Europe. Back to the headquarter in Switzerland, Peter Striegl was heading the technology department of the grain milling in Switzerland. From 2012 to 2014 he was responsible for the milling technology word wide. Since 2014 Peter Striegl is the Head of Business Unit Industrial Milling, Uzwil, Switzerland.

Hansjörg KüsterPresident of the Lower Saxonian Natural and Cultural Heritage Association

Hansjörg Küster was born in Frankfurt, 1956. He studied Biology at Stuttgart-Hohenheim University, 1975-1981, and there he also defended his Doctoral Thesis in 1985. 1981-1998 he worked at the Institute for Pre- and Protohistory at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. There he worked mainly in the fields of vegetation history and the history of crops. 1992 he finished his Habilitation Thesis at the Faculty for Forestry Sciences of Munich University. After teaching also at the Universities of Potsdam, Freiburg, Würzburg and Regensburg he is Professor for Plant Ecology at Leibniz University, Hanover, since 1998. He now deals with basic research in ecology and landscape science, and still he is working with vegetation and landscape history and past and present aspects of cultivated plants. He wrote several books on crops and their history, landscape and woodlands. He is also President of the Lower Saxonian Natural and Cultural Heritage Association and of the foundation for the history of nature protection in Königswinter.

Quentin JohnsonOwner Quican Inc.

A professional with 44 years of New Product Development, Quality Assurance, Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs experience in the milling and baking sectors of the food industry.

For the past 19 years he has provided technical assistance in 86 countries world wide in the development and implementation of food fortification programmes with particular reference to wheat flour and maize meal fortification.

Currently providing consulting services through his own business, Quican Inc. to:
1. International UN Agencies, National Donor Aid Agencies and international NGOs on staple food fortification. Clients include The Flour Fortification Initiative, Smarter Futures, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Helen Keller International, The Micronutrient Initiative, Tufts University, UNICEF, USAID, World Bank, World Food Programme, World Health Organization, World Vision Canada.
2. The Food Industry, specializing in New Product Development, Technical Services, Food Safety and Quality Assurance;
3. Current responsibilities include, Coordinator (part time) Training & technical Support Group, of the Flour Fortification Initiative. Food Technologist, Food Aid Quality Review Team, Tufts University

In 2011, Quentin received an Honorary Degree DLL honoris causa from the University of Guelph for his contribution to the advancement of staple food fortification around the world.

Ralph E. KolbOwner of FrigorTec GmbH

Ralph E. Kolb studied Facility Technology at the University of Applied Sciences Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and Technical Sales & Marketing at the Freie Universität Berlin. After some occupational years in the business field Facility Technologie at the company Sulzer AG in Stuttgart and in the field Environmental Technology at the company Dürr AG in Stuttgart Mr. Kolb changed to Sulzer-Escher Wyss in Lindau and joined the department of Refrigeration Engineering. Sulzer-Escher Wyss has been taken over by Axima Refrigeration and later FrigorTec GmbH took over the product field Cooling Units. Mr. Kolb is the active owner of FrigorTec GmbH. FrigorTec manufacture individual cooling units and heat pumps for industrial applications, like e.g. grain cooling units and supply them worldwide.

Scott MontgomeryDirector, Food Fortification Initiative Enhancing Grains for Healthier Lives

Scott joined Cargill, Incorporated in 1980 as a trainee at Cargill’s Oilseeds Processing Plant in Washington, Iowa. After serving in supervisory positions for Cargill Flour Milling in New York, Chattanooga and Kansas, he was named Regional Superintendent for Cargill Flour Milling in 1989 and Manager of Operations for North American Flour Milling in 1993.

In 1996, Scott was named Vice President, Global Wheat Flour Milling Operations, which included flour mills in the United States, South America and India. In 1999, he was named Vice President, Worldwide Dry Milling Operations, which added the dry corn mills in the U.S. and the U.K.

In 2002 Worldwide Citrus was added to Scott’s responsibilities. Scott was seconded to Allied Mills, a joint venture acquisition in Australia, for just short of a year in October 2002 as General Manager. He then returned to the United Sates as Vice President, Dry Milling/Citrus Operations.

