Speakers

Angeline Achariya

Chief Executive Officer/Food Innovation Centre, Monash University

The global consumer is continuously evolving and demanding more from the actors in the food and agriculture value chain. With the growing focus on the intersection of Food, Health, Nutrition, Wellness and Digitisation. The time is ripe for both innovation and disruption to bring new sustainable innovations to market that continue to win the hearts and minds of the global consumer. Personally, I see many possibilities for food and Agriculture businesses to collaborate and co-create not just new product innovations but new business models that address the key resource challenges we face. As a global consumer myself, I am demanding food for me, wherever I maybe and whenever I want it. The possibilities are endless and truly exciting.

Angeline is a globally recognized and respected leader in commercializing innovation to market, a practicioner of building innovation capabilities and export pathways into Asia. With a career spanning over 20 years of diverse international innovation and leadership experience in blue chip multinational companies like MasterFoods Japan, Fonterra, Yum! Brands and Mondelez International, has resulted in more than 800 innovations launched in grocery retail, foodservice and quick service restaurants.

Angeline is on a number of advisory boards and committees and most noteworthy is the development of Victoria’s Food & Fibre strategy in 2015. Angeline’s strong commercial and innovation skills have paved the way for her leading and establishing a world first industry shared model, the Mondelez International Food Innovation Centre (FIC). The FIC has transitioned to Monash University in 2016 as a neutral industry shared innovation services start up to support the growth and revitalisation of the Australian food and beverage industry.

John Alderson

CHEP Australia

John holds an Executive MBA in Business Administration and Management from Monash University and a Bachelor of Marketing from Griffith University. He has been with CHEP for over 9 years in various Customer Services, Account Management and Sales roles within Australia and the United Kingdom. He is currently the Director, Customer Supply Chain Solutions, CHEP Australia. John’s expertise is operations management, key account management, customer solutions and supply chain sustainability.

Sam Bailey

Farmer, pilot, author

Sam Bailey is a farmer, pilot, husband and best-selling author. He has achieved all of those from a wheelchair….and has an incredible ability to take an audience on the journey of his life.

Today they live and work together on their beef cattle property in North West NSW, in between travelling the country telling their story and giving inspiration to others.
They are also working towards their next big goal – Sam becoming the first quadriplegic in the world to fly a helicopter and flying into schools to inspire children to fulfill their own dreams and goals.

The project, called Helifirst, will be launched during 2018.

Story: From a childhood growing up in the Australian bush to a car accident in the outback that turned his life upside down and its aftermath, Sam tells his story in his own down-to-earth laconic style that captures the great Australian spirit of ‘having a go’.

Farmer: He relates how he beat the odds to fulfill his life-long dream to be a farmer, learning to ride a four wheel bike; devising a hoist to get into farm machinery and ultimately learning to fly an ultralight.

Personal: Sam then found his soul mate in former Tamworth-based ABC radio Rural Reporter, Jenny Black – who he proposed to “live” on regional radio. The real-life proposal jammed the phone lines and the fax ran out of paper.

Book: Their story appeared on ABC TV’s “Australian Story” in 2000 with an overwhelming response and was published in April 2006 in their book ‘Head Over Heels’.

Andrew Bulmer

Bulmer Farms & Co-chair of Food & Fibre Gippsland

Andrew is the Managing Director of Bulmer Farm’s, one of Australia’s largest producers of Fresh salads. The business is based in Lindenow, East Gippsland and farm’s ten different properties over around 500 hectares in the Mitchell river Valley. Andrew puts their success down to “hard work, resilience and a passion for quality.”

Awarded 2017 ABC and Kondinin Group’s Farmer of the Year, he is a passionate advocate for Horticulture who is committed to making a positive contribution to Industry and regional communities, with a strong interest in farm innovation and new technologies. Andrew is also a graduate of Course 24 of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.

Polly Burey

University of Southern Queensland

Dr Polly Burey is a chemical and materials engineer with expertise in developing fundamental understanding of the relationships between composition, microstructure, processing and rheological behaviour of food. Her current research focuses on the development of useful products from food excess and processing by-products, specifically ingredients, nutritional products and composite materials, including bioplastics. Dr Burey joined the University of Southern Queensland in 2017 leading the Food Waste Valorisation Research Program Team and the BSc Food Science major. In 2018 Dr Burey led the Food Waste MoPS (Modular Processing Systems) team through CSIRO ON Prime identifying different players in the food supply chain that could benefit from her team’s research.

Janice Byrnes

Zespri

Janice Byrnes is Zespri Kiwifruit’s Marketing Manager for Australia, Vietnam & Thailand.

Over the past 3 years, Janice has implemented marketing campaigns that have successfully increased awareness & demand for Zespri SunGold Kiwifruit & Zespri’s Australian marketing has been recognised as a finalist in the PMA-Produce Plus Marketer of The Year Awards twice.

Prior to Zespri, Janice held marketing roles at Goodman Fielder, where she worked on Helga’s bread and Praise salad dressings & mayonnaise. Janice also worked at Meat & Livestock Australia for almost 7 years where she led many iconic lamb & beef marketing campaigns.

Daniel Cabral

Kibsons International

From a horticultural family in South Africa, Daniel has been working as the Procurement Manager for Kibsons International in Dubai for 10 years.

Kibsons International are a major importer of fresh produce, supplying retail, wholesale and food service channels across the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East.

They were the first to launch an online retail e-commerce platform to supply consumers in the UAE directly with fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy and grocery items delivered directly to the home.

Fabian Carniel

Mulgowie Farming Co

Fabian Carniel calls upon over 30 years’ experience in the Australian fresh produce industry to oversee the strategic direction, management and continued growth of Mulgowie Farming Company. Appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Mulgowie in 2009, Fabian performs a key role inspiring the Mulgowie team to consistently deliver quality, fresh and nutritious products through innovation and sustainable farming practices.

Fabian began his farming life by helping his parents strive to grow quality Australian produce where he learnt firsthand the value of having a strong work ethic and that a hard day’s work will more often than not result in a well‐earned reward.

