Paul is currently Head of Insights for EMEA and Shopper at Beam Suntory, prior to that he was Global Head of Insights for Asahi, and also headed up Insights for Africa at Diageo and looked after Insights in the UK for Ferrero.   Paul has also held pure innovation roles, and has worked across a number of agencies.

Paul’s superpowers in research are around team leadership, cultural understanding and simplification – landing big insights in the simplest way possible to drive business change.

Jeremy is responsible for transforming the Design capability and output of Diageo’s current brands and new products worldwide.  Diageo is the world's leading premium drinks business.  He is passionate about the impact Design has on business performance and the way Design Thinking leads to breakthrough ideas wherever it is applied.  Standout projects include Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Guinness Harp dispense fount (winner of the DBA Design Effectiveness Grand Prix 2020) and the Johnnie Walker Princes Street Brand Home in Edinburgh which opened in September 2021.

Prior to joining Diageo Jeremy was Head of Design for Tesco, responsible for the portfolio of 19,000 private label products and for leading the Store Formats and Design teams.  His early career was as a Freelance Designer and University Lecturer.

Jeremy is a Cannes Lions and TEDx speaker.  He is Chair of Trustees of the charity Soulmates Academy Foundation, Former Chair of the Design Business Association, a member of the Design Commission advising the UK government on design policy and a visiting Lecturer at Omnes Business School.

Jeremy has taken a lead role shaping the DE&I agenda on behalf of the design industry, chairing the Design Business Association DE&I Council and leading the publication of industry guidelines.  https://www.dba.org.uk/site-search/?keyword=Diversity%2C+Equity+%26+Inclusion%3A  He has spoken extensively on Diageo’s Inclusive Design initiatives and the positive impact when creativity is truly inclusive.

Natalia Kowalczyk is the Vice President and Marketing Director at Brown-Forman, a global company renowned for its ownership and distribution of iconic brands such as Jack Daniel’s, Diplomático Rum, Gin Mare, and Woodford Reserve, among many others. With an extensive career spanning strategic, corporate, and commercial roles, Natalia has cultivated a rich professional background across several major international markets, including Milan, Sydney, London, and Amsterdam.

Currently, Natalia leads the marketing division at Brown-Forman, where she leverages her deep expertise to drive brand growth and market presence. Her leadership is characterized by a strategic vision and a commitment to fostering brand equity and consumer engagement.

In addition to her professional responsibilities, Natalia is a dedicated advocate for women's advancement in the workplace. She proudly sponsors the GROW Employee Resource Group (ERG), an initiative focused on fostering the growth of remarkable and outstanding women, supporting their professional development, and promoting gender diversity within the industry.

Michael Schmid is an accomplished innovator with a diverse background in consumer goods and the spirits industry first as well as with a strong technical and commercial expertise. He started his career at Braun GmbH where he spearheaded innovations in the electric appliances sector and later transitioned to the sports industry where he designed and manufactured a wide range of products.

During his tenure at Procter & Gamble, he gained deep consumer insights and commercial knowledge before spending the last decade at Bacardi where he held various roles in packaging development, activity management and breakthrough innovation. As the packaging development and breakthrough innovation lead, he naturally led several initiatives including sustainability ones.

Michael is also an active member of the Next Generation Blenders Club (NGBC) which provides Bacardi talents with experience from across categories and disciplines to build capability for the future. Michael spent most of his career working in an international context including various assignment abroad.

Claire Warner has worked in the drinks industry for more than 20 years, starting at the sharp end as a bartender and working her way up, spending 15 years with LVMH’s owned brand Belvedere as Head of Spirit Creation. Claire was awarded Best International Brand Ambassador at Tales of the Cocktail in 2015.

A tireless advocate for better health and wellness within the hospitality industry, Claire joined Ben Branson in 2018 to develop Seedlip’s sister brand, Æcorn Aperitifs, a range of non-alcoholic aperitifs, which launched in May 2019.

Jason joined the award-winning ecommerce platform Master of Malt, 5.5 years ago as Head of Commercial, over that time his role evolved into leading the direct to consumer business and owning the P&L for D2C, of which Master of Malt is the most significant part.

His remit includes Commercial, Marketing and Customer Service, although much of Jason's prior experience comes through Commercial management and leadership having been lead buying and commercial functions in organisations such as Tesco, Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy.

In Guala Closures since 2021. Passionate about Sustainability and Innovation.

