Todd Hale has over 28 years of experience in the area of consumer panel analysis. He currently holds the title of Senior Vice President, Consumer & Shopper Insights. Todd has been with Nielsen for over 22 years and has held various marketing and sales management positions. He has been heavily involved in the development of innovative consumer panel applications for both manufacturers and retailers. He prepares topical presentations using consumer shopping/buying behavior and attitudes to provide strategic insight to facilitate brand, category, and retail sales growth. Presentation topics have included Channel Blurring & Consumer Trends, Profile of a Private Label Consumer, Leaky Bucket Syndrome, The Wal-Mart Customer, The Warehouse Club Consumer, The Fresh Food Consumer, The Dollar Store Consumer, Winning Strategies for Your Most Important Shoppers (a study produced in conjunction with the FMI), Aging U.S. Consumer Opportunities, Fuel Price Impact on U.S. Consumers, and Consumers on the Edge - Affluent Consumer Opportunities.

Dr. Acheson was appointed in May 2007, by the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, to the Assistant Commissioner for Food Protection - to provide advice and counsel to the Commissioner on strategic and substantive food safety and food defense matters. In January 2008, Dr. von Eschenbach expanded Dr. Acheson's portfolio by naming him Associate Commissioner of Foods, which gives him an agency-wide leadership role for all food and feed issues, including health promotion and nutrition. Dr. Acheson has published extensively and is internationally recognized both for his public health expertise in food safety and his research in infectious diseases. Additionally, Dr. Acheson is a fellow of both the Royal College of Physicians (London) and the Infectious Disease Society of America.

Dr. Carol Pletcher comes to us as one of the world’s top 25 Innovation Champions, as chosen by Business Week Magazine in 2006. President and CEO of her own consulting organization, Carol enjoyed a dynamic, cutting edge career with Cargill, Inc., one of the world’s largest privately held companies, with business enterprises in every continent. In previous roles within Cargill, an $88 Billion Dollar company, Carol was responsible for developing 6 new product lines with special emphasis on new products, food safety, and quality assurance. In 2002, Carol became the Vice President and Cargill Innovation Officer with broad authority to consciously focus Innovation as a key corporate strategy for sustained growth. Through this effort, innovation teams were built in every part of the world, and new business products and procedures were developed across Cargill. Carol believes that innovation efforts must show up on the bottom line and is proud that, for the past fours years, Cargill’s earnings have increased dramatically.

Dr. Eva Kovacs works as Clinical Research Manager at Unilever North America in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. She leads the clinical research program for Slim Fast and gives nutritional and scientific support to Slim Fast and other Unilever brands in relation to weight management. In her prior role she worked as a Research Scientist in the area of energy metabolism and appetite regulation within the Unilever Foods and Health Research Institute, Unilever R&D in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands. She has published numerous papers and abstracts in international scientific journals and has given lectures at several scientific meetings both in the area of sport nutrition science and weight management.

Marty Ordman is Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Communications for the Dole Food Company. He has been with Dole since 1985. Marty directs all corporate marketing initiatives including brand development, advertising, promotion, sponsorships and events. He is also responsible for corporate communications for the company worldwide. Marty also oversees the corporation’s consumer services, test kitchens, and charitable donations. He works very closely with the Dole Nutrition Institute to develop programs that encourage retailers to educate their shoppers on the health benefits of fruits and vegetables. His tenure at Dole started in product management and he has held multiple positions in the marketing services areas of the company.

Todd Abraham is Senior Vice President of Global Research, Nutrition and Technology Strategy for Kraft Foods. He is responsible for Strategic Innovative Research Programs as well as Research support to Business Divisions. Todd also oversees the Research and Nutrition Groups at the Glenview, East Hanover, Tarrytown, Madison and Munich sites. Before moving to Nabisco as Sr. Vice President, Product Development, Nabisco Foods Company, Todd held previous leadership positions in Marketing and R&D at Pillsbury and Procter and Gamble with both North American and International experience.Todd completed his B.Sc in Chemistry at Brown University in Providence, RI. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania in 1981 and his M.B.A. from The Wharton School in May, 1981.