Scott was named Vice President, Corporate Procurement Leader, North America in November 2005. In July of 2006 he was named Vice President, Global Procurement Leader. He retired from Cargill in June of 2010.

In August 2010 Scott starting working with the Food Fortification Initiative (formerly the Flour Fortification Initiative) as the Industry Liaison, in March of 2011 he was appointed Director. Scott received a B.S. degree in Milling Science and Management from Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, in 1980.

Stefan MakollusFood Technologist, Mühlenchemie GmbH & Co KG

Stefan Makollus was born 1967 in Lower Saxony / Germany. His family owned a small bakery close to Hannover where he started his apprenticeship to a baker. Mid-1990s he studied food technology in Bremerhaven and his first employer in this professional field was the “Technologie-Transfer-Zentrum Bremerhaven” (TTZ) under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Lösche. At this time Stefan Makollus was responsible for several projects and got his first experiences in baking enzymes. In 2005 he started with AB Enzymes GmbH in Darmstadt / Germany. Till 2012 he gained a strong insight in the functionality of all enzymes used in baking goods. Since 2012 he is part of the Mühlenchemie R&D department in Ahrensburg. Started as a technician with responsibility for East Africa his activities today are basically the research in baking enzymes.

Stephan LangeManaging Director Brabender^® GmbH & Co. KG

Stephan Lange was born in 1961 in Hamburg, Germany. He is married and has three daughters.

His business career brought him from AEG-Telefunken, Deutsche Aerospace, Daimler Benz, Jenbacher Energiesysteme and Probat-Werke to Bühler. He has worked and lived in Germany, USA, and Austria and has served as Project-Engineer, Sales Engineer, Sales Director and Managing Director.

In June 2014 he joined Brabender® GmbH & Co. KG in Duisburg, Germany, as Managing Director.

Sven MattutatHead of Global Baking Application

Born in 1979, Sven Mattutat graduated the University of Applied Sciences in Lemgo as a Food Technology Engineer (Dipl.- Ing) in 2005 and holds a degree of Business Administration Engineering at AKAD University of Applied Sciences in Leipzig (Dipl. Wi.-Ing.) in 2010.

Sven started working at Mühlenchemie in March 2010 as Food Technologist / Chief Master Baker and was promoted to the head technical baking team Africa in 2013. Sven is also supporting the team in the LATEM area.

Before his time at Mühlenchemie, Sven worked for almost 5 years at the R&D team of Kampffmeyer Food Innovation in Hamburg, part of Europe’s biggest milling group. There he held the position of Manager Product Development. Up to 2001 he also worked for a few years as a Master Baker in Germany.

Victor de BeusAccount manager at AkzoNobel Chelates & Micronutrients

2004-2011: Bachelor & Master Industrial Engineering at University of Groningen. Specialization towards Product & Process Technology. Erasmus exchange in Istanbul, Turkey.

2011-2012: Independent travelling through Asia

2012-2014: Fast Track Management Program at AkzoNobel. Stationed in Sweden, Singapore and the Netherlands in various businesses and functions.

2014-YTD: Account manager at AkzoNobel Chelates & Micronutrients. Responsible for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Turkey, Greece and 2 key accounts.

2015-YTD: Mentorship at School’s Cool. Mentoring 12 year old 2 hr/week

Andreas BlüthnerDirector Food-Fortification & Partnerships BASF

Andreas Blüthner, born 1971 in Frankfurt/Main, heads BASF’s Food-Fortification Initiative and is a permanent lecturer with the University of Mannheim in the department of International Economic Law. He holds a degree in business administration, a PhD in International Economic Law and published on the topics of international trade, development partnerships and nutrition. Mr. Blüthner’s working experience includes the private sector, namely Bosch, Baker Mc Kenzie, a leading law firm and international consultancy engagements in the area of strategy development, international law and corporate social responsibility. Public sector experience includes the German Foreign Office Berlin, United Nations Organizations such as UN HABITAT, the UN Global Compact, UN Volunteers and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (GAIN). For the last 5 years, he has focused his efforts on the development and operational implementation of high-impact nutrition partnerships with BASF’s Food-Fortification Team.

Bernard ValluisPresident of the European Flour Millers Association (EFM)

Bernard Valluis has been the new president of the European Flour Millers Association (EFM) since May 2016. Since 2009 he has been the deputy president of the French Millers Association (ANMF). He is also president of the French Information Centre on bread and flour.

