From Sustainability to Automation: Insights into the 2024 American Food Manufacturing Summit [Summit Recap]

For the second summit of the fall event season, we headed back to Chicago, IL, for the 6th annual American Food Manufacturing Summit!

Hello, Chicago!

On November 7-8, we held our American Food Manufacturing Summit at the Westin Chicago North Shore. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you and deep appreciation to everyone who contributed to making this incredible event possible.

Did you miss this year's celebration, or do you want to reminisce about the event?

If so, we have compiled a recap of the key moments and highlights from the two-day summit. From insightful presentations and productive one-on-one meetings to energetic networking and engaging roundtable discussions and panels, we are excited to share that the event was a great success!

Day 1 Highlights

Day 2 Highlights

Conclusion

Testimonials

Day 1 Highlights

Day 1 of the 6th annual American Food Manufacturing Summit started with an energetic welcome from our Room 1 chair, Hans Berghorst, VP, Assets and Technology at Dairy Farms of America. Their opening remarks set the tone for an event filled with excitement, engagement, and innovative insights! A special thank you goes out to our emcees for the breakout rooms, including Takashi Nakamura, VP, Corporate R&D and Food Safety at Fresh Del Monte, Deepali Palta, PH.D., VP, Global Innovation and Sustainability at Kellanova, and Javiera McGuiggan, AVP, Global Category Director at Cargill.

We started the event with an engaging opening keynote from Daniel Seidel, Chief Operating Officer, North America at HelloFresh. Dan took to the stage and shared insights on applying lean manufacturing principles to enhance efficiency and streamline operations. He highlighted how HelloFresh is implementing Lean Six Sigma to revolutionize production, utilizing data-driven applications to optimize machine throughput on a daily basis, and more, including a case study on exploring the recent acquisition of Factor and its impact on HelloFresh's operations.

Following the keynote was an insightful plenary co-led by Shannon Bible, Chief Transformation Officer at WK Kellogg Co., and Jon Kucinski, Senior Director, Corporate Development and Strategy at Kellanova. Their spin-off spotlight session highlighted balancing priorities and delivering the vision. They also discussed sharping culture and being intentional about creating the right culture, fostering unity, and embracing boldness.

Next up was a plenary session led by Kip Buckley, VP, Organic Solutions at Vanguard Renewables. He discussed managing business risk through sustainable choices for organic waste streams. Kip also shared insights on turning waste into a force for good, minimizing exposure to changing regulations, recovering value from packaged waste, and more.

Following the captivating speaking sessions, we took a break to enjoy refreshments, network, and engage in pre-arranged 1-to-1 meetings. This intermission, sponsored by Augury, provided the opportunity for all participants to foster new connections and explore innovative business solutions.

Day 1 continued with insightful sessions from Becky Crane, VP, Manufacturing and Engineering alongside David Jackett, Senior Director, Supply Chain Transformation at General Mills, Takashi Nakamura, VP, Corporate R&D and Food Safety at Fresh Del Monte, Greg Hocking, VP, Global R&D New Innovation Territories at Mars, and Carlos Velasco, Chief International Officer at PIM Brands. They addressed driving forward digital manufacturing capabilities, perfecting pre-harvest quality assurance through enhancing safety protocols for produce growers, innovating through growth-enabling ecosystems, and navigating international expansion.

Next up, we held a series of dynamic workshops! On the main stage, Willemijn Schneyder, Founder of SwipeGuide and Chief Strategy Officer at L2L, led an informative workshop on the ROI of a skilled workforce and practical strategies for effective capability development to battle labor shortages. Meanwhile, Nikos Manouselis, Founder and CEO at Agroknow led a captivating workshop on using AI-powered risk forecasting.

Down the hall were two additional workshops, one led by Ben Toro, Strategic Business Developer, Design and Manufacturing at Autodesk, and the other led by Chester Boyt, Chief Revenue Officer at Amerisan. In Ben's workshop, he discussed putting your data to work to reduce project risk and go-to-market time. Chester's workshop provided insights into tangible strategies for improving food safety culture.

Afterward, we transitioned into Roundtable Discussions, where industry experts engaged in moderated discussions about pressing issues in the field. These engaging conversations were led by executives from Parsable, AdvancedRPO, Infor, Effex Management Solutions, SupplyPike, ChainLink SRM, EnSight Solutions, Guy Roofing, Fayette Industrial Sanitation Solutions, Oracle, and TuffWrap Installations.