Brianna Casey

Foodbank Australia

Brianna is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Foodbank Australia, the largest hunger relief organisation in Australia, and is Australia’s representative for the Global Foodbanking Network. Brianna joined Foodbank Australia in 2016, following her successful three-year term as CEO of Australian Childcare Alliance New South Wales, the peak body for privately owned long day care services in NSW. Prior to that, she spent 14 years in agri-politics, both in NSW and Queensland. Brianna served as a Policy Director at NSW Farmers and was Executive Director of Queensland Farmers’ Federation. Brianna has served on a number of Ministerial Advisory Councils and committees throughout her career, most recently having played a key role in the development of the Australian Government’s first ever National Food Waste Strategy. In her personal time, Brianna volunteers in her local community, particularly with her sons’ sporting clubs. She has a Bachelor of Science in Australian Environmental Studies, is a graduate of the iconic Australian Rural Leadership Program and was recently awarded the Pro Bono Australia Impact 25 Award.

Michael Coote

AUSVEG

Michael has been the National Export Manager with AUSVEG since 2014.

Michael represents the vegetable industry on a number of industry and government committees, and his main role is working directly with vegetable growers to build the industry’s export capability through delivery of the vegetable industry’s Export Development Program.

Lisa Cork

Fresh Produce Marketing Ltd and Lisa Cork Strategic Consulting

Lisa Cork is an award-winning marketer and strategist, empowering clients to boldly face the future and embrace change as a strategy for growth. A thought leader and challenger of the status quo, Lisa’s workshops and strategy ‘super-sessions’ help companies thrive in a climate of disruption. Over her 30-year career, Lisa has shaped current thinking on produce branding and marketing through her writing, speaking and industry involvement. Her work with clients globally enables her to see and incorporate the latest international trends and insights into her work.

Lisa is a Director of the PMA and involved in the Demand Creation and Global Development taskforces. She holds both a Bachelor and Master’s Degree in Agribusiness Marketing and is a popular conference and workshop presenter. You can find Lisa’s columns on fresh produce marketing, branding and trends in FreshFruitPortal.com, Fruitnet.com and Produce Plus magazine.

Outside of work, Lisa loves to travel and summit mountains in exotic locations. You can connect with her on LinkedIn: LisaSCork and Twitter @LisaCork_FPM. For more information: Lisa@freshproducemarketing.com or visit www.freshproducemarketing.com.

David Cox

Principal Research Scientist/CSIRO Health and Biosecurity

Dr David Cox is a Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Adelaide. Since obtaining a PhD at the University of London, he focused upon psycho-social and sensory predictors of food choice and acceptance at the Institute of Food Research, UK.

Since joining CSIRO in 1998, work has included consumers’ acceptance of novel food technologies, cross-cultural differences, functional foods and a particular interest in increasing vegetable consumption through a long relationship with the horticulture industry, including studies of the acceptance of brassicas, children’s acceptance, school curriculum work and the development of a strategic approach to increasing children’s vegetable intakes.

Matthew Crouch

Freshmax

Matthew Crouch has been a driving force for marketing at the Freshmax Group for 5 years. In his current role, GM Branding and Communications, he is charged with driving the B2B go to market strategy, Global IP Brand strategy and Group-wide communications strategy. For more than a decade, Matthew has been producing content and campaigns across multiple industries and continents. He is a firm believer that to maximise content efficiency, it needs to be threaded across your entire channel mix.

Sandro Demaio

Co-host/Ask the Doctor, ABC

Sandro trained and worked as a medical doctor at The Alfred Hospital in Australia. While practising as a doctor he completed a Master in Public Health including fieldwork in Cambodia.

In 2010, he relocated to Denmark where he completed a PhD with the University of Copenhagen, focusing on non-communicable diseases. His doctoral research was based in Mongolia, working with the Ministry of Health. He designed, led and reported a national epidemiological survey, sampling more than 3500 households.

Sandro held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School from 2013 to 2015, and was assistant professor and course director in global health at the Copenhagen School of Global Health, in Denmark. He also established and led the PLOS blog Global Health.

From November 2015 until April 2018, Sandro was Medical Officer for non-communicable conditions and nutrition with the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development at the global headquarters of the World Health Organization.

In April 2018, Sandro became Chief Executive Office of EAT: the science-based, global platform for food systems transformation.

In his pro bono work, Dr Demaio co-founded NCDFREE, a global social movement against non-communicable diseases using social media, short film and leadership events – reaching more than 2.5 million people in its first 18 months. In 2015, he founded festival21, assembling and leading a team of knowledge leaders in staging a massive and unprecedented, free celebration of community, food, culture and future in his hometown Melbourne.

Then in 2018 and funded through his media work with ABC TV and Pan MacMillan publishers, Sandro established an independent, not-for-profit foundation focused on improving the health and nutrition of Australians.

Dr Demaio currently co-hosts the ABC television show Ask the Doctor – an innovative and exploratory factual medical series broadcasting weekly across Australia.

To date, he has published 30 scientific papers and more than 90 articles. He is also the author of the Doctor’s Diet, a cookbook based on science and inspired by a love of good food.

Sandro is fascinated by systems-innovation and leadership; impact in a post-democracy; and externality-driven disease.

Trent is the Director of AustChilli Group. AustChilli is a vertically-integrated, family-owned farming business based in Bundaberg, Queensland.

AustChilli grows, packs and markets both fresh, processed and value-added products to the domestic and export markets.

Trent is a Food Technologist, Nuffield Scholar, member of the Vegetable Industry Strategic Investment Advisory Panel, and member of the Minister for Agriculture’s Innovation Advisory Panel.

Brooke Donnelly

Australian Packaging Covenant

Brooke Donnelly has spent her career working in product stewardship, recycling and sustainability, spending her formative years managing her third-generation family business, specialising in the recycling of industrial packaging. In her current role of CEO at the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) Brooke develops and leads APCO’s strategic direction and vision. APCO enables businesses, government and industry to design and utilise more sustainable packaging throughout the supply chain to reduce the environmental impact on Australian communities. Brooke is also the co-founder of the Product Stewardship Cluster, a voluntary group working to accelerate Australia’s journey to a circular economy through product stewardship.