After studying agricultural science and economics he started his career in 1966 as a researcher at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA). He was also a project manager at the Ministry of Economics and general director of the French Corn Growers Association (AGPM) before joining the Soufflet Group in 1990, where he was successively PR director, director of the trading division and a member of the Group executive board.

During his career he was also the president and/or a member of the board of several other French and European associations such as Symex, Synacomex, Euroflour, Euromaïsiers, Coceral and GAFTA.

Jan Willem van der KampSenior Officer, International Projects at TNO

Jan Willem van der Kamp, Senior Officer, International Projects at TNO, the Netherlands, has over 35 years’ experience in cereal and food research, biotechnology, research management and communication. He managed and participated in a wide range of national and EU projects, and led the technology transfer and communication activities in HEALTHGRAIN (2005-2010). As coordinator of the HealthBread project (2012-2014) he was elected by the Bakery & Snacks Journal as the world-wide Bakery Personality of the Year 2014, due to the success of this project: the launch by bakeries in Germany, Austria and Italy of attractive clean-label bread products tasting like white bread and with nutrition and health benefits superior to wholemeal bread, due to increased bioavailability of minerals and anti-oxidants. In addition to his position at TNO he is a board member of the Healthgrain Forum and chair of the Academy of ICC, the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology.

Florian PaschenResearch & Development Dough and Baking Goods Applications, Mühlenchemie GmbH & Co KG

Florian Paschen was born in 1988. He is a trained baker and master and he studied baking and confectionery technology on the University of Applied Sciences Ost-Westfalen Lippe in Lemgo. Before and during his studies, Mr Paschen gained experience in the bakery industry in the fields of product development, sensor technology, as well as analysis and colorimetry in baking goods and pasta products. Mr. Paschen wrote his Bachelor's degree at Mühlenchemie in 2011 under the supervision of Dr. Popper. In 2012, Mr. Paschen graduated as "Bachelor of Science" and "Engineer of Food Technology". Since then, he has been strengthening the application field in the R & D of Mühlenchemie in the fields of dough and baking goods applications, method and product development, analysis and quality testing of raw materials and manufactured goods. Mr. Paschen is also working on special projects such as "alternatives to benzoyl peroxide" or the issue "coping with the ban on azodicarbonamide". In his new position as "assistant to the laboratory and department management" he also supports the laboratory management and trains employees in general cereal and baking technology as well as in the field of enzymes on baking application.

Merzad JamshidiKFF Mills CEO, IAOM MEA Region Chairman

Having had 20 years experience in running flour mills, he is currently the CEO and Chairman of KFF Mills. Mr. Jamshidi has also been essential in having the IAOM MEA region become one of the largest and most active in the world. He has been awarded the “George Kehr Memorial Award” for his outstanding performance in membership increase. He started his milling career back in 1993 at KSU with professor Steve Curren and also attended short courses with Dr. Jeff Gwirtz. Jamshidi was a key figure in kick staring the Flour Fortification Initiative in Iran, using his mill as the first mill after the initial success with the pilot program to start fortifying in 2005. He was recognized in Istanbul at FFI conference with “Leadership Award” for his performance and success in fortification. His strategy and success in milling has been tailor made base products. He is currently running two mills with capacity of 800 tones a day.

Fred BrounsProf. Dr. at Maastricht University & Brouns Health Food Consulting

Fred Brouns obtained a PhD at Maastricht University in the Netherlands for his nutrition physiology research “Food and Fluid Related Aspects in Highly Trained athletes” For this research he was awarded the Dutch Sports Medicine Award. Fred has >25 years experience in the field of life sciences and health nutrition, headed international R&D functions in the area of Nutrition and Health/Nourishing the World, at Wander Dietetics, Sandoz Nutrition, Novartis Nutrition, Eridania Beghin Say, Cerestar and Cargill Inc. He chaired various food and nutrition expert panels at the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) Europe, Brussels and at IDACE, Paris. Fred became invited member of the British Nutrition Society and is a registered Biomedical Researcher as well as board member (2008-2012) of the Dutch Academy of Nutritional Sciences. He obtained fellowships of the American College of Sports Medicine and the European College of Sports Sciences, published extensively and is a frequent global educator and speaker in the field of Life Sciences and Nutrition.