Following the roundtables, we heard from more industry executives during their insightful speaking sessions. Jitendra Sagili, Chief Innovation and Food Technology Officer at Maple Leaf Foods, spoke on empowering innovation and growing consumer-centric operations. Leading the next room was Staci Richardson, SVP, Enterprise Quality and Food Safety at Schreiber Foods. Staci highlighted driving global quality and food safety excellence, along with strategic leadership at Schreiber Foods.

Andy Del Rosal, VP, Product Innovation and Spirit Quality at Bacardi simultaneously led a session on cultivating future leaders and empowering tomorrow's talent. Meanwhile, Michael Faron, VP, Operations, and Josh Lipman, Senior Director, International Indirect Sales and Strategy at Ferrara Candy Company co-led a stream on supply chain's role in enabling international business.

Later in the afternoon, we dove into some workshops from our solution providers. Kyle Jenson, VP, Sales at BIOIONIX shared insights on eliminating chemicals and saving water in food processing. Eric Whitley, Director, Industrial Transformation at L2L hosted a workshop on transforming food manufacturing and leveraging AI and connected worker technology to overcome downtime.

Concurrently, another workshop co-hosted by Rodney Duran, Area VP, Manufacturing Practice Head, and Brian King, Head, Plant Engineering, Americas at L&T Technology Services explored leveraging digital manufacturing to improve process optimization and overcome F&B industry challenges. Meanwhile, Virag Vora, Technical Sales Engineer at TwinThread, led their workshop on optimizing yield and quality with industrial AI. Following these engaging sessions, we prepared for our next round of one-on-one meetings and a Networking Happy Hour, kindly sponsored by Big Joe Forklifts.

After the break, we dived into more insightful sessions in our four breakout rooms. On the main stage, Hans Berghorst, VP, Assets and Technology at Dairy Farms of America spoke on expanding automation at DFA and integrating technology across quality, safety, and supply chain operations.

Down the hallway, Marianne O'Shea, VP, Global Nutrition Science at PepsiCo led a thoughtful session on supporting consumer demand for functional benefits in food and beverage. In our fourth room, Michael Lippold, Founder and CEO at FreshRealm, delved into case studies on optimizing the food system to deliver fresh food at scale.

Shortly after on our main stage, Louis Flory, CEO and President at Effex Management Solutions, led an engaging plenary. He spoke on the taste of success and maximizing food production through innovative workforce solutions.

Concluding Day 1 of the conference, we moved to an empowering panel discussion surrounding Women in Leadership. The panel brought together Deborah Whittemore, Senior Director, Strategy and Operations at PepsiCo Inc., Deepali Palta, PH.D., VP, Global Innovation and Sustainability at Kellanova, Javiera McGuiggan, AVP, Global Category Director at Cargill, Meredith Somers, VP, Procurement at Mizkan America, and Nathalie Nunez, VP and Chief of Staff, NA Supply Chain at Mondelēz International. The panelists shared engaging insights into the key leadership lessons they've learned in their career, their most significant barrier as a leader, how their organization is empowering the next generation, the best piece of advice they received, and advice they'd give to next-gen leaders.

We wrapped up the day with closing remarks, followed by a vibrant Networking Drinks Reception, bringing together our valued delegates, sponsors, and speakers for enjoyable networking. A special thank you to Black & Veatch for sponsoring the featured cocktail of the evening, The Breezy Venture!

A special appreciation goes out to our emcees, Hans Berghorst, Takashi Nakamura, Deepali Palta, PH.D., and Javiera McGuiggan for their insightful contributions and support throughout the day!

Day 2 Highlights

Day 2 of the American Food Manufacturing Summit kicked off bright and early with a Networking Breakfast, sponsored by SpecPage from Revalize, followed by our emcee, Hans Berghorst, providing their opening remarks to set the tone for the day ahead.

The morning started fresh with an opening keynote led by Pierre Joncourt, SVP, Operations, North America at Pernod Ricard. Pierre shared further insights on scaling operations and ensuring quality across global markets. Immediately preceding the insightful session, David Lestage, Global Chief R&D Officer at Kellanova, led a plenary. His presentation focused on product development to commercialization and driving concepts to commercialization with an innovative ecosystem.