Lachlan Feggans

Brambles

Lachlan has worked with some of the most well-known circular business brands to achieve circularity, at scale. Key to crafting and sharing Brambles’ unique sustainability story – a pioneer of the circular and sharing economy, Lachlan has helped Brambles position itself as leaders in some of the most recognised sustainability investor ratings including Dow Jones Sustainability Index, MSCI, Sustainalytics and CDP.

With a Bachelor of Science, Natural Resource Management and a Masters of Sustainability from The University of Sydney, Lachlan’s skills and passion are well matched for Brambles’ unique circular business model and he is proud to be part of a business that leads the word in sustainable supply chains.

Samantha Gash

Endurance Athlete, Inspirational Speaker, Author, Social Impact Entrepreneur, Ambassador/World Vision & Royal Flying Doctors Service

Like many young people her age, Samantha Gash had a desire to challenge herself and to make a difference in the world. Ambitious, determined, naïve and stubborn Samantha couldn’t have imagined that her journey would take her to the four corners of the earth and impact so many lives. The ‘4 Deserts Grand Slam’ requires competitors’ to run four, 250km ultra marathons across the driest (Chile), windiest (China), hottest (Sahara) and coldest deserts (Antarctica) on earth. When all four races are completed in one calendar year, it is regarded as one of the toughest endurance events on the planet. Samantha made history by becoming the first woman and the youngest person at the time to complete the Grand Slam. Her journey was captured for the big screen in the award-winning film Desert Runners.

Samantha’s view on what she was capable of changed forever from this point. With an increasing desire to push the physical envelope even further, the following year Samantha found herself entered into a 222km non-stop run across the Himalayas, in an event that had only been completed by one man.

As an Ambassador for World Vision, Samantha completed a 76 day/3253km run from the West to the East of India. She raised over $150K to fund six education focused programs and visited 18 communities that World Vision support across the country. These stories were shared through a digital platform with organisations and individuals taking part in a global peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.

Samantha is also an ambassador for the Royal Flying Doctor Service and will be releasing her memoirs with Macmillan Publishers & Run India documentary in 2019. Samantha’s experience has made her an inspiring and energetic communicator with a unique ability to inspire people to push through their limitations.

Tim Gentle

Think Digital

Immersive Technologies like Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are no longer gimmicky and fictional, rather these innovative technologies provide the latest way we can communicate with our team, customers and stakeholders. Improve efficiencies, increase productivity, tell your story, train your staff and create a point of difference for your marketing are all types of outcomes made possible through VR & AR. Think Digital’s FarmVR and FarmAR platforms focuses on Immersive technologies for agriculture, designed to educate people where their food comes from and encourage them to consider a career in agriculture. We also create immersive experiences for an array of clients to help them to grow their business. My presentation is designed to showcase these technologies, teach you a few DIY tricks and help guide you to consider integrating these exciting technologies into your business.

Bill Grant

Blue Environment

Bill Grant is a central Victorian-based agricultural and environmental scientist who mainly works in the area of organics resource recovery. Bill developed an interest in soil health when working for the Victorian Department of Agriculture as a research and extension officer in the late 1980s and early 90s, and since the mid-1990s has worked with the composting industry on the production and use of compost products. This work has involved: investigations of compost quality and soil health; developing process and product quality management systems; investigating soil carbon management using composts and other practices; running small on-farm composting trials; and field trial work using composts. Bill believes that the soil health practices that promote earthworm activity are vital to soil sustainability and farm productivity, and hopes that more growers will adopt them and take advantage of the ‘free workforce’ of earthworms to improve sub-soil structure and fertility and reduce other input costs.

Olivia Grey

Hort Innovation

Olivia Grey is a marketing manager at Hort Innovation, working across apples and pears, raspberries and blackberries and turf. Oliva is responsible for investing the marketing levy to deliver positive outcomes for industry through the development and implementation of data and insight led marketing programs. Olivia will be at Hort Connections talking about how data and insights can be leveraged to develop, monitor and evaluate a marketing campaign.

Owen Gwilliam

Australian Organic

Owen Gwilliam is Head of Standards and Regulation at Australian Organic Limited. Owen has carried out organic auditing, training and consulting in 15 countries, and has served the Australian Organic industry in all levels of certification – from farm auditing, to certification management at Australia’s largest certification body. Owen is a dynamic educator across various fields, from Organic farming, composting and Permaculture design to Austrian economics.

Denise Hamblin

Colmar Brunton

A passion for insights, stalking supermarket aisles, and all things food and wine saw Denise trade in neuroscience for consumer science. Denise is currently the National Sector Head for the Consumer Goods side of the business, leading a large variety of research programmes both locally and globally. Research that maximises the success of Australian businesses and that tunes into the evolving preferences of Australian consumers are Denise’s areas of expertise, strongly aligned with Colmar Brunton’s resolve to make a difference.

Ros Harvey

The Yield

Ros Harvey is an experienced entrepreneur and executive in the field of technology – particularly the Internet of Things (IoT) and user-centric design. Ros is committed to creating public good through the innovative use of technology, which is reflected throughout her career.

Since Ros founded Australian AgTech company The Yield in 2014, it has become one of the industry’s fastest growing technology success stories. The Yield is backed by several leading global businesses including Bosch, KPMG and Microsoft.

Ros is passionate about technology playing a role in the sustainable governance of the planet, and is an accomplished speaker on AgTech, IoT, converting data to knowledge and the future of food. Ros founded the globally-recognised Better Work program, a landmark joint program of the World Bank and the United Nations.

Ros also co-founded the Food Agility Cooperative Research Centre and the Knowledge Economy Institute with Dr Michael Briers, for which she remains an active non-executive director and strategy advisor, respectively.

In 2018, Ros was named one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 most influential women and awarded the emerging leader in technology at the Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards.

Elizabeth Hernandez

Corteva Agriscience

Elizabeth Hernandez joined Corteva Agriscience^TM on March 1st, 2018, as Head of Government and Industry Affairs, Asia Pacific, and as an integral member of its Asia Pacific Leadership Team. She plays a pivotal role in advancing the company’s brand and reputation in the region, and in building strategic partnerships with governments and other stakeholders across the food and agriculture ecosystem.

