Anett Winkler joined Kraft Jacobs Suchard in December 1998 to head up the research microbiology laboratory in Munich. She developed the internal micro­biological methods manual before moving towards manufacturing and research and development microbiological support in all Kraft Foods categories (cheese, coffee, chocolate, beverages). Following a regional role for microbiology in east­ern Europe and the Middle East and African region, she was globally design­ing food safety programs, rolling out training modules related to food safety and further supporting supplier development. Anett was also the global expert for thermal processing within Mondelez International. In October 2017, Anett moved to a new position as EMEA regional food microbiologist lead at Cargill. Before moving to the industry, Anett had worked in basic research on different projects in Germany and the US looking at molecular and biochemical changes during drug withdrawal and studying relapse mechanisms. She has studied microbiology in Germany but completed her master’s degree at Lomonosov Moscow State University, studying mutations in bacteriophages. After that, she returned to Germany, where she obtained her PhD in stress responses in bacil­lus subtilis.

Ivana’s voyage in food safety started by finishing Medical faculty in Rijeka and working in institute for Medical Biochemistry and Public Health in a laboratory for microbiology for food and water. After she expanded her horizons by working in the dairy industry as production manager, specialising in mozzarella and pasta dura. This gave her the wind to start her own company as a consultant for public health, sanitary control in food production and distribution, implementation of HACCP system, risk assessment etc. In 2011, she started working as laboratory manager and quality control manager in a laboratory for microbiology of food, feed, and water. She became the member of J S Hamilton Poland as master of nutrition and food science and became part of the research and development department as expert for quality and safety of food­stuffs. Her current role involves numerous tasks such as cooperation with managers of Hamilton laboratories, interpretation of various analysis and results, and consultation within food legislation. She cooperates with subcontracted laboratories and exchange of experience, universities, and research units in new directions of laboratory further development. She provides consultations, training, and lectures for Hamilton staff as well as for the customers and providing presentation of our laboratory competencies. She searches for new trends in laboratory analytics and new solutions, new directions of food testing, and developing the costs estimations and timetables for the new laboratory services implementation.

Andres Grabitz started his career path in 2004 as a head of HPLC-MS laboratory at U. Noack Laboratories in Sarstedt, specialised in ultra-trace analysis of perfluorotensides in the environment. In 2005, he started his job at Eurofins as a head of laboratory of consumer goods, with a focus on food contact materials and migration testing. In 2015 he became a senior consultant and key account manager of food contact materials, and since 2018 as global packaing compliance manager his business unit packaging materials memberships include:

• DIN standardisation: NA 062-08-93 AA Food contact materials and migration
• IVLV working group migration testing
• GdCH commission food contact materials

Andrew Manly joined the packaging sector in 1977 and became the founding CEO of the UK Processing & Packaging Machinery Trade Association – a position he held from 1987 to 2005. He then spent a brief period as the head of the UK’s Machine Tool Association before returning to the packaging sector in 2008 as a journalist and consultant. He has presented papers on packaging technologies in more than 70 countries and writes extensively on packaging matters for several journals around the world. He is a board member of the International Packaging Press Organisation (IPPO) and, in 2011, helped found the Active & Intelligent Packaging Industry Association (AIPIA). He is currently the communications director at AIPIA and, in addition to editing its newsletter, helps organise the annual AIPIA World Congress.

Geert Berckmans is the senior global business development manager for SGS Trans­parency-One, the leading platform for supplier engagement based upon consumer trust and is the largest verification and inspection company. Geert is responsible for the TIER 1 alliance program with Brands and Retailer of SGS Transparency-One. Geert has over 20 years of experience in the hi-tech industry and has played a sig­nificant role in the go-to-market strategy of key start- & scale-up companies such as Blippar, Intershop, Mercuri (HP), Rational (IBM), and Business Objects (SAP). Prior to SGS Transparency-One, Geert was an advisor to software company executives, investing in the international roll out of their businesses. Contracting Tier I custom­ers, such as Mercedes, Carrefour, Mediamarkt, and Philips to use their software solutions. Partnering with EY, Accenture, Javelin, and Deloitte to scale the delivery of projects. He created new value propositions based upon available technology. It is within this context that SGS Transparency-One developed the Smart packaging models with the help of augmented reality technology.

