Archives: Speakers

Laurent Foldès is Global Market Development Manager with experience in spearheading sustainable and innovative strategies at Klöckner Pentaplast. Skilled in fostering partnerships with FMCG brands all around the world to significantly reduce innovation’s time to market for the brands to reach their sustainable target by 2030. Chairman of the label working group at PETCORE, Laurent is also leading the cPET consortiums for promoting recyclable shrink sleeves as the next generation of labels for the industry.

Cor has been working as a banker for more than 30 years. First at ABNAMRO but as of 2006 with ING and always in the Food and Agriculture domain. He is a specialists the agricultural and food sector for ING in EMEA. With clients and within the bank he addresses al kind of market related topics and is often involved in sustainability discussions in the sector. Topics like decarbonisation (ING Terra approach), deforestation etc.

He is involved as an adviser for the sustainable dairy chain in the Netherlands and is member of the OECD-FAO Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Group on Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains.

He is educated as an agricultural engineer and has done his MBA at the university of Groningen. Next to his daily work he is a backyard farmer with beef cows and chickens.

Dr. Lourdes Mato has over 30 years of international experience as a researcher in food science and technology and working within both academia and industry. Areas of expertise includes dairy science and manufacturing with emphasis is fermented dairy products including cheeses. Strong research background in Lactic Acid Bacteria and probiotics, protein science, and protein analysis. Lourdes joined Edlong 13 years ago and have been working in developing dairy concentrated ingredients for flavoring purposes and dairy flavors. Lourdes own Food Science master’s degree, a Biochemistry master’s degree from The University of Havana, and a Doctoral degree in Food Science with a major in Food Technology from the University of Helsinki.

Susan O’Shaughnessy is an Edlong Sr. Scientist, where she works in the Ireland based applications lab on a variety of different customer projects and applications including bakery, snacks, sauces, beverages and vegan products. Susan joined Edlong in 2018 and has a bachelor’s degree in Food Technology from the Technical University of Dublin and an MBA from the Dublin Business School. Prior to joining Edlong, Susan managed the development of private label food products for a major Irish retailer and was a product development manager for an ingredient’s manufacturer prior to that. Susan also has trained professionally as a chef with 9 years’ experience in the restaurant sector.

Anne Marie Butler has been in the food industry for nearly 15 years. With a varied background covering manufacturing, R&D and applications focusing on cheese, processed cheese, dairy alternatives, and flavours she has a passion for all things food! Recently her focus has been on the plant-based market and understanding the challenges manufacturers experience and finding solutions to create great tasting products.  Anne Marie has the unique position of having specifically contributed to plant-based market introductions in the EU, which is where the trend started.

Jacek Meszka, Managing Director of GNT Polska has over three decades of experience in the dairy industry, he began as a Dairy Technologist in 1991. Transitioning into business development, he specialized in starter cultures, enzymes, hydrocolloids, and flavors. His expertise proved invaluable at Rhone Poulenc, Rhodia, and Danisco. Notably, Meszka led the establishment of a modern dairy factory in Kazakhstan in 1999. Today, at GNT Polska, he continues to leverage his extensive dairy knowledge to drive advancements in sustainable color solutions.

Przemysław Oziemkowski, Sales Manager for Central and Eastern Europe, brings 35 years of practical expertise in the food industry. Joining GNT in 2010, his deep understanding of technical knowledge and trends within the dairy industry has been valuable. His wealth of experience and deep-seated knowledge of the dairy industry intricacies have been pivotal in navigating and thriving within Central and Eastern Europe’s competitive dairy landscape.

Rashmi Chandra, Project Director, Immuno-Oncology and Cell and Gene Therapy, holds a doctorate in Biochemistry and a PMP certification from Project Management Institute. Dr. Chandra worked as a biomedical researcher for many years prior to transitioning to clinical research. As a result, she has a broad and fundamental understanding of cellular and molecular pathways interrogated during drug development. Dr. Chandra’s clinical research experience includes serving as a Research Coordinator, remote Site Monitor and Project Manager for domestic and global studies. Dr. Chandra has start-to-finish project management experience in early phase trials. She has demonstrated strong team leadership and consistently managed high quality clinical trials. Dr. Chandra has cardiac device and stem cell trial experience, along with significant oncology, immuno-oncology and CAR-T cell experience in both solid and liquid tumors across several indications.