Joe Derochowski, Executive Director for The NPD Group – Food & Beverage Services, has been following behavioral trends for the past 9 years on a wide variety of food and beverage categories for nearly every major manufacturer from the unique perspective of what people do…rather than what they say they do. Mr. Derochowski is a frequent speaker at food conferences and is quoted in leading periodicals and daily newspapers regarding how people eat, their dieting behavior, and food safety concerns. Joe received his undergraduate degree from GMI Engineering & Management Institute and an MBA from Michigan State University. Prior to working for The NPD Group, he worked for General Motors Parts, AT&T, and Procter & Gamble. Joe is married with one child and makes his home in Chicago, Illinois.

George Burdock Ph.D., Diplomate, American Board of Toxicology (D.A.B.T.), Fellow, American College of Nutrition (F.A.C.N) is president of the toxicology consulting firm of Burdock Group, located in Orlando, Fla. Dr. Burdock is an internationally recognized authority on the safety of food ingredients, personal care products and dietary supplements. He has more than 25 years of experience dealing with regulatory issues related to product safety and risk assessment. He has over forty publications in scientific journals and has published three books, two editions of Fenaroli’s Handbook of Flavor Ingredients and the Encyclopedia of Food and Color Additives. He is co-author of the chapter “Food Toxicology” in the 7th edition (current edition) and the previous (5th and 6th) editions of Casarett and Doull’s textbook “Toxicology,” the standard textbook and reference book in the field of toxicology. Dr. Burdock is a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology, a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition and is a member of the American Chemical Society, the Society for Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, the Society of Toxicology, the American College of Toxicology and the Institute of Food Technologists (Professional Member status).

Rudi joined Valensa in 2005 and led the management team to implement a new corporate strategy focused on creating a science-based developer of botanically sourced products for human health and well-being. Dr. Moerck joined Valensa after 27 years of experience in the life sciences industries including being principal inventor of RenaZorb® a new kidney drug currently undergoing clinical trials for FDA approval. Prior to Valensa, Rudi worked for several public companies including positions as President of Altair Nanotechnologies (ALTI), President of the Pharmaceutical Division of Cambrex (CBM), VP and General Manager of Catalytica Pharmaceuticals and as Vice President of Peroxygens at Degussa AG and Degussa Corporation. He speaks German fluently and has extensive international experience having worked and lived in Chile, Switzerland and Germany. At Catalytica Pharmaceuticals, two years after the acquisition of a Glaxo Wellcome site in Greenville, NC for $125 million, Rudi led the team that sold the business for $780 million. Rudi started a pharmaceutical consulting business and advised Blackstone Group on active pharmaceutical ingredients acquisitions. Rudi received a BS degree in Biology from Florida Southern College and a Ph.D. from the University of Florida in Organic Chemistry. He was a NIH postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State and taught chemistry at Ohio State and Ohio Wesleyan Universities.

Paul Kershisnik, Senior Vice President of Strategy, Insights and Innovation, reports to Wendy’s CMO, Ian Rowden. Paul’s groups are responsible for market research, product performance tracking and analysis, new product development, research and development and developing the key marketing strategies to drive sales, customer counts and brand differentiation. Prior to joining Wendy’s in March 2007, Kershisnik held leadership positions with some of the world’s best-known consumer brands, including Pizza Hut/PepsiCo, General Mills and Sprint. He has extensive U.S. and international experience in all aspects of marketing from strategic planning, product development and packaging, to advertising and promotions. Most recently, he served as Vice President of New Product Innovations and R&D for Mrs. Fields Famous Brands in Salt Lake City. Kershisnik holds an M.B.A. from Brigham Young University, a B.S. from the University of Utah, speaks Cantonese and can get into more trouble than he can handle with Portuguese.

Dr. Rawson has recently joined WellGen, Inc. as its Chief Scientific Officer at a critical stage in its development, as the Company has just brought its first functional food ingredient product to market and is conducting human studies for its second, while seeking to significantly expand the number of ingredients in its pipeline. In addition, the Nutrigenomics company is completing the installation of a new, state-of-the-art molecular biology and natural products chemistry laboratory. Dr. Rawson has an extensive background in food, nutrition and basic biomedical research. Dr. Rawson spent over 15 years at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, PA, as an Assistant and then Associate Member, where she built an extensive research program encompassing the areas of chemosensory biology, neuroinflammation and nutrition. The Monell Center is an independent scientific institute dedicated to basic research on the senses of taste, smell and chemosensory irritation.