From 2008- 2015 he hold a full chair “Health Food Innovation” at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life and Sciences, within School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism (NUTRIM), Maastricht University. His current main interest is on vitality and physical function in health and disease, related to aspects of plant bio-actives , sugars, carbohydrates and dietary fibers as well as whole grain, cereals and gluten. Recently he was awarded the “Year 2015 Fellow of the ICC-“ International Association of Cereal Science and Technology, In 2015 he founded “Brouns Health Food Consulting-FOOD MATTERS. His citations according to WoS: sum 5372, average 30.18 /item; H-index:43. He published > 300 science papers and presented > 200 key-note lectures world wide.

Charles Loubersac d'HotelManaging Director Perten Instruments France

In charge of the French subsidiary of Perten Instruments AB, a PerkinElmer Company, including French territories, Northern Africa and French speaking Africa. There is in France an efficient network for Service & Applications on Perten devices. With a Service division LNE - metrology approved for validation of moisture meter for cereals.

Based in Haguenau - Alsace - This a 7,5 M$ business with 23 highly talented people to manage. Covering all areas of business of Perten, in one of the major EU agrifood country: cereals & milling the most, milk & dairy, meat, industrial bakeries and confectionaries, snacks etc.

Before that, 7 years as Export sales manager of CHOPIN Technologies, also one of the worldwide specialist in milling and cereals rheology. Academic background is Master in Agribusiness of the Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas and Master in Political Sciences from Toulouse, France

This is a tremendous task that allows me to go to any flour milling laboratory throughout the world, work with the largest food corporations & talk to the most experienced cereals chemists in the most prestigious Universities & institutes.

Vito MartielliAnalyst Grains & Oilseeds, Rabobank RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness

Vito Martielli is working as industry analyst for Rabobank at Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory department in the Netherlands, since 2005. As expert of grains, meat and vegetable oils, Mr. Martielli has taken part to business trips and was invited to speak in global conferences in Europe, Americas, Africa and Oceania. His job is mainly focused on the assessment of the business risks for Rabobank and on the evaluation of business opportunities for internal and external clients.

Before joining Rabobank he worked for the Agricultural office of the Dutch Embassy in Rome for bilateral relations in food and agribusiness sectors. He also advised the Italian Ministry of Agriculture for promotion and quality of the Italian food in the world market. Previously he had been employed by McDonald’s Italy in Milan working in the marketing research and business development.

He holds a degree in Business Administration from Bocconi University in Milan (Italy) and an International Ph.D. from Faculty of Agriculture of University of Basilicata (Italy) and in cooperation with Wageningen University (the Netherlands) with major on olive oil.

Arnaud DubatDirector Business Development, Chopin Technologies

Arnaud Dubat is Director of the Business Development Department for CHOPIN Technologies (France). Arnaud holds a Master in Sciences and Techniques for the agro food industry and a Master in International Marketing and Strategy. His original background comes from Biochemistry and he also holds a miller’s degree from the French Milling School (ENSMIC).

He started working for CHOPIN Technologies in 1989 as an after sales technician. His various occupations in the company puts him in constant contact with flour producers or users worldwide.

Arnaud is a standardisation expert for AFNOR, ISO and CEN, he regularly gives teaching lectures at the “Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers”. He is vice president of the BIPEA, corporate member representative for ICC and actual Chair of the experimental milling committee for AACCi.

Arnaud is author or co-author of numerous publications including technical papers and posters and has been coordinating the Alveograph Handbook and the Mixolab Handbook.

Arkadiy GurevichPresident, Russian Union of Flour Mills

President of the Russian Union of Mill and Groats Enterprises A.I. Gurevich has been working in the bakery sector since 1970.

In 1983 he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Main Planning and Economic Department of the Industry, and in February, 1992 - Head of the Main Economy and Finance Department of the Ministry of bakeries of the Russian Federation.

Following the establishment of the Federal Contract Corporation "Roskhleboproduct" within the Ministry of bakeries of the Russian Federation, A.I. Gurevich headed therein the Economics Centre. Since 2002 he has been the General Director of JSC "Rosmuka". In May 2005 he was elected president of the Russian Union of Mill and Groats Enterprises. The Union represents the interests of 192 mill and groats enterprises, representing about 70% of the production of flour and cereals in Russia.

