Speakers at this Event

Jamie Fortescue, British/Belgian, born 1966, joined the European Starch Industry Association, Starch Europe, in January 2012 as its managing director. Supported by a team of six staff, his role is to represent the interests of EU starch producers to the EU institutions and other EU stakeholders.
From 2014-2011, Jamie was the Director General of Spirits Europe, the trade association representing EU spirits drinks producers. Prior to that, he was the director for international corporate affairs at the employment agency, Randstad, based in Amsterdam (1997-2004) and an account director at the public affairs consultancy, EPPA, based mainly from their offices in London and Brussels, but also Madrid and Warsaw (1992-1997). Working primarily on issues affecting the petfood and employment agency sectors. Before becoming involved in EU public affairs, Jamie worked in third world development (at London based Planco Consulting from 1989-91, and as a trainee at DG Development of the European Commission from 1988-89). Jamie was educated at Eton College and the University of East Anglia, and has a degree in French and Economics.

Simon has 18 years of experience analysing and understanding commodity markets. He is a director of Commoditia, an advisory business based in Singapore focussed on supporting investors in, and traders and processors of South East Asian commodities.

Previously, as a Vice President of Invenio, part of Olam International, Mr Bentley led the research for a macro commodity fund trading agricultural commodity futures using fundamental models. Before this, and as a Director of LMC International, Mr Bentley led for many years a team advising multinational agribusinesses, energy and chemical companies, as well as governments, on all aspects of carbohydrate and protein markets. Through many different assignments he has developed a deep understanding of the fundamental structural factors underpinning agricultural commodity prices, costs, trade and production, which he uses to help clients position themselves in the face of changing market conditions.

Mr Bentley is a graduate of Trinity College, Oxford University and the London School of Economics.

-- Studied process engineer
- Joined Emsland-Stärke in 2015. Since 2021, he leads the Research and Development unit and in 2020 he set up a new processing plant for mung beans together with a US startup

Dr Walsh has a degree in marine science and engineering with a PhD in environmental toxicology and chemistry.  Andrew has been working on the development and commercialisation of innovative bio-waste treatment systems since 1998 during which time he has developed a range of patented composting and biogas systems. Most recently as Technical Director at Jones Celtic Bioenergy he has focused on advanced thermal hydrolysis to enable a much wider range of biomaterials to be made available for digestion or chemical recycling. The recovery and valorisation of biodegradable packaging has been a key focus of this work that is now at commercial scale.  

Studied a degree and doctorate in Chemistry and has spent his working career in the food industry in a range of sectors. Lately this has been focused in the area of functional and texturising ingredients that can be used to improve manufactured foods and meet market trends.
 
While working at Healy Group Dr Sheldrake’s focus has been on improving food innovation through the provision and application of functional ingredients. This is achieved through the sourcing of ingredients which attune to consumer demand, and subsequent demonstration of their benefits in application.
 
The story of PrimaFi Cocoa is an example of how this is coming into fruition; from a product stream into functional end use in a trend-driven application.
 

Ido Eliashar heads business development and industry relations for PoLoPo, a molecular farming pioneer producing proteins directly in common crops, beginning with egg protein (ovalbumin) grown in potatoes. His expertise in B2B sales and product development for leading global companies and NGOs in the food technology industry includes professional positions and advisory roles for global food-tech hub Food Hack, certification agency Vegan-Friendly, and Remilk, a developer of dairy protein alternatives from precision fermentation. A frequent contributor to Forbes on sustainability and food innovation, he holds a Bachelor’s in business administration, finance and risk Management from Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel.

Dr Tom Simmons is Founder and CEO of The Supplant Company, a start-up using otherwise wasted agricultural side-streams to make value-add ingredients that can make health and sustainability a reality across mainstream food categories. Their first ingredient enabling sugar reduction across mainstream food categories is at-market now. He was formerly a Borysiewycz Biomedical Fellow, a Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellow, and a World Economic Forum Global Future Councils Fellow at the Biochemistry Department in Cambridge, from where he started the company.

Ing. Valentína Kafková is currently working as a Research and Development Specialist at the Centre for Research and Development - company which is a part of Envien Group. She is experienced professional in biorefinery by-products assessment, valorisation and higher valued compounds production. She leads and cooperates on the research and development projects of Envien Group with focus on company’s product portfolio diversification and circular economy. As a part of R&D team, she participates in the operation and optimisation of a pilot plant for rapeseed protein production in Slovakia. Valentína has a Master degree in Biotechnology from Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia and she is qualified for PRINCE2® project management. She is also active in cooperation with Slovak universities and research institutes through national research projects. Currently, she is a part of the research team on two projects funded by the largest national research agency.