Chor has worldwide responsibility for nutrition and wellness at Campbell Soup Company. She is nvolved in Campbell's science, technology, product and marketing initiatives in addition to customer sale and strategic planning. She developed Campbell’s reduced sodium products and technology, repositioning of the V8 line as the ’Vegetable on the Go”, and the creation of Campbell's Intelligent Quisine products for consumers with health conditions. Chor serves on the American Heart Association Industry Nutritional Advisory panel, the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation Corporate Board, and the American Diabetes Association Corporate Steering Board. She chairs the International Life Science Institute Sodium Committee, and serves on the Grocery Manufacturer Association Nutrition Committee. She is also a member of the New York Academy of Science, the AHA Basic Research Council, and the American Society of Hypertension.

Ellen is the SVP & Chief Growth Officer for Hain Celestial, a group with more than 1,500 food products in approximately 50 countries specializing in organic and fairtrade products. Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN) in 1996. Hain Celestial is the largest global marketer of natural and organic products, and Ellen was promoted to Senior Vice President/Chief Growth Officer in 2003, having served in executive positions for the company leading marketing, sales, and strategic planning. Having completed both her B.B.A. and M.B.A. studies at Hofstra University, Ellen has been a contributor to many industry publications, and has lectured at the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) marketing conference, Natural Foods Expo, and NY/Women in Communications, among others. She has also appeared on the Television Food Network discussing trends in food, and has been instrumental in the launch of many consumer products. Companies she had previously worked with during her career in advertising include Nabisco Foods, MasterCard International, and Rexall/Sundown, among others, both in consumer and business-to-business marketing.

Julie Greene has a background in marketing consumer packaged goods including Samuel Adams beers, Gillette razors and Dove soap. Now, Hannaford Supermarkets' Director of Healthy Living, Julie is applying marketing principles to create nutrition solutions for grocery shoppers. In September of 2006, Julie's team launched Guiding Stars, the world's first storewide nutrition navigation system at Hannaford. Guiding Stars has had a positive impact on consumer behavior and has been supported the healthcare communities where Hannaford does business. Hannaford's Healthy Living Team also consists of 30 Registered Dietitians who teach free nutrition classes for Hannaford customers. Class topics range from Heart Health store tours to Celiac Disease Support Groups, to Feeding your Finicky Toddler. Julie is a member of the Board of Directors for the Maine Center for Public Health and was nominated for the Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership Class of 2009. Julie lives in Falmouth, Maine with her husband, Paul, 4-yr-old son Benjamin and 1-yr-old daughter Anna.

Arun Prabhu is a creative anarchist. In his current role at Europe’s second largest dairy processor, he is tasked with bringing new product innovations to launch and ensuring that they succeed in the marketplace. Arla Foods is the UK’s largest dairy company by volume. As the biggest player in the retailer brand milk and cream categories, Arla broke through the commoditised milk category with the launch of the UK’s first significant milk brand – Cravendale in the late 1990s. Today, Cravendale is a Top 100 Grocery brand and continues to lead the category. Last year, Arla launched the multi-award winning Lactofree, the UK’s first virtually lactose-free milk drink. Arun continues to assist Arla in pioneering dairy innovation with many new products in the pipeline and about to hit the market.

Carolyn Moore, PhD, RD is the Principal Scientist Liaison with the Texas Medical Center for The Beverage Institute For Health & Wellness, a division of The Coca-Cola Company. Since 1999, Dr. Moore has been helping to lead the juice and juice drink nutrition innovation for The Coca-Cola Company and The Minute Maid Company. Dr. Moore established the first Nutrition Advisory Board for The Minute Maid Company and was instrumental in forming the Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness for The Coca-Cola Company. She has overseen several clinical trials demonstrating new beverage product efficacy including a multi-nutrient beverage study in Botswana; a multi-nutrient beverage bioavailability study in Peru; a vitamin D bioavailability study in orange juice; two studies using plant sterols in orange juice to significantly reduce blood cholesterol and C-reactive protein levels; a study demonstrating reduction of abdominal fat when calcium plus vitamin D is delivered in juice; a trial demonstrating that vitamin D and vitamin E status of children can be improved with fortified orange juice beverages; and a study showing that vitamin D2 and D3 have equal bioavailability. Dr. Moore also helped lead the approval of the vitamin D food additive petition that now allows the vitamin D to be added to calcium fortified juices and juice drinks in the United States. She was also responsible for submitting a petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to include both vitamin D and calcium in the osteoporosis risk reduction health claim. In January 2007, the FDA utilized the petition as the foundation for FDA’s new proposed osteoporosis risk reduction claim. Dr. Moore is also leading a project to re-analyze the vitamin D content of the US food supply to be used to update the Standard Reference nutrient database in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture. In addition, Dr. Moore’s responsibilities continue to include supporting marketing and innovation efforts in the area of non-carbonated beverages on a global basis. She also serves as the Coca-Cola Company liaison with the American Heart Association.

