| Paul Barron CEO, Executive Producer & Editor in Chief Foodable Network Paul Barron has been building foodservice media and consumer science companies for 25 years. As CEO of Foodable Network, the next era in Food Media for professionals and foodies alike, he is forging a new model of how consumer insights and the restaurant industry are intersecting. As an award winning author on consumer science in his book, the Chipotle Effect, he has identified a new consumer psyche that is changing food today. Armed with his decade of research he launched Foodable Labs as a data incubator in 2009, the first food industry social media index that identifies food trends, consumer trends, emerging restaurant brands, operators and chefs. Foodable Labs now boasts the largest index in foodservice at 172K brands, 2.5 Million foodservice decision makers and over 300 million global food consumers. His accolades: Founded Fastcasual.com in 1993, Founder of the Fast Casual Executive Summit and the Fast Casual Industry Council in 2005, Forbes Top 50 Most Influential, 2012 Author of the year, 2012 Trendsetter of the Year, Executive Producer & Writer of Fast Casual Nation (The Documentary), James Beard Nominee, Top 35 Restaurant Leaders to follow in 2017 | |
| Michael Dragone Vice President of Strategic Accounts Navigator Group Purchasing Michael Dragone is the Vice President of National Accounts with Navigator Group Purchasing. He’s responsible for Navigator’s Account Management functions as well the organizations Formulary Management team. Michael has been with Navigator for 3 years and has over 12 years of GPO experience. In addition, he has held various Operations and Procurement positions within the Seniors, Golf/Ski, B&I, and Vending/OCS industries. | |
| Barry Friends Partner Pentallect Inc. Barry Friends is a Partner at Pentallect Inc. He supports manufacturer, distributor, operator, and service provider clients with supply chain and go-to-market strategies, particularly in commoditized categories, and is an expert in GPOs, digital commerce, and the independent distributor channel. Prior to Pentallect, Barry was a Senior Principal at Technomic, Inc., where he conducted strategic studies for clients, co-founded the Technomic Foodservice Category Management Institute and created the SKU-mocracy® category assessment process. Barry also served as president and CEO of Sysco Pittsburgh, as division and Midwest zone president of US Foods, and senior vice president of sales, merchandising and marketing for Reinhart Foodservice. Barry holds a BA in economics from Hamilton College and a Master Certificate in foodservice management from Cornell University. | |
| Tim Hand Partner Kinetic12 Tim brings expertise in strategic planning, marketing, market research and category management, P&L management, innovation and Foodservice. For the last 6 years Tim has consulted and led engagements with a variety of B2B and B2C clients to tackle a broad range of strategy, portfolio, innovation and research challenges - from developing insight libraries and business strategies, to training on strategic planning and marketing, to building long range innovation pipelines. Tim’s experience crosses multiple channels including Foodservice, Retail, C-store, Club and Vending. Tim has more than 25 years’ experience in marketing and strategy. He worked at Kraft Foods for 17 years across a number of categories and brands. He managed the Canadian Kraft Foodservice business and was also head of strategy and business development for the $2B North American Foodservice division. Tim has an MBA from McMaster University in Ontario, and a Bachelor of Commerce degree in marketing. | |
| Sarah Hickey Director of Consumer Insights Tyson Foods Sarah Hickey has 15+ years of experience in CPG with a focus on consumer understanding and strategy. She started her career at Procter & Gamble and currently leads Insights for the Retail Package Brands division of Tyson Foods. Sarah has a passion for consumer segmentation, innovation and brand development that uniquely positions her organizations to grow their business. Sarah has a BA in Marketing and Organizational Communications from Michigan State University and a MBA in Market Research & Statistics from The University of Georgia. | |
| Jack Li Builder Datassential Jack Li spearheads Datassential's custom insights and new products initiatives. Jack has led hundreds of research studies for foodservice manufacturers and distributors across a broad array of topics. Jack holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and is a 2003 recipient of the IFMA Sparkplug award. | |