He took part in the implementation of the program for the development and modernization of the Russian mill enterprises, was one of the developers of the privatization concept of bakery enterprises, was behind the creation of joint-stock company "Federal Contract Corporation "Roskhleboproduct", participated in the preparation of decrees and laws of the Russian Federation "On Grain", "On liberalization of the grain market", "On the procurement and supply of agricultural products, raw materials and food for state needs", participated in the creation of the first grain stock exchange in Russia.

A.I. Gurevich was awarded the title of "Honored Economist of the Russian Federation", he has governmental and public awards. As a President of RUMGE, A.I. Gurevich is seeking to create civilized market relations between agricultural producers and grain processors, calls for the establishment of equal conditions for these enterprises in the commercial sphere, in taxation, in ensuring industrial safety, calls for the greater involvement of the state in regulating the food market, for improving the quality and safety of flour and cereals supplied to bakery market.

Alberto BarbazzaGolfetto Sangati

Alberto Barbazza is a Mechanical Engineer who graduated in 2012 with a specialization in energy production engineering at Università degli Studi di Udine. After a research period of 4 months at the MENRVA LAB of Mechatronics at the Simon Fraser University – Vancouver, he published his research about the medical application of EAP smart materials on the IOP Science journal.

He started his career in the project management of Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing plants, covering both commercial and technical roles. At the end of 2013 he joined Golfetto Sangati, the cereal process division of Pavan Group.

In this company, he is currently responsible to provide the complete design and project management of cereal milling plants, which involves the study of the mill specifications, the building definition, the decision of the final layout, the design of all the transport systems and machines connections, the production of all the bill of materials, the assistance to the site managers and the customers during and after the plant erection. At Golfetto Sangati he has managed a variety of contracts such as complete mills, mills revampings and “out of standard plants”, always with a special focus for international projects.

Flavio ZambelliTechnical Director, EURAFRIQUE S.A.M.

Eurafrique SAM – Monaco Principality – wheat trading, shipping and engineering company of the MIMRAN’s group.

Director of operations and engineering of the wheat flour and feed milling business unit of the MIMRAN’s group. Annual processing capacity over 500,000 tons of wheat and 50,000 tons of feedstuff in West Africa:

• Senegal - 1 wheat flour mill and 1 feed mill (Les Grands Moulins de Dakar)
• Ivory Coast - 2 wheat flour mills and 1 feed mill (Les Grands Moulins d’Abidjan and Moulin de San Pedro).

Responsible for:

• Diagrams, designing, engineering and commissioning of new projects related to process optimisation, plants refurbishing and upgrading according to the latest sanitation and safety standards, plants capacity increase and automation.
• Technical supervision of plant operations related to flour extraction, power efficiency, maintenance, hygiene and product quality.
• Setting the quality standards of the wheat delivered to the flour mills, according to local regulatory and quality requirements of the finished products.

Lars LobbedeyDivision Manager Sales, Agriculture, Food, SGS INSTITUT FRESENIUS GmbH

Dr. Lars Lobbedey works for the SGS Institut Fresenius GmbH since 2001. Lobbedey studied food chemistry and subsequently held various positions in analytics and in the health food division. Lobbedey has been a division manager since 2005, and is responsible for strategy, consulting and sales in the health food and functional food divisions. A food chemist with Ph.D., he advises on food supplements, functional food as well as dietary food and novel food. Together with his team in the SGS Institut Fresenius Berlin Laboratory, he answers manufacturers' questions concerning food law, and the areas to be taken into account during product presentation and advertising. He ensures that food supplements enter the market in a qualitatively safe manner with analyses of nutritional content and residue analysis.

Lieven BauwensSecretary General, Int. Fed. for Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus

Lieven Bauwens is the Secretary General of the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IF – www.ifglobal.org), and the chair of both Child-Help Belgium and Child-Help International (www.child-help.be), a charity dedicated to help children with SB/H in developing countries. In those capacities, he is a global advocate for the rights of persons with the disabilities while engaging actively in primary prevention of these impairments. He is a board member of the Food Fortification Initiative (www.ffinetwork.org), of the International Disability Alliance (www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/en), and a founding partner of the global alliance for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, PUSH! (www.pu-sh.org), and Child-Help in Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands. A background in Architecture and Business Administration, Lieven got involved in IF as brother of a young man with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.