Shortly after, we moved into a dynamic panel discussion led by Mikael Bengtson, Director, Industry and Solution Strategy, Food and Beverage at Infor, Mary Knaub, Senior Manager, Data Governance and Master Data Management, and Bradley Andrus, Senior Manager, North American Regulatory Affairs at Dawn Foods. The three shared insights on accelerating product innovation and optimizing recipes.

Workshops were then hosted across four rooms for the attendees to join. In Room 1, Jihan Miller, PH.D., VP, Research and Development at Egglife Foods, and Larry Homuth, Customer Success Manager at SafetyChain, co-hosted a workshop on the future of food innovation and how machine & quality data make the perfect wrap at Egglife Foods. Concurrently in Room 2, Sam Zheng, CEO and Co-Founder at DeepHow, hosted a workshop next door. Sam spoke on accelerating workforce operational excellence with AI-powered multimodal sops.

Around the corner in Room 3, Angelo Stracquatanio, CEO and Co-Founder at Apprentice.io, led a workshop on increasing manufacturing capacity with AI and deploying next-gen accelerated MES. Meanwhile, in Room 4, Kurt Spyke, Director, National Accounts and Strategic Products at Big Joe Forklifts led a workshop on how to elevate your success and optimize material handling with advanced solutions.

After these dynamic sessions, we enjoyed our final networking break of the summit with more engaging 1-2-1 meetings and refreshments!

We wrapped up the morning with our final set of Day 2 workshops. On the main stage, Jeffrey Naegle, Plant Manager at McCain Foods, and Phil Gautrin, General Manager, USA at Proaction International, shared a case study on McCain's Othello plant and transforming and accelerating operational excellence. Next door, another workshop was led by Rachel Quinn, Founder and Managing Partner at 3P Partners. Rachel led the discussion on structuring an effective interview process for engineering and manufacturing operations leadership positions.

Further down the hall, another workshop was co-led by Michael Phillips, Director, Sales and Business Development and Joe Szczepkowski, Sales Manager at Kanadevia Inova, where they shared some great insights on maximizing the value of food and beverage waste from manufacturing. Concurrently, Lindsey Cole, Sales Director, Food and Beverage at FuelCell Energy led a workshop on decarbonizing food and beverage production with fuel cell technology.

Following the engaging workshops, we kicked off noon with our final set of breakout sessions. In Room 1, Christopher Penny, Chief Manufacturing Officer at CAVA hosted a discussion on scaling excellence and reinventing food manufacturing with vertical integration and strategic partnerships. Next over in Room 2, Jim Bitticks, President and Chief Operating Officer at Dave's Hot Chicken steered the conversation on leveraging automation to drive growth, brand consistency, quality, and safety.

Further down the hall in Room 3, Ben Van Leeuwen, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Van Leeuwen Ice Cream led a session on frozen dessert revolution and unveiling branding mastery, product innovation, and global expansion tactics. Additionally in Room 4, Nathalie Nunez, VP and Chief of Staff, NA Supply Chain at Mondelēz International, and Andy Hanacek, Senior Editor at Food Processing co-led a fireside chat. Their sessions focused on optimizing supply chain operations through cross-functional collaboration and end-to-end planning for enhanced performance.

Shortly after, Durga Kota, Chief Technology Officer, Americas Region at Fujitsu North America led an engaging plenary session on the main stage. Durga spoke about the future of quality control and AI strategies for operational excellence in F&B manufacturing.

Then, it was time for lunch with some engaging roundtable discussions featuring Javiera McGuiggan from Cargill, Alex Kurnikov, VP, Strategic Sourcing at FGF Brands, Pedrom Rejai, Head, Supply Chain Americas at Unilever International, Victoria Camilleri, Director, Food Safety Quality and Operations at Nestlé, Phillip Dana, VP, Transformation and Digitization at AC Foods, Garrett Bruni, Director, Manufacturing at NOW Foods, Ron Judge, Senior Director, Food Safety, Quality Assurance, Animal Welfare and Customer Service at Maple Lodge Farms, John Umlauf, SVP, Culinary Operations at Saffron Road Foods, David Jackett from General Mills, Jen Griffin, Senior Director, Food Safety and Quality Assurance at Dawn Foods, Charlie Chappell, VP, Innovation and R&D at The Hersey Company, and David Lestage, Global Chief R&D Officer at Kellanova.