| Erin Murray Director, Custom Solutions Datassential Erin Murray has 20+ years of experience in market research and consulting with a focus on food/drink trends and innovation. During her career to date, she has provided strategic guidance and new product inspiration to numerous companies in consumables including PepsiCo, Wrigley, Sara Lee and Dole. At Datassential, Erin applies her food enthusiasm, research expertise and client-centric mindset as a Director in Custom Solutions. Dedicated to her clients’ growth, Erin leverages data and a future-forward vision to find the overlap of consumer desires and trend evolution. In addition to her role at Datassential, Erin is on faculty at Robert Morris University’s Graduate School of Management where she teaches a course she authored titled Consumer Surveys for Marketing. Erin has a BS in Psychology from The College of William and Mary and a MS in Marketing Communications from Northwestern University. | |
| Louie Newton Chief Information Officer UniPro Foodservice, Inc. Louie joined UniPro in April 2016 as the company's Chief Information Officer with 28 years' experience in foodservice distribution. His foodservice experience began in 1987 with PYA Monarch in Greenville, SC where he held several roles of increasing responsibilities in IT supporting Supply Chain and Financial Systems. After US Foods acquisition of PYA Monarch, Louie continued his role as a Sr. Leader in strategic projects designed to transform the foodservice industry. One of those key initiatives was to consolidate US Foods from 17 different IT platforms to one common operating platform. This was a multi-year transformation that touched 40 distribution centers. | |
| Kevin Otto Senior Director of Foodservice GS1 US Kevin Otto is the Senior Director for Foodservice at GS1 US. In his role, he supports the strategic direction of the Foodservice GS1 US Standards Initiative, addressing industry imperatives such as food safety and traceability and operational efficiencies. Kevin has been with GS1 US since September 2013. Prior to joining GS1 US, Kevin worked in various supply chain roles for large CPG companies. At Unilever, Kevin worked in several customer facing roles collaborating with companies like Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco and BJs Wholesale Club. At L’Oréal, Kevin led the team responsible for the global supply of all Ralph Lauren Fragrances, as well as domestic supply of several top European cosmetics and fragrances. Kevin holds a degree in Business Logistics from Penn State and an MBA from the University of Arkansas. | |
| Peter Pickus Advisory Leader CEB Peter runs the Executive Advisory Services function for the CEB Marketing, Sales, and Communications practices. In this role, Peter spends countless hours working directly with hundreds of senior business leaders in identifying and applying insight and analysis to address their most critical business challenges on a variety of topics including lead generation, sales process, customer experience, branding, messaging, and customer loyalty. Peter makes more than 25 presentations per year to audiences that range in size from 20 to 300. Prior to joining CEB, Peter spent more than 15 years in the public and private sectors serving in a number of senior positions in the United States and England. Peter's experiences include consulting, marketing, market research, and executive coaching. In addition Peter ran a successful not-for-profit focused on urban education and civic leadership. | |
| Matt Riddleberger Vice President of Supply Chain Services Firehouse Subs Matthew Riddleberger is the Vice President of Supply Chain Services (Procurement and Distribution, and Product Development) at Firehouse Restaurant Group, quick service restaurant, since July 2006. Here, Mr. Riddleberger is responsible for all purchasing and distribution for a $800+ million dollar chain. He is a food service procurement executive with over 10 years in distribution merchandising and marketing and over eleven years with rapidly growing fast casual chain of over 1080+ locations. Mr. Riddleberger spent over 10 years with a Fortune 100 corporation managing merchandising and marketing for a $325 million dollar operating company. He is experienced in developing strategic plans and executing them. Mr. Riddleberger also has over 15 years of operational experience in the hospitality industry. | |
| Jeff Schroeder Partner Kinetic12 Jeff offers more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in sales, marketing, innovation, strategy and new product development with top tier CPG, Financial Services and Consulting Companies, including Procter & Gamble, Pepperidge Farm, American Express, The Partnering Group and Kinetic12. At the culmination of his nine-year career at Procter & Gamble, Jeff led the creation and development of national customer execution plans for such iconic brands as Pampers and Luvs. After cultivating multi-industry senior leadership positions, including Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, Jeff joined The Partnering Group where he led the creation, development and execution of industry best practice initiatives such as the Full Plate Foodservice Category Management Platform. He additionally led engagements and client teams focused on innovation, new product development, strategy and marketing at companies, including Sara Lee, Georgia Pacific, PepsiCo, Campbell’s Soup and The Coca-Cola Company. Currently, Jeff holds the position of Managing Partner at Kinetic12, working with Foodservice Industry leaders to drive innovation, strategic planning, ground-breaking marketing strategy and excellence in sales execution. Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Risk Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. | |
