Programme 2021

Paul joined PepsiCo on in September 2017. Prior to that he acted as Director General of spiritsEUROPE for 5 years, Director of the European Retail Round Table (ERRT) for 4 years, and as Deputy Secretary General of Eurochambres for 10 years. Before joining Eurochambres, Paul worked as CEO of the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, having spent several years before that in the Irish Industrial Development Authority – responsible for attracting and developing industry in Ireland. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Dublin, and an MBA from UBI/Mercer University.

As Rabobank’s Global Strategist for Food Packaging & Logistics, Susan Hansen is responsible for developing the bank’s global research portfolio and sector expertise in the food packaging and food logistics sectors. Topics related to ‘sustainable packaging’ has been a large part her nine-person team’s recent sector research, including the publication on global commercial trends in advanced plastic recycling. Since May 2021, Susan has also been charged with setting up a new analyst team to focus on topics and sectors related to the energy transition. Both teams are part of Rabobank’s global RaboResearch division that form an integral part of Rabobank’s Banking for Food and Banking for the Energy Transition strategies.

The expertise developed in the RaboResearch division is a key tool in the strategic dialogues between Rabobank and our clients; to help identify risks and opportunities in the specific sectors, and to promote Rabobank as a thought leader in these fields.

Alexis Van Maercke is Secretary General of APEAL, The Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging.

Before joining APEAL in 2016, he was policy officer at the European Commission, Directorate General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.

Prior to this he spent five years in the European Parliament as political advisor to Marianne Thyssen, former Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, in charge of legislative files related to food safety, environment and consumer protection.  

He holds a Master's degree in Law from the University of Leuven in Belgium as well as a Master's in European Interdisciplinary Studies from the College of Europe in Warsaw, Poland.

Krzysztof Krajewski is currently Director Packaging Sustainability – Hygiene in Reckitt based in Amsterdam - Schiphol. The aim for this role is focusing on two functional areas: Regional-Global Sustainability – where a key to success is rapid implementation of multiple projects that fit local, individual countries recycling rules and sourcing complexity with launches at scale with meaningful volumes that have a tangible impact on delivery towards Reckitt 2025 sustainability pledge. The other functional area is Sustainable Packaging Innovation and Polymer Science (both embedded within R&D functions)  which are facing towards future of recycling methodologies, next generation renewable and bio degradable replacement materials. Krzysztof started his career 20 years ago in plastics processing industry (converter in blow-moulding, injection moulding) and one of the first recycling plants in Poland. After moving to FMCG sector and joining Reckitt 15 years, ago Krzysztof embarked on his professional trip across several geographies as Regional Packaging Manager in Singapore, Cluster Packaging Manager in Venice area and lastly as Head of Packaging Innovation (Home) and most recently as Director of Packaging Sustainability in The Netherlands – HQ of Reckitt’s Hygiene business unit.

Jo Chidley is a chemist and the Founder of Beauty Kitchen UK Ltd, a company on a mission to create the most sustainable beauty products in the world. Widely regarded as one of the pioneers of sustainable beauty, Jo is driving the beauty industry forward with better practise approaches, always. She is Beauty Kitchen’s toughest critic, inspecting everything from the efficacy of the products, to the way the ingredients are sourced, right down to the packaging sustainability for each product. Sustainability in packaging is a subject that is close to her heart and inspired Beauty Kitchen’s RETURN • REFILL • REPEAT programme. Jo has won industry awards, including the ‘Who’s Who in Natural Beauty’ and business awards such as ‘Scale Up Entrepreneur of the Year’. She features in national and international press and is regularly invited to speak at global sustainability events, to share her ideas and knowledge on how all of us can develop new ways to build a more sustainable future.

Mr. Ashwani Kumar is currently Chief Technologist for Design & Packaging for India’s leading consumer goods company ITC Limited. He has over 29 years of in-depth experience in the area of Design, Packaging, Materials and related Machinery. His key competency is in putting together Design Strategy and ensuring an end to end solution working with a large cross functional team. He has been the chairman of the AsiaPack Summit for last three consecutive years. A key expert and with a flair for speaking, he has been a speaker at various international forums in the area of Packaging and Graphics Design. For the past several years, he has been the keynote speaker at the prestigious EuroPack Summit at Cannes and Monaco. He has also been a speaker at the International Holographic Conference, World Packaging Summit etc. His Contribution has also been in terms of a several write ups for ‘The Economic Times’ wherein he has enunciated theories and perspectives related to Design, the ‘T’ principle being one of them. He has been a member of the prestigious ‘India Design Council’ and has been contributing in his various capacities for Design propagation. An avid traveller and a keen photographer, Mr Kumar is one of the first in the country to start Nordic walking and has been propagating the benefits in his own way. Mr. Kumar’s mantra “Nothing is impossible”.