Envien Group:
Envien Group represents a robust group of 16 companies dedicated to biofuels and their value chains, spanning seven countries in Central Eastern Europe. Since 2023, the group has expanded also to India. It holds a leading position in the biofuel industry within the CEE region.

Stephan is senior research manager and head of bioprocess development at BASF. His responsibilities are developing and scaling-up fermentation and bio-catalytic processes to full-production scale.

He has a Ph.D in fermentation, media optimization and modelling, with 29 years of experience in BASF.

My research is focused on understanding the factors governing the structural and biochemical breakdown of starch-rich plant tissues during digestion. Recent human studies indicate that many edible plant tissues remain structurally intact during gastro-intestinal transit and thereby limit the bioaccessibility (‘release’) of nutrients from food.

The location, rate, and extent of nutrient release during digestive transit is a major determinant of the nutritional value of food, influencing metabolic responses (glycaemia and lipaemia), gut-hormone signaling (e.g., involved in appetite regulation) and caloric uptake.

Most of my research involves systematic studies of the breakdown of complex food materials (particularly pulses, cereals and resistant starch) in different regions of the gastro-intestinal tract. These studies are mainly performed in vitro, using various digestion models which simulate the physiological conditions in different regions of the human gastro-intestinal tract.

I have more than 10 years of laboratory and research experience, having participated in relevant scientific projects, also in supervision roles. I had the opportunity to participate in the development of an innovative bio solution, from bench to shelf. Skilled microbiologist with strong background in applied industrial microbiology, with experience in molecular biology and biochemistry. Supervisor of B.S. and M.Sc. projects about yeast physiology in industrial backgrounds.

Menno Prins received a PhD in physics and worked for nearly 20 years in Philips Research. Since 2014 he is full professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, in the Depts. of Biomedical Engineering and Applied Physics, where he chairs the Molecular Biosensing group
He investigates particle-based single-molecule technologies for the detection and continuous monitoring of biomolecules. To stimulate education and innovation in the field of biosensing, he founded and organizes SensUs, the annual international student competition on biosensors for health with student teams participating from universities in Europe, North-America, Asia, and Africa. He co-founded Helia Biomonitoring, a spin-off company for translational development of continuous biosensing technologies.

Mr. Henk Jaap Meijer is director and owner of Meijer Consult. He graduated in 1988 from State University Groningen in the Netherlands with a degree in Polymer Chemistry. During his career he has received several marketing programs.

Mr. Meijer has worked at AVEBE, the global market leader in potato starches, during 13 years on development of modified starches and potato based side stream products for food and technical applications. At BASF Plant Science he was involved in the development of applications for AMFLORA® amylopectin and high-amylose starches from genetically modified potatoes. From 2007 till 2014 Mr. Meijer worked as Director Marketing & Innovation at Emsland Group where he was responsible for amongst others product development and market introduction of the Empure® range clean label starches and dehydrated potatoes.

Meijer Consult develops innovations for the cassava, potato and starch modification and - processing industry. Clients are located in Europe, South East Asia, South America and Africa. With focus on starch modifications, food-fibre and protein production they support clients with their product development, application research and market introductions.

Mr. Meijer founded the LinkedIn CASSAVA group with more than 1.300 members worldwide. Daily cassava news and background information are a resource for the global cassava industry.

Christian Poppe leads Global Public Affairs & Sustainability at Europe’s leading alternative dairy biotechnology company, Formo. He also serves as Formo’s General Manager APAC. Besides, Christian is Co-founder and spokesperson of Brussels-based industry association Food Fermentation Europe. In his capacity, he works with governments around the world to develop future-proof regulatory frameworks for transformative food solutions. Previously, Christian led public policy and government affairs at leading last mile delivery and e-mobility companies creating innovation-friendly legislation for disruptive technologies.

 Cesar Granda obtained his B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University.  He has over 25 years of experience in biotechnology and organic feedstocks utilization with focus on the conversion of a variety of cellulosic and starchy feedstocks into carboxylic acids, which have many uses in industry. He has authored and co-authored dozens of technical papers and is the inventor of dozens of patents and patent applications.