| Ben Shanley Senior Vice President, National Foodservice Operations Coca-Cola North America Ben Shanley is Sr. Vice President, National Foodservice Operations for Coca-Cola North America. Key responsibilities include creation and execution of operational strategies and tactics that result in executional excellence of key initiatives critical to National Foodservice customers. Additionally, through collaboration with our partners (bottlers, foodservice distributors and service providers), Ben continues to build world-class capabilities that drive best-in-class customer value. Professional Affiliations
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| Scott Shontz Corporate Director, Dining and Clinical Services Healthcare Services Group Scott has been with Healthcare Services Group (HCSG) for four years. In his current role, he is responsible for all aspects of HCSG's dining service programs including, policies, procedures & compliance, menu development and food purchasing. Prior to stepping into this role in 2016, Scott served as a Regional Vice President of Operations for the company's Mid-Atlantic Region. Before joining HCSG, Scott held operations and finance leadership roles within Aramark where he gained more than 20 years of contract management experience. | |
| Warren Solochek President, Foodservice The NPD Group Warren joined NPD’s Foodservice group in 2003. His responsibilities include overseeing relationships with all existing CREST® clients, both operators and manufacturers. His role at NPD gives him a great deal of insight into today’s Foodservice industry issues and trends, and helps him anticipate the issues the industry will face in the future. Prior to coming to NPD, Warren spent five years running client service and product development at Concept Shopping, Inc. (CSI). CSI was a consumer promotion company that utilizes retailer loyalty card data to target individualized promotions. | |
| Nicole Sorensen Brand Manager: Fresh Brands, Tyson Tastemakers Tyson Foods Nicole Sorensen has 10+ years of experience in brand management and marketing in the CPG industry. Her love of food and passion for the consumer has driven her to lead numerous innovation projects as well driven base business growth at Kraft, General Mills and Maple Leaf, along with her current 2-year tenure at Tyson. During her career, she has worked across such beloved brands as Jell-O, Stove Top, Häagen Dazs, Hillshire Farm and Tyson, as well as spending two years internationally leading both a global brand and a regionally-based business within the UK market. Nicole has also worked in agency account management where she focused on advising strategic licensing partnerships as well as driving positive returns on in-store, online and home-delivered consumer promotion programs for her clients. Nicole has a BS in Business from Indiana University and a Masters of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management. | |
| Uwe Voss Chief Operating Officer & MD HelloFresh US Uwe Voss is Chief Operating Officer (COO) & Managing Director (MD) of HelloFresh US, one of the global leaders in the meal kit delivery industry that sends step-by-step recipes and pre-portioned ingredients to subscribers’ doorsteps each week. Prior to joining HelloFresh in 2016, he worked as an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company Chicago where he focused on serving clients on a variety of topics including Strategy & Corporate Finance, Operations and Marketing & Sales. Uwe holds a doctorate’s degree from RWTH Aachen University (Germany) and a master's degree in business administration from HHL Leipzig (Germany). He currently resides in New York City. | |
| Ross Walthall Director of Foodservice Cleveland Research Company Ross Walthall leads the Foodservice Council for Cleveland Research – providing actionable business intelligence for our partners on restaurants, distribution, and non-commercial foodservice. Prior to his current role, Ross supported CRC’s investment research team covering the restaurant channel for the previous 3 years. Ross came to foodservice from Eze Software Group, a firm in the financial technology industry in Boston. He graduated from Brown University with a dual-concentration in Economics and Political Science. Ross grew up in Indianapolis, but now proudly calls Cleveland home with his wife, Susie. | |