Prior to joining Corteva, Elizabeth held similar regional roles at Facebook, Hewlett-Packard and GlaxoSmithKline. In addition to her multinational experience, Elizabeth has worked for the US-ASEAN Business Council, a not-for-profit trade association, in both Singapore and Washington D.C. She also experienced start-up life and helped pioneer broadband connectivity for business travelers when she co-founded I-Quest Corp. in Hong Kong in 1996 and served as vice president for sales and marketing.

Elizabeth received a B.A. in History (cum laude) from the University of the Philippines, and studied International Affairs at the American University School of International Service in Washington, D.C. She currently lives in Singapore with her husband and three children.

Thomas Hertel

Fair Farms

Thomas is the Program Manager of the Fair Farms Training and Certification Program. Fair Farms is the horticulture industry’s response to the identified challenges around labour compliance. The program’s objective is fostering fair and responsible employment practices across the industry achieved through training, third-party audits and certification. Fair Farms is developed and implemented by Growcom with foundational support from AUSVEG and the Federal Government.

Before joining Fair Farms, Thomas led the contracting and legal department of a global international development project management firm. He is skilled in complex contract negotiations, government, effective stakeholder engagement, management and leadership with more than a decade of professional experience as a commercial lawyer, policy adviser, project and operations manager, tutor and mentor.

Thomas completed undergraduate law at Humboldt University of Berlin and holds a Master of Laws degree in international law and dispute resolution from the University of Queensland.

Cori Hodge

Fiftyfive5

Cori is a Senior Consultant at one of Australia’s leading brand and research consultancies, Fiftyfive5. His role is to help brands and organisations unlock growth through customer-led strategy.  Cori has worked on a range of categories with Hort Innovation, including mushrooms, stone fruit, blackberries, raspberries, pears, and onions. Leveraging customer insight, he is brand and positioning strategy expert and has a strong understanding of consumer trends and challenges.

Julian Horsley

A&D Australasia

Way back in ’93, after six years pushing military aircraft around, Julian swapped his Air Force Officer’s uniform for more of a “tradie” vibe, joining Japanese measurement technology giant A&D as a technical sales specialist. He quickly became a leader in the weighing and inspection systems space, taking on senior roles for A&D in both Europe and Australia. 26 years later, he is now part of the executive team for A&D Australasia, where in recent years, focus has been on food inspection and process efficiency systems, encompassing dynamic weighing, metal detection and X-Ray technologies.

Food safety compliance, process/labour efficiency and reducing over pack are hot topics for the fresh sector at the moment. In what can be a very technical and confusing area, Julian provides simplified insights into what can, and more importantly cannot, be achieved with current inspection technology, providing a valuable resource for all levels of the fresh sector.

During the 2018 needle tampering crisis and subsequent investigation and reports, Julian and the A&D Inspection team provided a key technical resource, providing education, guidance and fasttracked implementation in all aspects of metal and contaminant detection. When there are no crisis’ to be dealt with, Julian and his team work closely with growers, processors and retail QA, helping clients with compliance planning and best practice implementation.

On the rare occasions he’s not glued to his phone, Julian enjoys travelling, attempting to fish, and sharing a decent Barossa Shiraz with family and friends.

Pablo Juliano

CSIRO

Dr. Pablo Juliano is a Principal Research Scientist leading multidisciplinary projects on food loss minimisation and value addition at CSIRO. He has obtained a PhD in Food Engineering at Washington State University and an MBA at Deakin University. Pablo has held managing positions in industry at Nestlé Uruguay and Uruguay’s major dairy ingredients exporter Conaprole. He has received several international awards and recognition for research and industrial innovation. He is currently involved in the development of a National Food Waste strategy document and in regional food ingredients hubs projects.

Darren Keating

PMA A-NZ

Darren brings energy and a dynamic approach to PMA Australia New Zealand. One of his key strengths is his ability to build positive relationships and strategic alliances with a range of stakeholders across all sectors. Since taking over the role of CEO at PMA A-NZ, Darren has built relationships and networks with local and global thought leaders, industry analysts and future thinkers which provide insight and knowledge into where the industry has been, and where it’s heading. He looks forward to bringing these fresh ideas and innovative thinking to Hort Connections and the fresh produce industry.

Elisa King

Hort Innovation

Hort Innovation Marketing Lead, Elisa King, is a solutions focused marketing professional with strong business acumen, who works hard to consistently deliver high results in a challenging environment.

With demonstrated change management skills and exceptional work ethic, she leads by example to drive resilience, collaboration and outcomes through outstanding stakeholder management across multiple complex industries.

As the Marketing Lead for Hort Innovation, a not- for-profit, grower-owned NGO that delivers more than $100 million in marketing, research and development activities across the Horticulture industry each year, Ms King heads a large and diversely skilled team, managing multi-million-dollar budgets to deliver positive outcomes for industry through the development and implementation of mid-large scale insight led marketing programs.

Before being promoted to Marketing Lead of Hort Innovation, Ms King marketed numerous products including the iconic Australia Bananas “Make Your Body Sing” campaign.

Ms King formerly spent over 20 years in the entertainment industry working as the Advertising Manager at Warner Music and Marketing Manager at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Her passion has led her to build successful brands and products through marketing, research and understanding consumer preferences.

Tristan Kitchener

Kitchener Partners

Tristan is an ex-retailer, having previously held senior positions with Sainsbury’s (UK) and Coles supermarkets, and is now a management consultant providing advice and support along the grocery value chain, from major retailers through to manufacturers and primary producers. He has a focus upon fresh foods and was the Group Merchandise Manager, Fresh Produce, at Coles Supermarkets (2005-09).

Martin Kneebone

Freshlogic

With over 25 years’ working in fresh food supply chains; Martin has market leading experience in the management, supply and analysis of fresh food categories across fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood.

His company Freshlogic is a Melbourne based specialist provider of market insights to commercial and government stakeholders involved in fresh food production and marketing across Australia and SE Asia. With the recent launch of Freshlogic Analytics enabling flexible access to a fuller set of market information and insights, Freshlogic are continually evolving their offering.

