Kate Blake is a Senior Category Strategy Manager at Diageo, developing and leading the spirits category code for growth in the GB market with Diageo’s Customers. Helping people to drink better, not more.

Tim Blake is a seasoned drinks professional whose passion for the world of beverages has defined his remarkable journey. Born into a family deeply ingrained in the bar trade, Tim’s connection to the industry was established from the very beginning. His lifelong fascination with the art of mixology and his unquenchable thirst for knowledge led him to become a trailblazer in the world of beverages. Tim Blake’s journey from a bartender’s apprentice to a beverage luminary is a testament to his unyielding passion, relentless pursuit of excellence, and unwavering dedication to the art of drinks. His innovative spirit, combined with his deep respect for tradition, has left an indelible mark on the industry, inspiring both seasoned professionals and aspiring enthusiasts alike.

As a previous drinks industry executive, Craig developed the strategy, built the structure, & implemented the RTM & brand plans for Pernod Ricard's charge into Africa. Before that he was Strategy Director for Absolut, Malibu and Kahlua, driving the strategic plan & brand development strategy.

Since leaving the drinks world in 2015 he has been involved in business process outsourcing to Africa, setting up a values-based, people management web-platform, and consulting. He also presents on futurology; how our lives are going to change dramatically over the coming decades.

Early 2017, Craig (South African) and his wife Maria (Swedish) discovered a magical valley, home to many intriguing botanicals, in the Cederberg mountains, just north of Cape Town. The valley, which they now co-own, inspired them to distil rare Cape & classic gin botanicals, and then blend with pristine Swedish water. The result is CEDER'S, a distilled non-alcoholic alt-gin, your Everyday Escape.

Craig also launched CELTIC SOUL in July 2019, a distilled non-alcoholic dark spirit, and has a few more brands in the pipeline, including a non-alcoholic rum and a CBD Botanical Spirit. Watch this space.

David founded The REAL Drinks Co. in 2016 to create high-quality non-alcoholic beverages. After two years of development, REAL launched a series of non-alcoholic sparklings that gained a following among top sommeliers in the UK and Europe and is now a leading brand in the no&lo sector. Following his success, David has expanded his focus to include the broader non-alc drinks category, working with partners to develop a range of fermented drinks.

A manufacturing engineer by training, David spent ten years in strategy consulting, primarily with Bain & Co. He has been part of the founding team of disruptive start-ups like Active Hotels, Tom Dixon, Mindshapes, and Clippings.com. His passion for food, growing, regenerative food systems and sustainable health inspired his move into drinks and the creation of The REAL Drinks Co.

In the fall of 2017, Morten Lee Sørensen, a Danish digital nomad, decided to embark on a journey, a 100-day alcohol-free journey. A few years later that journey had evolved into the mindful drinking company ISH, based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Morten likes to challenge the norm and has done so continuously in his professional career that has evolved mostly around building multinational brands, before the path led him to building his own brand, ISH. Now exporting to over a 20 countries, ISH is on the mission to make mindful drinking easy – something Morten was missing as a mindful drinker.

Highly regarded as something of a maverick within the drinks industry, Emma Wykes is a unique and inspirational leader with over 25 years of experience as an innovator and world-class leader in the field.

Emma was one of the founders of the non-alcoholic drinks category, leading the ground-breaking brand Seedlip through its first 5 years of growth and development and subsequent acquisition by Diageo. As Chief Operating Officer, with a spell as interim CEO, Emma was instrumental in Seedlip’s ascension from a niche non-alcoholic spirit to one of the most influential and transformative brands in the global drinks space.

Harnessing her unique management prowess, Emma implemented data driven processes whilst shaping a dynamic and inclusive company culture and environment that nurtured an intuitive and entrepreneurial spirit – a spirit that supported Seedlip’s rise to iconic status and created a whole new drinks category that revolutionised the global drinks market.

Prior to Seedlip, Emma worked with cutting edge agency, Marblehead Brand Development climbing through the ranks from Distributor to her first Managing Director Role in 2013. Emma managed Marblehead through a joint venture and acquisition by the Quintessential Brand Group in 2015, attracting top-class talent and expanding their portfolio to include several new brands including Don Papa Rum and the QB Gin portfolio (Bloom, Opihr).

A natural innovator, Emma was also at the start of the Gin renaissance in 1999 where, as Global Head of Sales and Marketing for Martin Millers Gin, she launched and grew the brand from a UK brand to an International one with accounts across Europe, US and Australia.

With a unique approach to work and life, Emma established a solid career path before completing a degree in Psychology and Philosophy through the Open University following the birth of her daughter Isobel in 2011. In 2022, she qualified as an ACC coach with the International Coaching federation, a role that proved key in the development of the team at Seedlip, teaching everyone how to be accountable, responsible and to self-solve.

As Head of Compliance at the WSTA Kelly deals with compliance and food regulatory matters. She leads on low and no which includes acting as secretariat to the WSTA’s Low and No Working Group, a group formed to support WSTA members in producing, labelling and promoting LoNo alcohol products in the UK. Kelly also acts as secretariat for the Retail of Alcohol Standards Group, The British Wine and Made Wine Producers Committee and the Direct-To-Consumer Committee. Her background is as a Trading Standards Officer, and she enjoyed running her own Food Labelling Consultancy business prior to joining the WSTA in 2017.