Ron Wheelwright is the Senior Account Manager for North and South America for the Norwegian company, Denomega Nutritional Oils. He reports to Jan Haakonsen, VP of Sales and Marketing. He is responsible for sales activities for Denomega’s taste-and-odor-free omega-3 solutions to food and beverage manufacturers and coordinates the sales activities of select distributors. He serves as a key member of Denomega’s marketing team, tailoring sales and promotional material for the North American market. He has been instrumental in working with technology companies that produce microencapsulations and emulsions utilizing Denomega’s omega-3 in order to provide a broad range of solutions for food and beverage applications. Prior to joining Denomega, Ron held leadership sales and marketing positions with companies producing high-value specialty and chelated minerals, including Albion Advanced Nutrition and Monarch Nutritional Laboratories. His international experience includes thirteen years as the Manager of International Business Development for Albion Advanced Nutrition. Ron earned a B.A. from Weber State University and an M.B.A. from the University of Utah.

Ryan Baxter has served as Director of Culinary for Cargill’s Dressings, Sauces and Oils Division since 2004. He and his team work to develop custom formulated sauce products for leading National Restaurant Chain accounts. In 1987, Chef Baxter graduated with honors from The Culinary Institute of America. He returned to his alma mater as an Associate Professor in Culinary Arts working for the Continuing Education and degree programs from 1996 until 2004. While at the CIA, he trained the degree students in culinary fundamentals and worked with nationally recognized companies to develop custom training programs. In early 2000, he provided culinary training on site to Navy Mess Specialists at the White House in Washington, D.C. Chef Baxter’s other professional experience includes Executive Chef, Chubb and Son World Headquarters and Senior Chef, Ingersoll Rand, both for Sodexho Management.As Baxter is at the frontline everyday, his experience will lend itself perfectly to discuss how we can develop flavors for changing his tastes.

Stefan Thueringer is General Manager and Chief Marketing Officer at GAT Food Essentials GmbH (GAT). He joined GAT when it was first established in 2004 and has been in charge of developing the company from a small start-up with a technology concept to a recognized and internationally operating microencapsulation specialist in the functional food and beverage industry. Stefan has achieved strategic cooperations with leading ingredient providers, in particular relating to omega-3, as well as major R&D development projects with select multinational food and beverage companies. He has an MBA in Marketing and International Business from the University of Oregon and spends his time between Europe, Latin America, and the U.S.

Carrie Schroeder has 10 years of experience in the food industry in the area of product development, technical sales and most recently product line management. She is currently employed with Edlong Dairy Flavors in Elk Grove Village, IL. As the Global Brand Manager, she manages the Edlong flavor line and ensures the consistency of the Edlong product line and brand worldwide. Previously, Carrie served in various roles – Food Scientist, Technical Sales, and Research and Development Manager at Kerry Ingredients, a global ingredient supplier.

John is Executive in Residence of The College of Business Administration at Northeastern University and a Batten Fellow at the Darden School of the University of Virginia. John Helferich graduated from MIT in 1979 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. After stints with Procter&Gamble and Ocean Spray Cranberries, John joined the R&D Division of the US unit of Mars, Incorporated in 1986. After a series of assignments with increasing responsibility, John was appointed in 1995 to the position of Vice President of R&D for Masterfoods USA, the US division of Mars, Incorporated. Since 1995, Mars has made great strides in globalizing its technology development, improving its product development process, protecting its intellectual property, and developing a global technology strategy. These improvements have resulted in significantly improved product innovation and had led Mars to industry leading initiatives such as improving the sustainability of the global cocoa crop and demonstrating the exciting health benefits of cocoa and chocolate. John will leverage his experience and knowledge to chair the conference sessions and contribute valuable and thought provoking questions.