Luis Carlos Chacón leads the BusinessCase team, a Boutique-Global-Firm that works with multinational FMCG's identifying emerging and future business opportunities. Also, has been a columnist for Forbes Latin America for several years, and currently pursuing a postgraduate degree in Global Business at the University of Oxford (where previously graduated in Strategy and Innovation), his educational background also includes studies at Stanford, The University of Manchester, and Houston University. In business, he has worked for more than eighteen years for the global and regional operations of FMCG’s such as The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive, Diageo, Kellogg’s, Unilever, AB InBev among many others. Global traveller, eternal student, avant-garde thinker, business consultant, writer, and researcher, related to topics such as economics, storytelling, investment, retail, futures, semiotics, creativity, business competitive, globalization strategy, design thinking and behavioural sciences.

Married with 3 little boys. In my personal time I enjoy fitness activities, sports, and anything outdoors (hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, etc.). Graduate from Clemson University with a degree in Chemical Engineering and minor in Environmental Engineering. Worked with Albemarle Corporation and Milliken and Company. Spent 3.5 years in manufacturing as a process technology and operations engineer with Albemarle and Milliken & Company, 5 years in sales in Plastic Additives for Milliken & Company, and recently joined the business development team in Plastic Additives as of the end of 2020.

She graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Graphic Design Department in 2012, where she entered Dogus University with a 100% scholarship. She also did a double major in Visual Communication Design. She studied at the Académie des Beaux-Art de Tournai in Belgium for 6 months with the Erasmus program in her third year. She started to work in a packaging design agency after her graduation. Afterwards, she worked as a Graphic Design Specialist at Philip Morris for 4 years. Joining the Arçelik family in 2018, she is working as a Senior Graphic and Product Communication Specialist and is responsible for packaging design and on-product graphics. She completed her master's degree with thesis in Yeditepe University Graphic Design department in 2020.

He started his career in Infotron A.Ş. as a part time Product Designer in 2007, while he was a senior student at Istanbul Technical University Industrial Product Design Department. After graduating in 2008, He joined the Arçelik Industrial Design Team as an Industrial Designer. He had the opportunity to experience many white goods and small home appliance design processes produced for global and local markets. While continuing his design studies under Arçelik, he was promoted in 2019 and became the head of the Graphic design & Product Communication Team. He is managing all Graphic Design & Product Communication activities for group brands (Arçelik, Beko, Grundig, Blomberg, Elektrabregenz, Arctic, Defy, Dawlence, Flavel, Leisure, Singer and Altus) and leading design team for the study of product serigraphies, graphic user interfaces (GUI), packagings and user manuals.

Mark, CEO of Nature Force Technologies AG and Global Sales Director of ViCAP Systems Global AG, with  experience in Israel and internationally, is part of management board of joint venture of 2 companies:

• Nature Force Technologies AG - R&D of functional ingredients for beverage industry 
• ViCAP Global AG - dispenser cap producer

Mark, CEO of Nature Force Technologies AG and Global Sales Director of ViCAP Systems Global AG, with  experience in Israel and internationally, is part of management board of joint venture of 2 companies:

• Nature Force Technologies AG - R&D of functional ingredients for beverage industry 
• ViCAP Global AG - dispenser cap producer

Jo Chidley is a chemist and the Founder of Beauty Kitchen UK Ltd, a company on a mission to create the most sustainable beauty products in the world. Widely regarded as one of the pioneers of sustainable beauty, Jo is driving the beauty industry forward with better practise approaches, always. She is Beauty Kitchen’s toughest critic, inspecting everything from the efficacy of the products, to the way the ingredients are sourced, right down to the packaging sustainability for each product. Sustainability in packaging is a subject that is close to her heart and inspired Beauty Kitchen’s RETURN • REFILL • REPEAT programme. Jo has won industry awards, including the ‘Who’s Who in Natural Beauty’ and business awards such as ‘Scale Up Entrepreneur of the Year’. She features in national and international press and is regularly invited to speak at global sustainability events, to share her ideas and knowledge on how all of us can develop new ways to build a more sustainable future.

Vincent RASPAIL is material scientist that spent about 20years in the plastic industry at all level of product development  from ideation to production and end of life. He helped company such as Arkema, BASF, and Dupont to innovate and develop new plastic and new applications especially looking at product packaging interaction. Currently, Vincent is leading the Packaging Technology Roadmap for sustainability at GSK Consumer Health Pain Relief, looking to improve environmental footprint of primary packaging such as blister, tubes and bottles looking, while challenging the industry. He is a strong believer in cross-industry innovation and is always keen to learn more about others R&D best practices.

Francesca Stevens is the Managing Director of EUROPEN, the European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment, comprised of companies representing the packaging supply chain and national packaging associations.