After enjoying some delicious food and lots of valuable insights, we returned to the main stage for a fireside chat, co-led by Rob Haas, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Impossible Foods, and Megan Marshall, Publisher at Edible Chicago. In their captivating discussion, they took turns speaking on building a responsible and sustainable supply chain.

To wrap up the thought-provoking discussions from the event, we held our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging panel which was led in Room 1 by Terrance Irizarry, Head, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Chobani, Jeannette Robles, Director, Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion at ADM, Brittany Cullison, Chief People Officer at Nutrabolt, Javiera McGuiggan, AVP, Global Category Director at Cargill, Henry Artalejo, SVP, Global Human Resources at Griffith Foods, and Mary Ellen Kuhn, Executive Editor, Food Technology at Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). The panelists steered the conversation on defining DEIB, balancing diversity metrics, navigating unexpected challenges and measuring success in initiatives, evolving DEIB in response to societal issues and global conflicts, and the key steps to building a culture that empowers all employees.

As the Summit drew to a close, concluding two days filled with learning, networking, and knowledge exchange, our incredible emcee Hans Berghorst provided their closing remarks and announced the winners of our survey prize giveaway. A special thank you again to Takashi Nakamura, Deepali Palta, PH.D., and Javiera McGuiggan for their remarkable support throughout the day emceeing the breakout rooms.

In celebration of our attendees' outstanding participation, we're delighted to unveil our prize champions, who've brought an extra dash of vibrancy to our event! A big congratulations to our survey winner, Dawn Dahl, Director, Supply Chain Quality at Ferrara Co., and Chris Swimm, Director, Supply Chain Quality at McCain Foods, the networking superstar!

Conclusion

We are thrilled to celebrate the success of this year's event! We extend our heartfelt appreciation to the esteemed experts and every delegate and sponsor who contributed to making this Summit an extraordinary experience. Your dedicated support and enthusiasm are what make our summits successful!

It's been a remarkable journey leading to this milestone, and we are excited to carry this success into the 6th annual American Food Manufacturing Summit.

We truly hope the Summit made a lasting impression on you, just as it did on us. If you were unable to join us this year but wish to participate in this exceptional gathering next year, please express your interest. It's never too early to get excited about what's to come!

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR: 7th annual American Food Manufacturing Summit | 2025 Dates to be Announced

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Visit the summit's website to learn more, view the latest program, and secure your pass today!

Secure your spot for next year as an attendee, solution provider, or speaker with early registration opening now! To keep yourself in the loop about upcoming Summits, explore our event calendar at generisgp.com/events.

Testimonials

Networking opportunities and adequate time given to these activities was top-notch.

David Lestage, Chief R&D Officer, Kellanova

This is my first time attending this event and I have been very impressed with the vendors and the content covered. It has been a great experience. I have made several connections that will benefit me professionally and the objectives of my organization.

Melissa Bautista, SVP of Operations N.A., Dawn Foods

Great experience! Great quality of people attending, good presentations, and just the right size of a show.

Javi McGuiggan, AVP, Global Director, Cargill

Leading industry speakers and attendees sharing cutting-edge Technologies, experiences, and information. This summit is unique because it provides cross-functional perspectives.

Victoria Camilleri, Director Quality and Food Safety, Nestlé

The networking opportunities, speaker and participants’ willingness to share their experience and knowledge, and supplier engagement exceeded my expectations.

Sharon Thomas-Clark, Director Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance, Santa Monica Seafood

I really loved the structure and size of this conference. It was easy to connect and network. The sessions were informative and contained good content.

Melanie Upshaw, Procurement Director, Convoy of Hope

This was my first time so I had no expectations, but I walked away feeling that next year, I need to bring more of my teammates. The content and conversations over the last couple of days have been nothing short of stimulating, educational, and thought-provoking. I will be back 😉.

Debbie Gust, President, WOW’ Factor Desserts

Very good quality of attendees, and balance between vendors and industry leaders. Speaker content is also very good and diverse.

Jason Weiss, Business Development Director, aiOla

Excellent networking opportunities. Good variety of choices for panels, sessions, workshops, and 1:1 meetings!

From Sustainability to Automation: Insights into the 2024 American Food Manufacturing Summit [Summit Recap]

Hello, Chicago!

Table of Contents

Day 1 Highlights

Day 2 Highlights

Conclusion

Testimonials

Amalia Osorio Digital Marketing Specialist at Generis

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