Martin will share his insights on achieving growth in a mature fresh vegetable market, drawing on the extraction of useful commercial applications.

Fiona Krautil

Diversity Knowhow

Fiona is one of Australia’s leading gender equity, diversity & inclusion specialists. Utilising the latest best practice and her extensive industry experience, she enables employers to develop robust strategies that deliver staff ownership and action. She also delivers innovative education solutions that energise people and inspire new conversations to create practical solutions that shift the dial and increase employee engagement, innovation, customer service and profit. Fiona is a certified member of the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI), a founding member of the AHRI Inclusion & Diversity Reference Panel, and a national awards judge. In 2014 Fiona launched her book “Diversity Unplugged – how leading CEOs champion workplace inclusion.”

Chow-Ming Lee

Consumer Sensory Lead/Bayer

Chow-Ming is the Consumer Sensory Lead for Bayer Crop Science, responsible for sensory and consumer testing of fruit and vegetables in both US and European markets. His research covers basic and applied research aspects of descriptive sensory analysis and consumer acceptance, usage & attitudes, buying behavior. His primary focus is to bridge instrumental measurements, sensory properties and consumer liking. His work helps to shape fruit and vegetable breeding for better flavor and consumer preference.

Adam Liaw

Food columnist - Fairfax and The Guardian, Host - Destination Flavour, SBS

Adam Liaw is a unique voice in Australian food. He is a food columnist for Fairfax and The Guardian, and the author of five hugely popular cookbooks on Asian cuisines.

On television, Adam hosts the prime-time SBS food and travel program, Destination Flavour, soon to be in it’s fifth season was recently awarded the ACTAA for the Best Lifestyle Program for 2016 for Destination Flavour Scandinavia.

Adam was the winner of MasterChef Australia’s blockbuster second series in 2010.

Kelly Lim

Tesco

Kelly is the Trading Manager for Tesco in Malaysia, responsible for the Fresh Produce Buying Team based out of Kuala Lumpur.
Tesco has over 60 stores in Malaysia selling a wide range of Australian fresh produce. Tesco has three main store formats – Tesco, Tesco Extra and Tesco Express.
Kelly is well known to a number of Australian growers, having participated in industry activities including the Reverse Trade Mission.

Sherry Lin

Foodie and Travel Blogger

Sherry Lin is a lifestyle blogger on Chinese social media.

Over the past 2 years, with the passion for food and adventures, Sherry has updated considerable dining and travel experience. Her travel notes and gourmet safaris have gained over 10 million views. Sherry has also created content and implemented marketing campaigns for various brand in Australia, which helped them to build up brand awareness in Chinese market.

Sherry is going to speak about exporting from the consumer lens with her knowledge from being a blogger.

Gary Loh

DiMuto

Gary Loh is the founder and Chairman of DiMuto Pte Ltd, a trade technology firm providing end-to-end supply chain visibility for global businesses, ensuring traceability and trackability of business
documents, goods and services. Since late 2018, DiMuto has successfully tracked and traced over millions of pieces in produce and millions in dollars of trade value on their platform.

Mr Loh is the Vice Chairman of SunMoon Food Company Limited. He joined the company’s Board as Non-Independent Director and Deputy Chairman in 2007 and was Chairman of the Executive Committee from 2007 to 2013, before serving as Executive Chairman of the Board until 2017.

Mr Loh is also the Executive Chairman of First Alverstone Capital Ltd, a private equity firm he co-founded in 2005.

He started his career as a venture capitalist for Pacific Capital Pte. Ltd. from 1992 to 1995, before joining Merrill Lynch as a Financial Consultant from 1995 to 1997. Subsequently, he was with UOB Kay Hian and BNP Paribas.

Mr Loh possesses a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science & Economics) from National University of Singapore (NUS), a Master in Applied Finance from NUS Business School and has also attended the Owner/President Management Executive program at Harvard Business School.

Charles Luo

pitt&sherry

Charles has over 8 years’ experience in the delivery of energy consulting and energy efficiency upgrade projects. He is a Certified Energy Efficiency Specialist, a Certified Measurement and Verification Professional, and a degree qualified Photovoltaic Engineer. Over the past 18 months, he has been working heavily in the Victorian horticulture industry to develop energy efficiency and energy productivity strategies, and their respective business cases, to improve the competitiveness through better energy utilisation.

Richard Macchiesi

Visy

Richard Macchiesi has 25+ years experience in the FMCG and manufacturing industries across multiple disciplines. He has worked in the flavour industry developing strategic new products in Australia before heading to Chicago establishing a new dairy-based technology. Richard’s career has traveled extensively in Europe and Asia identifying strategic alliances for new businesses, utilising a strong understanding of innovation and technology commercialisation. Richard is currently the General Manager of Insights and Innovation at Visy working on strategic initiatives that deliver value for the business.

David Marguleas

Sun World Innovations

David O. Marguleas is president of Sun World Innovations, the technology and licensing business of Sun World International LLC, the California agribusiness of which he also serves as executive vice president.

He is responsible for overseeing Sun World’s Intellectual Property, licensing and variety development activities as well as the Company’s broader agriculture technology pursuits and international investments.

Marguleas began his Sun World career in 1986 in retail merchandising and public relations. He has since overseen many facets of Sun World’s business, including sales and marketing, packing and cold storage facilities and operations, farming, research & development, international licensing, grower relations and business development. Appointed an officer of the Company in
1990, Marguleas has been integral to the development of the Sun World brand in the United States and internationally, and has driven the global development of its stonefruit and grape varietal brand strategy.

He serves on several industry boards including the California Table Grape Commission and its executive committee, California Fresh Fruit Association, Produce Marketing Association (PMA) and its Global Development Committee and Executive Committee. He is currently the board chair of the PMA and is a past board chair of the California Table Grape Commission as well as the California Fresh Fruit Association. Marguleas also sits on the board of directors of FIND, a regional food bank serving the hunger needs of California’s eastern Riverside County and southern San Bernardino County, and on the board of Farm Payment Technologies, Inc., a private agriculture technology start-up based in Fresno, California.