An experienced public affairs professional, prior to joining EUROPEN, Ms Stevens led Government Affairs and Business Development in the European region for global aluminium leaders Arconic and Alcoa, and held public affairs roles at Hyundai Motor Company, the Confederation of Italian Industry and Alcan. Ms Stevens holds a degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Turin in Italy and a Master of Art’s Degree in European Studies from the College of Europe in Warsaw, Poland.

Eliisa Laurikainen holds a Master of Science (Tech) from Helsinki University of Technology specializing in Forest Products Technology. She is a professional in pressure sensitive label technology with almost 15 years’ working experience on label stock business. Her vast label stock value chain and converting understanding enables evaluation of new materials and possibilities for product decoration. Eliisa is enthusiastic to understand the circularity of packages and create opportunities with motivation to learn new every day. In UPM Raflatac Eliisa is responsible of the consumer goods business development, focusing on personal and home care packaging.

Piotr Durys is a sourcing professional with over 10 years supply chain experience. Trained as a financial controller, he also holds CIPS Diploma and leads a team responsible for procuring cosmetics packaging in Central & Eastern Europe for Avon International, part of Natura & CO. Apart from driving cost & process efficiencies while maintaining agility, his focus is also on implementing value engineering & sustainable solutions into category strategies that enable profitable growth and deliver value added to the end customer. Self-starter with strong communication skills and experience of working in multinational environment & matrix structures

Niels Prinsen is a senior structural packing designer with over 20-years’ experience in packaging development at Philips. Currently working for different categories like Beauty, Sleep & Respiratory, One blade 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.

Recently announced as winner of the Rising Star award at the UK Packaging Awards 2020 and one of the winners of the Packaging Innovations 30 under 30 award, Amelia is Commercial Director at Garçon Wines. Starting as business development executive less than three years ago, Amelia’s been at the forefront of the commercialisation of one of the most impactful wine packaging innovations of the past two centuries. Garçon Wines is the multi award-winning British start-up that exists to make the wine industry more sustainable in a 21st century world, through innovating in wine packaging, starting with bottles which are the single largest contributor to wine’s carbon footprint. To this aim, they are the inventors of planet-friendly bottles that are uniquely flat to save space and made entirely from recycled PET, pre-existing not single-use plastic, to save weight and energy.

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.

Packaging Specialist of Ambev, based in Brazil, at South America Zone Innovation and Technology Center, belongs to the Global Packaging Community team at ABInBev. In past 10 years is dedicated to Packaging Development, leading projects in value engineering, quality, and performance improvement.

Since 2008 at Ambev, served as Quality & Environmental Manager at labels printer facility, and later led projects for Quality & Value Engineering at Vertical Operations (Paper and OPP Labels, Crowns, Shrink Film & Glass Bottles).

In 2014 joined the Zone R&D to led projects in Secondary Packaging (focus in polymer and paper packages) and technical projects leader for Central America & Caribbean Region of Ambev (main focus in polymer primary and secondary). Besides this role, was Packaging development leader for BBlend, Join Venture of Ambev & Whirlpool that produces complete solution for beverage in PS capsules.

Since 2020 is leading Disruptive and Sustainability scouting process and projects, to support targets of the company to deliver circular and innovative packaging, to the costumers and ecosystem.

With single-use plastics and post-consumer waste on the collective radars of customers, governments and NGOs, Daniel Locke is leading Kimberly-Clark’s strategy around some of the consumer goods industry’s most pressing environmental concerns.

In his role as global sustainability product and packaging leader, Locke architects programs to address the company’s ability to make materials more renewable, recyclable, compostable or reusable. His task is to enable a circular economy approach to Kimberly-Clark’s product and packaging across the company’s five business units and global supply chain functions.

Locke is a passionate proponent of Kimberly-Clark’s Zero Waste Mindset, believing that manufacturers must go beyond their traditional waste footprint to include product and packaging materials after use and to identify secondary, beneficial uses for our materials to divert them to a higher value.

Locke’s prior experiences include strategy development at Kimberly-Clark, engineering at Fluor Corporation, and in material research and design as a Packaging Engineer at Kimberly-Clark Professional, Smith & Nephew, and Coveris (formerly Exopack).

He is a proud Clemson graduate and serves on the Board of Directors for Chattahoochee Riverkeeper in Atlanta, a not-for-profit working to ensure clean water for now and future generations.

Sander Defruyt leads the New Plastics Economy initiative at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation which aims to bring together key stakeholders across the globe to rethink and redesign the future of plastics. With a background in mechanical engineering, prior to working at the Foundation, Sander worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. During this time, he was part of the core team publishing the report: ‘Growth Within: a circular economy vision for a competitive Europe.

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 – the first non alcoholic spirit truly resembling a fine spirit. Gnista’s first flavour, Floral Wormwood, was launched Autumn 2019.