Abigail brings her background in strategic marketing, communications and project management with global creative agencies, international consumer brands and global small business to the ever-varied world of colour management and marketing. Responsible for brand and trade marketing management across Europe, Middle East and Africa as well as advising and collaborating with leading designers and brand owners to collectively support them in making the most informed decisions about colour for their brand or product strategy.

Graduated in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biochemistry from the University of São Paulo, post-graduated in Business Administration from Getulio Vargas São Paulo, have worked in different companies in the last 20 years such as Symrise, Philip Morris, Mondelez, mainly in Marketing, Sales, Trade Marketing and Innovation and in different countries like Brazil, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Colombia and Panama. At the moment is based in Modena, Italy and is responsible for customer development, strategic planning, design thinking, innovation, digital transformation and branding, supporting customers to grow their businesses.

Alex-James is currently a Global R&D Director for packaging innovation at Danone, responsible for filling the pipeline with breakthrough packaging solutions and contributing to transform innovation & design capability. Prior to his 5years at Danone, Alex-James was working for Procter&Gamble for 12years in a variety of roles in R&D, Sustainabiity, Quality and Engineering functions. He is passionate about pushing the boundaries of creative & technical design, using the sweet spot to develop new packaging ideas that add significant value to the consumer experience whilst contributing to the circular economy. He loves building teams, creating external partnerships & new capabilities versus a strategic vision and challenging the status quo. Bilingual English-French, he currently lives and works in Paris. Alex-James holds a Masters Degree in Engineering from Durham University.

Benjamin brings over 13 years of experience in the packaging world, and 10 years creating and delivering packaging based market insight. During this time, Benjamin has worked with global clients big and small, and has been a regular speaker at international conferences. Benjamin has been with Mintel since 2012. In his current role as Global Packaging Insights Director, he is responsible for creating and delivering Mintel’s packaging content. Benjamin also leads the delivery of bespoke packaging insights, focusing on the specific packaging needs of Mintel’s clients. Prior to Mintel, he worked at Euromonitor International, initially as a researcher and client manager, which enabled him to forge strong links to the industry and grow his understanding of market research and insight needs. Subsequently, he was promoted to Head of Global Packaging Research, a role in which he led a significant revision in data collection, analysis and presentation that delivered a step change increase in data quality. Before joining the world of market research, Benjamin was Science Manager for Faraday Packaging Partnership. Working as a technology translator in this government funded initiative, he forged links between the packaging industry and academic excellence in fields as diverse as material science, decision making, engineering, psychology and design. Benjamin holds a Ph. D. in Polymer Physics from The University of Leeds where he investigated the pressure dependence of segmental polymer dynamics.

Senior brand strategist who has headed up design revitalisation projects for iconic Nordic brands such as Daim and Skogaholm. Likes to challenge “known truths” with a curious outlook on life and always with the business result in focus – why not increase sales impact and decrease environmental impact? Currently Head of Brand & Portfolio at Fazer Bakery Sweden, previous experience from Mondelez, Barilla, Diageo and Arla Foods.

Chris is a Reader in Innovation Management and New Product Development at the University of Portsmouth. His specialist area of expertise is in the areas of food innovation, and new packaging development. Chris has published articles in a number of top innovation journals in this subject field.

Leads a team of talented packaging designers that create graphical and structural solutions to maximize the packaging value initiatives for international brands. Has over 15 years of international experience, designing product, packaging, interior as well as branding and marketing. Believes in the responsibility of sustainable packaging design, while providing insight-driven benefits to the end-user. His awareness of ecological implications together with his enthusiasm for imagining new lifestyles and the determination to change the packaging world have led him to rethink how disposable packaging should be manufactured, consumed and recycled.

Graham holds a joint appointment between the Institute of Agri-Food Research and Innovation of Newcastle University and Fera Science Ltd. His interests are food security, safety, quality and supply chain integrity. He is currently developing research, teaching and commercial services in the areas of food innovation and packaging technology.

Hans van Bochove (1963) is Vice-President Public Affairs Europe at Coca-Cola European Partners. Amongst his responsibilities is the company’s packaging and recycling policy. He joined the Coca-Cola system in 1998 serving as Director Public Affairs and Communications in The Netherlands for nine years. In this capacity he was responsible for the company’s transition from refillable to non-refillable / recyclable PET bottles. He also developed a sustainable policy and published the first public societal report within the Coca-Cola system. From 2007 to 2011 Hans was Director Public Affairs, Communications and CSR at Starbucks Coffee Company for the Europe, Middle-East and Africa region. He then returned to Coca-Cola in his current role and since March 2017 also serves as Chairman of the European Organization for Packaging and Environment (EUROPEN). Hans holds a master degree in Business Administration from the Erasmus University Rotterdam / Rotterdam School of Management.