A third generation member of the produce industry, Marguleas earned his bachelor’s degree in communications from Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and has been a journalist for various publications including The New York Times, The Packer and The Bakersfield Californian.

He lives with his wife Robin in Palm Desert, California.

Tammie Matson

Australian Zoologist

Tammie Matson is an Australian zoologist and author with a grand passion for Africa and all its wildlife, especially elephants. She worked for many years in southern Africa, completing a PhD on the threatened black-faced impala of Namibia, before becoming the head of WWF Australia’s species program in 2007, and a voice for threatened species worldwide. Having worked on human-elephant conflict in Namibia and India, she moved to Singapore in 2012 where she co-founded the Let Elephants Be Elephants (LEBE) campaign and National Geographic film with Asian TV star, Nadya Hutagalung, raising awareness to stop the demand for ivory that is decimating Africa’s elephants. Tammie is the author of three books on her conservation work and adventures, including ‘Planet Elephant’ which was awarded the Australian government’s ’50 Books You Can’t Put Down’. She divides her time between being a mum to two sons, Solo, aged 9, and Shep, aged 5, managing her ethical African safari company, Matson & Ridley Safaris and leading the Akagera Elephant Project in Rwanda.

Ryan McLeod

Dicky Bill Australia

Ryan McLeod is a frustrated Rugby Union player that at 38 years of age admits that he may have missed his window for a call-up to the Wallabies. Apart from living vicariously through his 5 and 7 year old sons’ sporting careers, he is a managing director of the Dicky Bill Group of companies, a vegetable growing and value add processing business. A farmer for 15 years driving production at the group’s farms’ in Stanthorpe, Warwick, Gympie and Gin Gin, Ryan, his wife Tahirih and young family, moved to Brisbane 3 years ago to focus on the marketing and sales for the Dicky Bill Group and the brand of Dicky Bill Australia. The Dicky Bill Group currently farms in Gin Gin, Qld and Maffra, Victoria with produce being sent Australia wide and exporting to multiple countries in the SE Asian region daily.

Chris McLoghlin

Mycelia Organics

A fascination with soil and fungi drove Chris to found in 2015 what is now Australia’s largest Organic mushroom farming company.

After a decade in, supply chain planning and management, fresh produce and grocery procurement, moving into primary production was the fulfillment of a long term goal to grow food! He also cofounded escavox in 2018, a supply chain monitoring company working with Australias largest producers and supermarkets to improve visibility, accountability and managment in the food industry.

Chris is also a Director and Treasurer of Organic Industries Australia, and has been the winner of several awards such as the 2018 Australian Organic Farmer of the Year, 2018 AusVeg/PMA Young Grower of the Year as well as the 2018 ABC Rural/Kondinin Group Young Farmer of the Year and recipient of Award for Excellence In Technology.

Belinda Millard

HARPS

With over 20 years experience in the Quality Assurance industry, Belinda is a passionate and enthusiastic professional having been involved with the HARPS Project since 2014.

Prior to her role with the HARPS, Belinda has worked within the Group Quality Technical Services Team for Australia’s major retailer, Woolworths Ltd. Reporting to the Head of Group Quality Technical Services in the role of Supplier Approval Manager, she was accountable for audit program management across Woolworths’ eight operational business divisions including WQA – food safety and quality program, WQA – Consumer Goods and the Woolworths Ltd Ethical Audit Program. Belinda managed teams locally as well as in Hong Kong, China and Bangladesh.

Following the completion of a Diploma in Applied Science – Food Technology, Belinda commenced her career working for GSF Australia assisting with the implementation of HACCP programs to the fresh produce grower network supplying McDonald’s restaurants throughout Australia and Asia. Belinda is a Principal Auditor of Food Safety Management Systems. Throughout her career she has maintained her enthusiasm to better understand the fresh produce supply chain, focusing on the audit and certification of food suppliers across a number of food safety and quality audit programs.

Belinda is an active promoter of harmonisation solutions for supply chain members assisting with the development of auditor competency tools for the GSCP (Global Social Compliance Program). Belinda has also represented Woolworths Ltd in the Auditor Competency Scheme Committee operated by the Global Food Safety Initiative.

Kieran Murphy

Agriculture Victoria

Agriculture Victoria is developing new service offers aimed at shortening pathways to impact for research outcomes. A Virtual SmartFarm website and Application Programming Interfaces (API’s) are delivering research information in easily consumable and accessible formats for a variety of audiences and users.

The Virtual SmartFarm platform provides a virtual gateway into Agriculture Victoria SmartFarms, with access to research technology innovation through immersive web experience technologies. The Virtual SmartFarm platform is a gateway to Agriculture Victoria’s Safer Smarter Farms initiative, with online learning and information supporting skill development and training opportunities in regional communities. Horticulture SmartFarms in Tatura and Mildura will be demonstrated at the conference.

A new Soils Parameter API demonstrator can provide Agritech and developer communities with the ability to integrate data on soil properties (modelled by Agriculture Research Scientists) for almost any specified location within Victoria. Potential users of the service would be Agritech service providers, application developers, industry and communities. An overview of the API service and how to access it will be provided to conference participants.

This presentation will combine the Virtual SmartFarm platform and the Soils API demonstrator as examples of Agriculture Victoria Research innovation pathways for improved science translation to support Horticulture research and industry development.

Melanie Norris

Nielson

For more than a decade, Melanie Norris has used Nielsen consumer research to guide the FMCG and fresh industry on the latest consumer trends and has uncovered real growth opportunities for countless clients. An expert in fusing multiple data sources to provide a holistic view, Melanie has delivered her unique perspective to clients across the total fresh space including produce, meat, seafood and bakery. Melanie is also passionate about seeing health and wellness trends translate into consumers increasing their fresh food consumption in Australia.