Albe Wendt is the Vice President, R&D North America, for The Dannon Company, Inc. Albe is responsible for product research and development activities within the United States and Canada. He is also a member of the Dannon Executive Committee. Albe joined Danone in April 2001 as the VP of R&D of Global Innovation for Lu Brand Worldwide, Danone’s largest biscuit brand. In 2004 he became Vice President of R&D PM for the Biscuits Western Europe Zone at Vitapole, Danone’s International Research Center. In February 2006 he was made Vice President, R&D North America where he is presently a healthy part of our research and development culture. Prior to joining Group-Danone, Albe was R&D Director for Best Foods France. His career started at Procter & Gamble after graduating from European High Institute of Chemistry with a degree in chemistry.

Dr Hendrickson is the Founder and President of AVEKA, Inc, a spin off founded in 1994 from 3M with 3 people and one site. Currently, the AVEKA Group comprises 3 manufacturing sites, 2 associated companies and over 160 people for food, industrial, chemical and pharmaceutical contract manufacturing of particulate materials. Prior to starting AVEKA, Willie worked at 3M as the Technical Manager for Particle Processing in 3M’s Corporate Research Facility. He is currently a member of the Industrial Advisory Boards of the Particle Science and Technology Center at the University of Florida and the Particle Science Group at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is a past Executive Board Member of the International Fine Particle Institute and was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Chemical Engineering. He has authored or coauthored over 20 technical papers or book chapters and is the current holder of 29 US patents.

After graduating as engineer agriculture and food technology, Els started working for Procter&Gamble, improving dishwasing products for markets as Russia and China. After that she joined Coca-Cola to work as a sensory scientist in translating customer preferences into new products. Right before starting at Mondi Foods, she worked for a couple of years at Wolters Kluwer, organizing the marketing research department and advising the marketing and sales team in their market approach. As a product manager at Mondi Foods, Els ensures that products meet the specific customer requirements certainly in cases where there is a necessity to go beyond regular market specifications.

Mark Carter is General Manager of the Silliker Inc. Food Science Center and is responsible for managing scientific operations, quality systems, and staff at the South Holland, IL, facility. Carter is a graduate of University of Georgia with a B.S. in Microbiology and he also holds an M.S.A. from Columbus State University. Mark is a registered clinical and public health microbiologist with the American Academy of Microbiologists. Prior to joining the Silliker organization, he served as a Section Manager for Microbiology and Food Safety for Kraft Foods North America where he was responsible for the Dairy, Meals, Meat, Food Service and Enhancer product sectors.

Dr. Marianne O’ Shea is the Director of North America for Lipid Nutrition B.V. Her responsibilities include the sales and profitability growth for the North American region which includes the Untied States and Canada. Prior to her current position, she was the Director of Nutrition for Lipid Nutrition B.V. Her responsibilities in this capacity included the management and coordination of clinical development for Lipid Nutrition products globally, and to support the sales and marketing teams within the US. Marianne has been with Lipid Nutrition B.V. since August of 2000. She has a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and a PhD which focused on the mechanisms of action of bioactive lipids. Marianne has conducted research in the area of conjugated linoleic acid since 1996 and has given many presentations on this work internationally, she also holds publications and patents in this area. The main focus of her work investigates the effects of CLA on body composition and immune function in humans. Marianne O’ Shea has been responsible for setting up research networks for CLA in Europe and the US and has a vision to facilitate global communication between these networks and those existing in Canada and Japan.

Greg Nutter is LASCOM USA’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing and currently leads the effort to launch LASCOM solutions into the US Food, CPG, and Life Sciences markets. Greg’s experience spans over 25 years encompassing sales, marketing, management, and consulting positions where he has developed and implemented a wide variety of global strategies and programs aimed at helping customers apply technology solutions to improve key business processes. An accomplished presenter, Greg has spoken at numerous corporate and public industry forums throughout North America, South America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. Greg was previously the Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Market Development for Solimar Systems, Inc. He also served as the Vice President of Business Development with INSCI Corporation, Director Worldwide Channel Operations and Business Development with Document Sciences Corporation, and held a variety of senior management positions with Xerox Canada including General Manager. He is actively involved in several industry associations and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Toronto.