Andy was lucky to find his passion for startups, after working for corporate giant KPMG he craved the challenge to make more of an impact in a business. He moved to music tech startup Crowdsurge (who ultimately became Songkick) where he helped grow the company significantly in 4 years, ultimately through to an exit as their Global Financial Director. As a chartered accountant, Andy gained a great understanding around the foundations of business and took this knowledge of Audit, Private Equity and Consulting into the startup world. Andy co-founded FITCH Brew Co in 2017, after a successful Crowdfunding raise in just 29 hours. FITCH have now grown to launching 7 products, operating out of their own UK brewery, and selling across the UK and internationally. FITCH are on a mission to challenge traditional perceptions of soft drinks by using Cold Brewing to generate exceptional function and flavour. The low calorie, all natural, vegan friendly and low sugar range are focusing on the key consumer trends of today.

Bartosz Poniklo is Marketing Director at Arteta Sp. z o.o. - fast growing, startup-mindset company, operating in several food categories. Bartosz responsibility is to create value through distinctive brands and innovative concepts. Prior to joining Arteta, he worked in FMCG marketing at several food industry companies such as Bonduelle and Animex (Smithfield Foods Inc.) developing and successfully launching new products which became “game changers” for its categories. He thrives on challenges, particularly those that redefine the company’s marketplace by setting completely new categories. His most recent project includes creating from the scratch, launching and developing DayUp – mass market, healthy foods brand, creating a separate category: lifestyle snacks in pouch for adults, basing on contemporary consumer insights, especially valued among Millennials. Bartosz holds a Master degree from L. Kozminski Academy Warsaw and HEC Paris.

Erika Ollen’s experience ranges from strategic marketing to brand consulting and design, always for the food related industries and very often with a health/nutritional and/or educational focus. Erika is a skilled chef with insights in product development and communication. She has more often than not ran her own projects and initiatives. For the past four years she has been part of running the innovative beverage company Caliente Beverages, being head of Marketing. Their drink range has received great international recognition, incl. “Best New Adult Drink” at World Beverage Innovation Awards. Extensive dialogue with the market made the team identify the gap for NA spirits early on, thus developing Gnista – launched Autumn 2019.

A native of Northern Germany, Jörn Gutowski spent most of his young adulthood abroad. After studying marketing at Emerson College in Boston and a one year stint at a PR agency, he worked for an international non-profit organization. While travelling the world, he was exposed to many new cultural and culinary experiences. His passion and appreciation for food was so deeply affected that in 2013, he decided to put his 10+ years background in marketing and business into his new venture TRY FOODS. Following the slogan „feed your curiosity“, TRY FOODS has been helping people to expand their knowledge of and their palate for high-quality food products. In 2018, he co-founded another food startup, called Zeevi Kichererbsen GmbH. Zeevi is the first European company producing and selling a chickpea tofu, called Kofu.

Leif has worked all his life in the food & drink industry in the Nordics and Baltics. A total of +20 years in the Foodservice Sector, both fine-dining companies as well as the catering-giant Fazer for 15 years. Since 2015 Country Manager OOH Finland as well as Business Development for the OOH (Foodservice) Business Area within Löfbergs Coffee Group – a Swedish coffee roaster since 110 years, active in 10 markets in the Nordics, Baltics, UK and Canada. Leif is extremely interested in how, why and where we consume food & drink and the changes in our consumption, occasions and places – this is where many innovations are trigged!

Luis Carlos Chacón leads the BusinessCase team, global boutique consultancy that works with multinational FMCGs identifying emerging and future business opportunities. Also, has been a columnist for Forbes Latin America for several years (being nowadays top-rated) and currently finishing a postgraduate degree in Global Business at the University of Oxford (where previously graduated in Strategy and Innovation), his educational background includes studies in Design Thinking at Stanford, and Futures at The University of Manchester, and Houston. In business, he has worked for more than nineteen years for the operations of Fortune 500 Companies such as Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, LVMH, Diageo, Kellogg’s, Unilever, Dannon, AbInbev, among many others. Behavioral economics enthusiast (understanding the cross between needs and contexts) and believer in connecting the distant (linking the disconnected but inseparable) under the influence of socio-cultural changes in industries and consumption.

I am a marketing professional with wide range of experience from beloved and renown brands in the consumer goods industry. During the past roughly 20 years I have worked with iconic brands born in Finland and grown international. Curious and passionate by nature, I enjoy working with the end-to-end innovation funnel from trends and consumer insight all the way to the market launch. In my current role, I am heading the R&D Drinks team at Paulig Group.

FMCG experience in Sales and marketing with Vita Coco, Siberri and Jealous Sweets. Private Wealth Management with Barclays private wealth.. Endurance athlete, Swimming cycling and running. Campaigner for the Tribe Freedom Foundation.

Sarah is passionate about innovation and technology in the food, beverage and nutrition industry. From her background of nutritional sciences and business innovation, Sarah has become an industry expert across the entire food and beverage value chain from industry 4.0 to alternative protein sourcing. Sarah excels at engaging her audience by presenting well-thought-out analysis and provide insights on disruptive technologies and the players behind them which is highly appreciated by clients and provides them with a clear strategic direction moving forward. At FutureBridge, she uses her extensive experience to help clients solve complex business challenges which includes everything from scouting the right sugar reduction technology that fits to their products specifications to identifying new biodegradable packaging materials that will contribute to the client’s sustainability strategies. Before joining FutureBridge, Sarah held a similar successful positions in which she led many engaging projects with global leaders in the food and beverage space to set them up for new product development success.