Jemma O’Hanlon

Hort Innovation

Jemma O’Hanlon is a leading Australian Dietitian & Nutritionist and a Director of the Dietitians Association of Australia. In her role as Research & Development Manager for Hort Innovation, Jemma oversees the nutrition, health, food safety and value chain portfolios, as well acting as a Media Spokesperson. Jemma is passionate about spreading the good word about Australia’s delicious fresh produce, and is a regular in magazines and online publications, providing specialist nutrition comment. Jemma has a regular column in Fitness First Magazine and has appeared on TV shows such as My Market Kitchen and Studio 10.

Keaton Okkonen

Black.ai

Keaton is a technical co-founder and CEO of Black.ai, a venture-backed Australian startup driving autonomous decision making in retail environments. Black.ai’s automation platform leverages state-of-the-art computer vision and AI to solve for traditionally unavoidable problems in theft and stock-bleed. They are currently deploying this system in Australian supermarkets.

Sona Padman

Freshmax Australia

Sona Padman has been managing Freshmax Australia’s IP Brand Campaigns for two years. Since graduating top of her MBA class at a Business School in India, she went on to work with MNCs such as Bacardi India, Vodafone and Colgate Palmolive for 4 years. She migrated to Australia late 2016. Since joining the Freshmax Group, she has spearheaded multiple national brand campaigns challenging the business to adopt an FMCG philosophy – driving maximum penetration and high impact through multi-channel marketing.

Mark Paterson

Currie Communications

Mark is a strategist, connector and storyteller. He sees risk and opportunity as two sides of the same coin. He believes sustainable development is the path to prosperity.

As principal of consulting firm Currie Mark assists people in agriculture and natural resources to solve complex problems, future-proof industries and make a positive impact on people and the planet.

He empowers organisations to meet the challenge of global change. He brokers collaboration between stakeholders in value chains. He gives voice to the imagination of forward-looking leaders.

The son of corgi breeders Mark wants to change the world for the better.

Seriously.

Dianne Phan

Hort Innovation

As the Trade Lead at Hort Innovation, Dianne’s team drives promotions across 10 countries, presence at 5 trade shows across Asia and the Middle East, and support for market access into a range of markets.

With over 10 years of experience working across FMCG and not-for-profit industries in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region on brands such as Kleenex and Huggies, Dianne is passionate about unlocking the power of provenance and relating it to a real consumer insight to drive choice and healthy outcomes for people everywhere.

Australian horticultural exports continue to grow rapidly in response to the growing demand from consumers all over the world for high quality, safe and nutritious food.

Taste Australia is the whole-of-horticulture brand used by industry and Hort Innovation to help build the profile, sales and consumption of premium horticulture products in key export markets – in particular, Asia and the Middle East.

Under Taste Australia, Hort Innovation undertakes export market development activities including trade shows, trade missions and retail marketing activities. Taste Australia aims to build a globally competitive, unified, agile and profitable Australian horticulture industry through sustainable investment in high value and high growth export markets.

Astrid Poelman

CSIRO Agriculture and Food

Dr Astrid Poelman is Team Leader Sensory, Flavour and Consumer Science at CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Sydney. She holds a MSc and PhD from Wageningen University (the Netherlands) and has worked for the applied research institute Food and Biobased Research (part of the Wageningen University and Research Centre), where part of her research focused on investigating consumer preference segmentation for horticultural produce and translating preferences to sensory properties for NPD and breeding programs.
She joined CSIRO in 2006 and the strategic focus of her research broadened to understanding and changing sensory preferences for healthy foods, with a large focus on increasing children’s acceptance and intake of vegetables. Her current research includes the development and evaluation of a school curriculum resource to increase children’s vegetable enjoyment.

Wayne Prowse

Fresh Intelligence Consulting

Wayne Prowse is Principal of Fresh Intelligence Consulting and one of Australia’s leading horticultural market analysts with a focus on global fresh produce trade. Wayne established Fresh Intelligence after a long marketing career with food companies and Horticulture Australia where he developed a strong passion and understanding for export trade. Known for his pragmatic style, Wayne makes sense of reams of data and insights to create evidence-based reports for his clients across government, industry, and businesses that use it for strategic decision making. Wayne has prepared the Asiafruit Congress Statistics Handbook for many years.

Jessica Purbrick

Fresh Produce Safety Centre Australia & New Zealand

Jessica has held senior leadership roles in private and not-for-profit organisations across a broad range of agricultural, disability, social purpose start-ups, education and research sectors. Her work along the agribusiness value chain has enabled industry collaborations to deliver real-world practical outcomes.

Jessica is an expert advisor to the Victorian Rural Women’s Network, a start-up mentor and volunteers at FareShare. She was a founding director of Freshcare Limited, established Women in Horticulture, interviewed animal activists in New York, worked for Mother Teresa in Calcutta and delivered outreach to near-release prisoners at Dhurringile Prison. She has qualifications from New York University, Melbourne University and the University of New England.

Chris Russell

Judge/The New Inventors, ABC

Known to many as a Judge on the popular weekly ABC television series “The New Inventors”. Chris has worked in advisory and agricultural research and developmental roles in over 20 countries and has served as National President of the Australian Institute of Agriculture and is currently the Chair of the Federal Ethics Committee and the Disciplinary Tribunal of that body. Chris is also currently a member of the AgriMinds Think Tank.

In 1997 Chris was awarded a Fellowship in the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology and in 2017 he was made a “Champion of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW” at the Sydney Royal Easter Show as well as being recognised as Sydney University’s Faculty of Agriculture 2017 Alumni of the Year in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

In this years’ Australia Day Honours – he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to agricultural science and technology through advisory and research roles and as a mentor and innovator.

Paul Schreurs

Peter Schreurs and Sons Vegetable Farm

Paul is one of the Directors of Peter Schreurs and Sons Vegetable Farm. With over 30 years of experience in the family business, Paul and his two brothers provide vegetables to manufacturers, food processers and retailers around the country. Peter Schreurs and Sons efficiently combine conventional farming, organics, biodynamics with traditional and modern practices to ensure best practice food production and quality for consumers. In his role, Paul looks after the production and marketing division which focuses on innovation, sustainability and creating efficiencies within their supply chain.