After studying industrial maintenance and digital prototyping for 3 years, Julien then went onto further education specialising in packaging materials at ISIP an engineering school in France. After successfully achieving the engineering diploma he undertook the role of Packaging Manager for a Cognac house. Julien is passionate about ecology and sustainability, this naturally led him to his current role as Creative Buyer at Lush Cosmetics in the United Kingdom. Now day to day Julien is developing new packaging and processes using sustainable methods and materials. His long-term goals are to reduce the environmental impact of packaging without affecting the essentials of product packaging such as protection and customer experience.

With a general background in Graphic arts, I have held different sales and marketing management positions, developing a high interest and experience in solutions and workflows for Brand Owners and Retailers. Solving complex business and process challenges, to deliver optimal efficiency, by using best practices processes with cutting edge technology.

Kati Randell, Strategic Packaging Development Manager Kati Randell (M.Sc., Food Science) has worked almost 25 years in the field of packaging research and development. She studied various packaging technologies and quality of packaging materials at the Technical Research Centre of Finland for four years. Randell worked both at Valio (biggest dairy company of Finland) and at Fazer (biggest confectionery company of Finland) for ten years as Packaging Development Manager. At Paulig Coffee Division, she leads the strategic packaging development. Randell takes part to many national collaboration organisations of packaging area like the board of the Finnish Packaging Association.

Design and Packaging Engineering Director for the Latin-America division at Colgate-Palmolive Industrial Designer degree from Universidad Anahuac Master degree in Marketing from Universidad Anahuac Master degree in Innovation from Universidad Autónoma de Queretaro Luis has been working in global Companies as Kimberly Clark, Alberto Culver and Colgate Palmolive for the last 24 years, passionate about Innovation, Design, Production and sustainability to elevate Design and Packaging Engineering as a strategic value add for the company incorporating technical and Design expertise always focused in production efficiency.

Promoting passionate, meaningful and respectful brand management When the market is changing more rapidly than you can blink, and the world seems more and more complicated, it’s hard not to feel a slight fear of being overwhelmed. My passion is bringing the attention back to essential meaning and creating strong connections between a brand and its audience – by appealing to emotions. My educational background includes a Specialized Master in Marketing and Communication from ESCP-EAP (European School of Management) in Paris, and a 4 year degree in Media Science and Communication from the University of Bergen, Norway. I worked in several design agencies in Paris before returning to my hometown Kristiansand to work for one of the largest ice cream manufacturers and brands in Norway; Hennig-Olsen. Here I have had the fortunate opportunity to participate in numerous changes and developments through the last 10 years, including projects within corporate strategy, product development, design, packaging, branding and communication.

Michael Nieuwesteeg MSc MEng (1959) is managing director of NVC Netherlands Packaging Centre. Michael is a trainer for the NVC Training and Education department on sustainable innovation in packaging and accessible design. Before joining the NVC (1997) Michael was business unit manager within a major medical corporation with worldwide responsibility for the development, manufacturing and sales of intracorporeal medical microsensors in cardiology, urology and neurology. He worked as a member of scientific staff in semiconductor research at a large consumer-electronics and healthcare multinational before that. After graduating in Chemistry (Utrecht University, with honours) and Chemical Engineering (Twente University) he was editor-in-chief of a monthly popular-scientific magazine in The Netherlands for two years (1984-85). Michael Nieuwesteeg is board member of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO), secretary of the European Packaging Institutes Consortium (EPIC) and chairman of the Netherlands Packaging Standardisation Committee. As member of the Convenors Action Group (CAG) within ISO he was closely involved in the development of the new world standards on packaging and environment.

Morten Sivertsvik is currently research director in Nofima department of Processing Technology. He has a PhD in food science (NMBU, Ås, Norway), MSc in chemical engineering (NTNU, Trondheim, Norway) and packaging economist (DNE, Oslo, Norway). Morten has been working in Nofima for 26 years as a scientist or research leader and has been involved in numerus seafood processing, preservation and packaging related innovation and research projects. Morten has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed papers, several book chapters and has participated in among other in the following ongoing or recent international projects; n-Chitopack, ForBioPlast, SafeFishDish, ActiBioSafe.

Nicolas BOUCHE, Packaging Director, DECATHLON Nicolas BOUCHE is Packaging Director for DECATHLON, the sporting goods producer and retailer. He leads the packaging process with a strong “dare for less & better” philosophy. Packaging should be optimized to decease prices and costs and it’s value for employees and customers should be increased. The packaging business unit supports 58 Passion Brands in their international development in 55 countries, providing them optimized and sustainable packaging solutions. Nicolas BOUCHE He also has a strong experience in the product development, design management, innovation management and research and development. In his previous experience in DECATHLON Research & Development team, he created the Affective Sciences Department. Physical activity should first and foremost be a pleasure. This R&D laboratory is dedicated to ease of use, sensation and emotion. It is aimed at better understanding, measuring and evaluating the sensations and emotions perceived by consumers and users to design pleasurable new sport experience. Nicolas BOUCHE has a Master’s degree in Engineering with a specialization in product design.