Geke Naaktgeboren studied food science at Wageningen University and obtained her Ph.D. degree in microbiology following research at universities in Iceland and Norway. After her studies, she worked at Wageningen University on prebiotics and continued her career at Unilever where she further gained experience in food microbiology, food safety, product development, quality assurance, and logistics. After 11 years, she moved to Friesland Foods and has since successfully built and implemented the QA & safety organisation for the cheese, butter, and milk powder division which has enabled the company to improve quality & safety performance from the perspective of customers and authorities in line with the overall strategy and company targets. Since 2015, Geke is the QA director of BG ingredients at FrieslandCampina. In this position, she is responsible for quality management of a broad product portfolio including feed, food, pharma, medical and infant ingre­dients, and finals sold B2B and B2C worldwide. In this role, she continuously im­proves the quality assurance organisation, systems and processes in order to create a license to produce and to excel in quality performance for FrieslandCampina and business group ingredients strategies.

Gerhard Rimkus joined Intertek Food Services in 2013, working as a senior consultant for food safety/authenticity/testing and European food legislation. In addition, Mr. Rim­kus is a project manager for both international and scientific projects of the company. He is a chemist with 30+ years of experience in the field of food safety and food test­ing. After his PhD, he established a laboratory unit for all kind of food residues and contaminants in a German official food institute. His scientific work in this field is sum­marized in more than 100 publications and lectures, plus one monograph. Afterwards, as an official of the European Commission he worked in the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) in Ireland, auditing food laboratories and national food safety systems globally (in total more than 100 laboratories in 36 different countries). His expertise is in the area of testing food residues and contaminants, food authenticity, evaluation of test results, operation and auditing of food laboratories, and project management.

Julia Schneider is responsible for sales and quality management as the head of V-Label Germany. She started working for ProVeg in 2012 initially as a nutritional scientist (B.Sc.) and as a consultant for vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. At the beginning, Julia Schneider coordinated the European project, ‘Vegucation,’ optimis­ing education for chefs. Since 2013, she has organised ‘VegMed,’ an international congress for plant-based nutrition and medicine. Her expertise is in alternative and sustainable nutritional forms such as a vegan diet.

After having spent 13 years in various roles in the food industry (quality, food safety, H&S, risk management), Marcello decided to join DS Smith, the industry leader in re­cycled paper packaging. As an internationally experienced senior manager in the food and packaging industry, Marcello uses his experience to drive safety and improvements in food safety. He currently covers the food contact area internally, with the customers and with the European trade associations for the paper and packaging divisions.

Matilda Freund is a senior director of quality and global consumer quality for Mondelez Europe and is based in Zurich, Switzerland. She has held this position for the last 6 years. Prior to this, she headed up Global Food Safety for Mondelez, International. She has worked in the areas of Microbiology, R&D, Sanitation, Manufacturing, and Quality across multiple product types including meats, chocolate, and cheese. Matilda re­ceived Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Science degrees in food science and human nutrition and a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and cell science from the University of Florida. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of EHEDG.

Matthias is currently heading the build-up of data science capability of Bühler and de­veloping innovative digital services for food and feed processing. He was responsible for driving Bühler’s mycotoxin reduction solutions as well as innovation in advanced sorting and measuring techniques. Matthias is a physicist by education and holds a MSc from SUNY Buffalo in the USA and a PhD from the University of Basel in Switzerland.

Paul is head of technical & quality for The SHS Group Drinks Division. He is account­able for leading the application of technical standards for the WKD, Merrydown, Shlo­er & Bottlegreen brands, driving and developing the quality improvement plans and providing expertise to assist business growth and performance. Previously, he was the director of innovation & external networks with the nutrition category of GlaxoS­mithKline, and was the technical director for The Virgin Drinks Group. Paul started his career in soft drinks with Schweppes, which became Coca-Cola & Schweppes Bever­ages (CCSB) and enjoyed various roles of increasing responsibility in R&D, technical, quality, and manufacturing over a total of 15 years. Paul graduated with First Class Honours in chemistry from the University of Birmingham and he gained a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) through a distance learning programme with Aston Business School. He is a regular presenter and chair at external food & drink conferences, speaking on quality, food safety, NPD, technical, and innovation related topics.

Stefan Akesson is the food safety specialist for Tetra Pak Processing System, and was appointed in 2017. Before that, he was the manager of food & equipment safety at Tetra Pak Processing Systems since 2003, working with food safety cross-organisationally, including non-aseptic and processing units. He also participates in various external organisations like ISO and EHEDG, promoting hygienic design. Having worked for Tetra Pak for 21 years, he was previously responsible for a plant quotation tool (1998-2002), responsible for technical documentation (1994-1997), and had various positions in technical service. Before joining Tetra Pak, he spent 10 years at Alfa Laval in Sweden as well as in Europe and the US. Stefan has a degree in mechanical engineering.

Wolfgang has a diploma in biology and a PhD in biochemistry. Since 1999, he is head of scientific information at Stockhausen GmbH. After the merging of Stoko Skin Care with Deb, he is responsible for scientific information at Deb Group.