Lauren Scott

Chief Marketing Officer/Produce Marketing Association

Lauren M. Scott is Chief Marketing Officer of the Produce Marketing Association, a trade organization representing companies from every segment of the global fresh produce and floral supply chain. Lauren has over 20 years of experience in the consumer products industry. Prior to joining the PMA, Lauren worked at PepsiCo and Diageo in a variety of marketing roles with increasing responsibility including brand management, foodservice, activation, field marketing, national promotions, cultural branding, global innovation and strategy. Lauren began her career as a four-year Inroads intern and full-time hire in sales at Colgate-Palmolive. A believer in continuous education and development, Lauren earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Rutgers University, a Master of Business Administration(MBA) from University of Maryland and a Master of Science in Strategic Communication from Columbia University, where she continues as a graduate project advisor. She also actively coaches and mentors. Lauren has served on recruitment teams and held leadership roles in a variety of employee resource groups. A self-described foodie, Lauren’s civic passions include combating food insecurities and perpetuating arts and culture. Lauren enjoys her thespian hobbies of tap dance, music and choral singing. Most of all, she loves great meals and good laughs with her friends and family including her husband and son, affectionately known as The Allens.

Andrew Steele

Account Director/GS1 Australia

Andrew is a leading industry expert and well-respected supply chain professional with over 25 years’ experience in fast moving consumer goods and the food retail sector.

Andrew currently leads the Supply Chain Integrity team at GS1 Australia who are responsible for developing insightful initiatives to ensure the highest level of efficiency, safety, traceability and best practice in the Australian Food and Beverage and retail sector. Andrew is an active member of a number of industry working groups in the retail grocery, liquor, meat and fresh produce sectors.

Nigel Swarts

University of Tasmania

Dr Nigel Swarts is a Senior Research Fellow in the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture at the University of Tasmania. He is interested in the field of tree physiology and specifically tree crop nutrition. Nigel leads two collaborative projects on nitrogen management in tree crop production systems, and is working with his team to better understand nutrient use efficiency in apple and cherry orcharding.

Josie Thomson

Wise Advocate Enterprises

Josie Thomson is the CEO of Wise Advocate Enterprises, a multi-award winning executive coach, acclaimed speaker, author, single mum and two time cancer survivor. A force for transformation in the lives of many, Josie has completed studies in business, and executive masters studies in the Neuroscience of Leadership. Josie was awarded International Gold Stevie Award for Maverick of the Year (Difference Maker) for 2014 and 2015, The Women In Business Coach/Mentor of the Year 2014 Silver Award in New York City, and is a former Telstra Business Woman of the Year Finalist. She has just co-authored a new leadership book: The Wise Advocate – The Inner Voice of Strategic Leadership. Josie will share practical ways for incorporating exciting scientific advances and her personal story to show us how to break through barriers of limited thinking or perceived blocks to living a truly happy, meaningful, resilient and fulfilling life. If anyone knows how to do this – it’s Josie! You’ll be inspired – please welcome Josie Thomson.

Elin Tilsley

HelloFresh

Elin recently joined HelloFresh AU as their new head of procurement. Prior to working at HelloFresh, Elin was working as a management consultant helping large multinationals in the Consumer Goods industy improve their Finance, Supply Chain and Procurement processes to increase efficiency and decrease cost.

HelloFresh is a fast growing, global meal-kit provider that aims to remove all barriers to eating fresh, delicious and high-quality meals at home: no planning, no shopping, no stress. The procurement team within HelloFresh is tasked with sourcing high quality, local ingredients while managing the complexities of just-in-time operations. Having launched only 7 years ago in Australia, HelloFresh continues to experience significant growth and is now delivering across all mainland states and territories

Peter Tuohey

Melbourne Market Authority

Peter was appointed as Chairman of the Board on 18 January 2017 for a period of 3 years.

Peter is a fifth generation grain, wool and prime lamb producer whose experience in freight and logistics has seen him appointed to a number of advisory roles. Peter is Chair of the Victorian Government’s Grains Logistics Taskforce, Director Victorian Ports Corporation ( Melbourne ), a member of the Ministerial Freight Advisory Council, a member of the Victorian Road Freight Advisory Council, and a member of the Victorian Water Board Selection Panel.

He continues to represent the interest of farmers at a state level as a representative on the Victorian Agricultural Advisory Council . At the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) he served as President from 2012 to 2016 and Vice President from 2009 to 2012. He was also Chair of the VFF’s Farm Business and Regional Development Committee from 2010 to 2013. At the national level, Peter was a Board Director of the National Farmers Federation from 2012 to 2016 and served on its Economics Committee.

Joe Way

Waterform Technologies

Joe has been inspecting and auditing sites throughout the horticultural industry for many years and over that time, has seen first-hand, the major impacts of drought in Australia. Water scarcity, rising costs and non-compliance are three key areas Joe and his team are continuously working to address for growers, producers and processors on a daily basis throughout Australia.

Some of the projects Joe has been involved in recently include potable water supplementation, ground/bore water treatment, nutrient/drain water recycling, wastewater reuse and effluent recycling.

Within the presentation, he will be able to share some key real-life experience around ‘rules-of-thumb’ for water & wastewater in different horticultural industries along with case studies and a framework for identifying and validating potential opportunities. A key message is that water security underpins business security.

David Whitchelo

Melbourne Market Authority

Extensive experience in contract, facilities and operational management in the wholesale, commercial & corporate sectors, retail leasing, mining, health, aged care, environmental and petrochem sectors. A proven track record of developing individuals & large teams to personal & commercial success, An industry reputation for evolving culture and change whilst significantly improving the health of businesses.

James Whiteside

AUSVEG

James Whiteside is the Chief Executive Officer of Ausveg Limited, the Peak Industry Body representing Australia’s potato and vegetable growers.

Prior to joining Ausveg in December 2016, James had a 23 year career with Incitec Pivot Limited, Australian agriculture’s largest input supplier, and a significant manufacturer of a range of chemicals for agriculture and mining. He spent five years as the Chief Operating Officer of Incitec Pivot Fertilisers, and was Chief Executive Officer of Quantum Fertilisers, the Hong Kong based joint venture fertiliser trading company.

James is also a Director of Verdant Minerals Limited, an ASX listed resources company.