Niels Prinsen is a senior structural packing designer with over 18 year experience in packaging development at Philips. Currently working for different categories like Beauty, Personal Health Solutions, Pain, Sleep, Floor care and Coffee. He is an expert in end-2-end structural packaging design & development from technical design, production and mark introduction at retail and online.

Philippe Diercxsens is a Belgian citizen and holds a PhD degree in eco-toxicology of the Polytechnic School of Lausanne, Switzerland. He works since January 1999 as Packaging and Environment Manager at DANONE Beverages Division. He is chair of the Sustainability & Regulatory Affairs work group of EUROPEN, the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment as well as chair of the Sustainable Food Systems work group of FoodDrinkEurope (FDE).

Founder of Johnson & Johnson Packaging University, Prabhat Mishra is a passionate techno-commercial professional in the Plastics, Packaging, New Product Development & Sustainability arena. Prabhat is a Fellow of IOM3, Chartered Scientist, Master of Chemical Engineering, & Management. He is working in the Global R&D & Innovation function of Mondelez International, UK, rated amongst top ten of the world’s most innovative companies. He leads the Packaging Sustainability function globally and nurtures the evolution of the next generation core technology. He participates in the iconic industry events including various from Society of Plastics Engineers, India, TAPPI PLACE, USA (Chair & Session Builder), Sustainable PET’s, Brussels, & many others. Prabhat specializes in the unusual & the niche areas of his field. He derives speciality performance from a combination of commodity materials, transformational designs & harnessing the power of the contemporary processing & other upcoming surrogate technologies. He is known for meeting the formidable challenge of optimally balancing cost, value, & speed (the Holy Grail) to deliver truly sustainable NPD & outstanding consumer value propositions.

Quentin Westrelin has been working in contact to brands within the packaging industry for several years before joining Iggesund 2 years ago. Sharing information with brands about all the different parameters that are driving the selection of the right paperboard is now his scope of responsibility.

Rajesh Mishra is currently working as Head–Packaging Development, I&D, Abbott Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. based out of Mumbai. He has over 20 years of industrial experience and had worked in various Pharmaceutical companies across India. He has done Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Chemistry and Post Graduate Diploma in Packaging Technology from Indian Institute of Packaging, Mumbai. His area of expertise are ‘Pharma Packaging Innovations’, ‘Pharma Packaging Development’, ‘Packaging Optimisation’ and ‘Packaging Material Studies & Controls’. His current responsibilities include Packaging Material/Design Innovations & Packaging Development of new products for Abbott India and Global market. In his current role for the last 9 years in Abbott, he has more than 12 Patents both in India & International on various Pharmaceutical Packaging Innovations platforms.

Mr Robert van Otterdijk (57) is a food technologist, graduated in 1985 from the Wageningen Agricultural University in The Netherlands. He worked first in the dutch food industry in quality assurance and r&d, after which he joined the Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN in 1989, on projects on post-harvest technology and food technology in Ghana (West Africa) and Tonga (South Pacific). In 1995 he joined a SIDA (Sweden) funded field project in Zambia on production, processing and commercialisation of root & tuber crops. When this project was concluded, he returned to the private sector – spices industry, procurement, processing and export of paprika – as a quality assurance manager in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. In 2002 he joined the FAO again, this time as the agro-industry officer of the Regional Office for Africa, based in Accra – Ghana. In 2008 he moved to FAO Headquarters in Rome – Italy, and since this year he is based in FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia in Budapest – Hungary. His main responsibilities are agro-industrial development and the ‘Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction’- Save Food. Mr Van Otterdijk speaks Dutch, English, French, German and a little Italian.

Staffan Sjöberg has been working on sustainability issues for Iggesund for the last 20 years. He has a background in journalism and corporate communication. He is driven by the ambition to make complicated issues clear and understandable - if it is possible.

After an early career as a sales engineer in Germany, he joined ArcelorMittal in 1998 holding positions as market development engineer, key-account manager and regional head of automotive sales before assuming his current position in October 2013. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Marketing from the Esidec-ICN business school in Metz, France.

Calm, focused and committed, with an innovative mind evaluating new possible packaging solutions. Working with Packaging optimization and development for the Nordic region for fresh dairy within the Arla group, Torkel has great knowledge of package conversion, materials, packing- and filling machines, and runs a tight partnership with sites and marketing departments as well as with suppliers, for a constant development and cost optimization.

Yvonne DeVerry is the Director of Packaging Design & Innovation for Altria Client Services, where she leads packaging development for the Altria Group’s operating companies. Her team is responsible for material and graphic solutions for primary and tertiary packaging for iconic brands including Marlboro, Parliament, Copenhagen, Skoal, and Black& Mild for the US market. Yvonne has over 25 years’ experience in printing management, design management, and people development, having held various positions in packaging and prepress companies prior to joining the Altria Group of Companies in 2002. She holds a BS degree in printing management from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MBA from Strayer University.