Laura Willoughby MBE is the founder of the world’s largest mindful drinking movement, Club Soda, and the UK’s foremost expert in low and no alcoholic drinks.  Club Soda runs the new Low & No Tasting Rooms in Covent Garden. 

Laura was named number 16 in 2023’s Drinks Retailing’s latest Top 100 Most Influential People in Drink, one of the 100 most influential women in hospitality by CODE, and is a Trustee for The Drinks Trust. The Club Soda Tasting Room was Drink Retailing’s Independent Retailer of the year 2023. 

Receiving an MBE for services to the community in 2004, Laura’s devotion to Club Soda means hundreds of thousands of people are supported in their journeys to live well by being more mindful about drinking alcohol. 

Morgane has over 7 years of experience in the beverages and foodservice sectors. She first joined GlobalData in 2016 as an analyst, leading the development of the company’s Foodservice Intelligence Centre and regularly contributing her expertise to custom research projects.

Since joining the consulting division in 2019, she has specialized in the delivery of large-scale market sizing and segmentation projects, as well as competitive analysis, transformation strategy, NPD and consumer trend studies.

Having spent 11 of his 20+ years in the food industry leading research, development, and applications for colouring foods and natural colours, Phil Cook is now the Industry Business Manager for Beverage, Dairy and Ice-Cream markets for Oterra, the World’s Largest Natural Colours company. With a combination of technical expertise and market knowledge, Phil matches customers with the best solutions, and identifies new opportunities in the colour space. 

Responsible for assisting the commercial teams with inspirational materials, market insights and refreshed industry trends, Emilio manages the deployment of marketing campaigns and initiatives at a regional level across EMEA. His work closely overlaps with Oterra's global marketing team to effectively address the specific needs of each industry territorially, whilst also maintaining the communication of the company's global marketing and innovation agendas

I hold a degree in Food Management and Industrial Engineering, studied at FH Joanneum, Graz and Kapfenberg. After that I gained experience as Quality Manager and in Sales within the Food Sector, with a Focus on the Beverage Industry. In 2022 I joined Anton Paar as Key Account Manager Beverages and Food, where I connect and add value to global players in the beverage industry through innovative solutions and strategic partnerships.

Jill is the Applications Manager at Synergy Flavours, heading up a team of application technologists working across multiple categories.

Jill has a love of food and drink, with a focus on taste and flavour. She studied Food Science at the University of Leeds and started work in the food industry in 2002 at what was then Cadbury Schweppes. She was fascinated by flavours and started her career in the flavour industry in 2003.

Within the flavour industry Jill has worked as an applications technologist across the sweet and beverage categories, developing a real passion for beverage. After extensive training in the area, the focus of her work has been on beverages since 2008.

Jill joined Synergy Flavours in 2019 and she loves to collaborate on beverage projects with our customers.

Aside from food and drink, Jill loves sport, having played hockey for many years. She is now heavily involved in the junior hockey at her club.

Chris Whiting studied History & Journalism at De Montfort University, Leicester and has since spent the majority of his career at Synergy Flavours. During his time at Synergy, Chris has held a variety of roles within the category marketing team and is now European Category Development Manager for nutrition.

Chris has a passion for all things data related, something which always finds its way into his market research and presentations.

Outside of work, Chris is a frequent gym goer and a regular user of many different nutritional supplements made by Synergy’s customers!

He’s also an avid supporter of York City Football Club, regularly travelling to games up and down the country.

Robert brings over 11 years of dedicated experience to Kyowa Hakko Europe GmbH. Since July 2016, he has excelled as the Sales Manager, operating from Düsseldorf, Germany. In this role, Robert oversees the sales of premium, scientifically-backed branded ingredients and high-purity amino acids, catering to pharmaceutical, nutritional, and industrial markets throughout Europe. His leadership ensures the delivery of top-quality products that meet the diverse needs of clients across the continent.

Greg Mucha is the European Sales Director for Beverage at Trivium Packaging. He joined Trivium to lead the beverage development in Europe creating strategy, executing short and long term plans and building relationships with strategic partners. Prior to Trivium, Greg was responsible for growth and business development across EMEA region for Ball Corporation. Greg has experience in creating and leading projects from scratch, product launch, sales management, and overall growth strategy. Greg holds Master’s Degree in Management and Marketing and also MBA in International Business at Robert Kennedy Collage in Zurich, Switzerland (in collaboration with Cumbria University in the UK). In his free time, he is a keen triathlonist, runner and swimmer. He likes spending his time doing different outdoor activities and traveling the world.

Nicola has accumulated over a decade of experience in the food industry, after graduating with a degree in Food Science. Initially starting out in process and development roles within desserts, confectionery, and beverage. She now leverages her diverse background and knowledge to deliver a solution-focused approach, collaborating with customers on strategic projects adding value by understanding their needs and delivering tailored solutions.

Emily works closely with customers and flavourists melding her creativity to provide bespoke application support across the full spectrum of beverages. With skills ranging from testing new flavourings suitability to complete beverage development, Emily leads the team advising brands and shaping industry tastes. Having recently completed a BSc (Hons) degree in Food Technology focusing on non-alcoholic citrus washes that can be used in NOLO product development, Emily is well placed to help new and existing brands create their defining flavour.