Eckhard FlöterBerlin University of Technology

Eckhard Flöter received his Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University Berlin, Germany. His PhD degree from the Technical University Delft, the Netherlands, was awarded for his work on the thermodynamics of mineral oils. Subsequently he joined Unilever R&D in 1996 and made the move from mineral to edible oils. During 15 years with Unilever, where he held several R&D positions, he worked on numerous projects relating to fat-based food products with emphasis on spreads. His activities covered the range from science to implementation of new technology in the factory. During his Unilever tenure, he was lucky enough to spent half a year at Unilever’s Venture Capital subsidiary in Santa Barbara. In 2011 he returned to his home country to become professor for Food Process Engineering at the Technical University Berlin. His area of interest covers the substrates fats, sugar, grain and starch with a scientific focus on processes involving phase changes, e.g. crystallization. He is author of a wide range of papers and book chapters, and numerous patents originating from his Unilever employment. Besides being a member of several organizations and scientific advisory boards, he is the chairman of Berlin Brandenburg Society of Grain Sciences.

Lennart KutschinskiManaging Director Mühlenchemie GmbH & Co. KG

Lennart Kutschinski joined the Navy for 2 years after school as Officer of Reserve. From there he continued working with the leading shipping in Germany, Hapag Lloyd and finished with a degree in International Management and Trade from the Hamburg School of Business (HSBA).

He joined Stern Wywiol in 1995 as Sales Manager for Mühlenchemie and got promoted to Managing Director in 2006. He is part of the Executive Board of Directors of Stern Wywiol overlooking several business segments

Fabien VaragnacMühlenchemie GmbH & Co. KG

Fabien Varagnac is currently Area Technical Sales Manager for francophone countries at Mühlenchemie. Fabien graduated a bachelor degree in cereal industries at the French milling school (ENSMIC) before completing a vocational training certificate in a French traditional bakery. He then joined the Mühlenchemie technical team in April 2008 as R&D baker. After few months in the lab, he switched to a technical sales position.

Over the last 8 years, this position gave him a chance to discover a large range of milling technologies and baking habits from the field, and develop a deep understanding of what means quality for a flour.

To support his customers in this highly competitive environment, Fabien made a point of developing long term partnership based on technical knowledge transfer. This was achieved among others through many in house training as well as the organization of several local workshops. Along this several events, he made a drastic switch in the approach, coming from the classical one way presentation to platform provider based on large interactions between all the participants representing the major actors of the flour sector.

Luis CortesManufacturing Director, Grupo TRIMEX

Mr. Luis Cortes is the Technical Director at Grupo TRIMEX, the largest Flour Milling company in Mexico with a total milling capacity over 2.4 Million metric Tons of wheat per year, operating 13 mills around the country. He is BioChemical engineer graduated from Monterrey Institute of Technology, and has a Masters Degree in Food Science & Technology from the same university. Mr. Cortes has been working in the milling and baking industries since 1979, in diverse positions ranging from Head miller, Chief Chemist, Plant Manager, to his current position of Technical director. He is graduated from the Swiss Milling School, in St. Gallen; and has other Graduate studies at Stanford University and IPADE School of Business.

Dimitrios VasilakopoulosHead of Laboratory, Mühlenchemie

Dimitrios Vasilakopoulos graduated from the Agricultural University of Athens as a Food Engineer, in 2002, and from Wageningen University as a Master’s in Food Technology, in 2004. He started his career at the Nestle Product Technology Centre Singen, Germany, in 2005, as an R&D Project Manager on Chilled and Frozen Dough Products, managing bread, pizza and pastry projects. In 2012, he shifted to Papadopoulos Biscuits, Greece, as an R&D Specialist on pan bread and biscuits. In 2014, he moved to Emigrain, IFFCO, UAE, as R&D Head of the mill, managing the flour and pasta activities. In 2016 he joined Müehlenchemie and is heading the Baking, Pasta and Rheology labs.