Mark has worked in the drinks industry for over 20 years across a variety of commercial, and both consumer and trade marketing roles. In his current role, Mark uses his experience to lead and grow Pernod Ricard UK’s Enterprise Portfolio a collection of incubator brands including Lillet, Italicus, Del Maguey, and The Deacon.

Dana Baki is the Chief Commercial Officer of The Exploration Company, one of the fastest growing space companies globally, building reusable space capsules and lunar landers. This Nyx capsule will be the first to use green propellant globally, while flying at a fraction of the cost of global competition.

Prior to joining The Exploration Company, Dana was the co-founder & COO of MUNCH:ON, a food technology platform based out of the Middle East, that was acquired by Careem (Uber’s subsidiary in the region). Before starting MUNCH:ON, Dana was a Partner of Business Development at AlJal Capital—a financing and venture capital firm in the United Arab Emirates. Previous to that, Ms. Baki worked for Procter & Gamble in the United States for 7+ years, benefiting from a wide range of assignments within the company and gaining expertise in Corporate Strategy, Marketing and Consumer Insights.

She holds an MBA from Georgetown University and B.A. in Economics and English Literature from The University of Michigan.

Greg Klingaman is a retail and consumer sector executive with over 20 years’ experience leading business transformations and creating experiential destinations for major brands including Johnnie Walker, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, and The Home Depot. Based in Amsterdam, he is currently VP, Strategy and Field Operations EMEA for AnyRoad, the leading experiential marketing platform. At AnyRoad he is responsible for leading their international expansion, overseeing EMEA business operations, and helping alcohol and CPG brands to optimise their experiential investments.

In his previous role as Global Retail Director at Diageo, he architected and led Diageo’s £185M investment in Scotch whisky brand experiences, headlined by the September 2021 opening of Johnnie Walker Princes Street in Edinburgh.

Tom is the co-founder of El Rayo Tequila - a modern Tequila designed to pair with tonic. Launched in 2019, El Rayo is inspiring a new generation of Tequila drinkers to think and drink creatively.

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.

Hailing from South Africa, Hendre' joined the ranks of Distillers in 2014, after spending 15 years in the Liquor and Hospitality Industry at various levels. Over a period of 7 years, Hendre' trained over 6 000 individuals from more than 35 countries in the science and art of distillation. He designed, constructed, and commissioned more than 100 Craft Distilleries in over 14 countries - so far afield as Australia, Europe, the Middle East and of course, Africa.

In 2022, Hendre' joined the ranks of JIM & TONIC as Head Distiller and Production Manager, and he has since overseen the companies' product portfolio expansion and diversification, the launch of their RTD range, construction of 2 new distilleries, and a complete overhaul of the company's sustainability strategy.

The golden thread in Tom’s life is food and drink, it’s his passion and has been his career for two decades. From producing, sourcing, selling, creating, and consuming he has devoted his career to it and in 2012 launched an artisan distillery. Growing up on a farm, with a gregarious mother who taught home economics created the hard working, bonne vivant producer at the heart of Warner’s Distillery. “There was no other option, farming is an entrepreneurial industry, so starting a business was in the blood and hosting people for home-made food and drink is my passion, the distillery allows me to share that passion with the world.”

Warner’s Distillery  now create award winning liquid across 4 categories (gin, 0% and rum) increasing their self-sufficiency and working with nature as they grow. They were the first craft distillery to launch a range of 100% natural non-alcoholic spirits and the team continues to push the boundaries of the spirits industry, forging new variants and entirely new categories, creating award-winning favourites and world firsts like their Rhubarb Gin, where one third of every bottle is real rhubarb juice. Their new brand Trash and Treasure focusses on utelising food waste from other UK manufactueres to make a sustainable spirits range.

Mark brings over 20 years experience in the foodservice, retail and FMCG sectors to GlobalData.  Mark joined the GlobalData team in 2017 following 5 years living in Canada where he was an insights leader for PepsiCo and strategy consulting leader for the NPD group.   In his role at GlobalData, Mark brings bold thought-leadership to global partners across the manufacturer, retailer and distributor segments; always striving to find new ways to create growth by positively influencing shopper behaviour.

Mark brings significant FMCG knowledge and expertise to the conference having led research around the world on topics from shopper segmentation, to category market sizing to innovation planning and the study of global best practices.

Mark will be chairing the conference whilst sharing his views on the changing nature of next generation product offerings, the demands and expectations of today’s consumer, and the innovations and trends that will shape the future…

An experienced business journalist and editor, specialising in reporting on the international food and beverage sectors. Featured in national and international print titles and on international broadcast outlets like the BBC and France 24.