Organisers

Giract

Giract, founded in 1970, is based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the leading transnational consultancy in food ingredient strategy, market and business development. Its highly qualified and experienced partners are able to provide strategic insights to all aspects related to the ingredient business, from raw material to end-use technologies. Giract draws on a vast global network of privileged and high-level contacts in industry, academic and government sectors and has a multilingual and multicultural team bridging the differing European, American and Asian markets and cultures. Vast experience has been accumulated over 30 years of research and analysis, from additives and ingredients via fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals to associated technologies such as biotechnology, packaging, recycling, etc. Giract has supported high level strategic thinking processes for many key industrial players and therefore is a privileged partner with substantial insight on future thinking from a wide range of industrial perspectives. Giract’s recent work on cereal supply options for central Europe, starch, sweetener and fibre markets as well as biofuel are of immediate relevance for this project. Giract also published the report on the Nutrition & Health 2020 scenario project.

http://www.giract.com/

Giract representatives will be:

• V. Krishnakumar B.Tech (Chem), MBA, Dipl. Computer Science: Managing Director and co-founder of Giract, obtained wide management experience in India (McCann Erickson and Beecham), has directed landmark studies including Starches, Mineral Fortification, Pro- and Pre-biotics, Polyols, Flavors, Hydrocolloids, Antioxidants and Emulsifiers.
  
  
• Dr Jo Goossens PhD Biochemistry/plant physiology, worked in R&D, marketing and business management positions for CPC, Cerestar and Eridania Béghin-Say. He managed strategic innovative projects such as erythritol and the start-up of Cerestar Japan. As Director of the Health & Nutrition Group, he created and managed the health ingredients business for Eridania Béghin-Say in Europe and USA. In 2002, he set up his own consultancy Bio-Sense and joined Giract as a Partner in 2004.
  
  
• Maryline Guiramand Agricultural engineer with an MBA from INSEAD. She has held different management positions in the food industry as well as in FAO. As Manager of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform since its creation in 2002 in Geneva, she successfully expanded the food industry membership, developed best practices for cereals, coffee, dairy, vegetables and fruits and structured partnerships with key international institutions (IFC, CGIAR, OECD, etc). Since 2006, she now focuses on providing expert advice in the field of sustainable development and international trade in the agri-food sector.

WS

WS is a Brussels-based organisation with extensive experience in scenario planning and scenario-based strategic processes. WS professionals have worked on four continents with clients such as Shell International Ltd, UCB Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Research Foundation, Heineken, Ondeo, The Japanese External Trade Organisation, The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, The Soros Foundation Network, The King Baudoin Foundation and others. Long-term strategic and multi-stakeholder project in the food and related industries include ‘Animal Production and Consumption in the 21st Century’ (King Baudoin Foundation, 2002-2004), ‘Nutrition & Health 2020’ (WS/Bio-Sense, 2003-2004) and the Nutrition & Health Open Innovation Lab (WS/Bio-Sense/Philips Design, ongoing).

http://www.ws-network.com/

WS representative will be:

• Philippe Vandenbroeck Engineer and Philosopher, he started his career as a research scientist at Shell and later held a position at the Vlerick management School in Belgium. He joined WS in 1996 as a managing partner and since developed his extensive generalist experience in project management, research, training and group process facilitation. With WS he has worked in a wide range of sectors, policy- and technology areas. He is particularly interested in applied systems thinking and its embodiment in innovative interventions and novel didactic concepts.

For more information

http://www.fields-for-food-or-fuel.net/