The European Food Manufacturing Summit proved to be a cornerstone event for the food and beverage manufacturing industry. Held on 29-30 April at the Plaza Hotel Düsseldorf in Düsseldorf, Germany, the summit convened senior leaders for two days of strategic dialogue, high-impact networking, and exchange of critical insights shaping the future of F&B manufacturing.
This year’s program offered deep engagement across key topics—from supply chain resilience and food safety and quality to operational excellence and innovation.
We’re deeply grateful to all who helped make this year’s gathering so impactful. A special thank you to our emcees, speakers, and sponsors whose expertise and presence brought cohesion, energy, and momentum to every session. It was an honor to have you lead the conversations.
Day 1: Opening the Summit with Fresh Ideas and Insights
The summit kicked off with an energizing opening from our EMCEEs, Yvan Tomaselli, Global Head, Food Safety at Nestlé, and Rodney Jack, Editor at Food and Drink Technology.
Noeleen Donegan, Chief Operating Officer, Europe at Kerry, kept the energy and insights going as the opening keynote! In her session, “Operational Excellence: Designing for Agile, Consistent, and Compliant Food Manufacturing at Scale,” Noeleen highlighted how food and beverage manufacturers can improve agility, consistency, and compliance by redesigning end-to-end processes, reducing production bottlenecks, and building stronger standards for high-mix manufacturing environments. The session also explored how quality-by-design, connected plant data, and continuous improvement can help teams protect product integrity, reduce downtime, and respond faster to changing demand, labor pressures, and food safety expectations.
Ryohei Tsuji, Ph.D., Executive Corporate Officer, President and Chief Operating Officer at Kikkoman, delivered an excellent plenary on how food and beverage leaders can blend deep heritage with modern science to drive meaningful innovation. His session explored how Kikkoman is decoding “oishisa” beyond taste, using data to turn intuition into a scalable innovation asset, and bridging R&D with mass production through more agile industrial launch strategies. It was a standout session that offered a thoughtful look at how tradition and innovation can work together to shape the future of food manufacturing.
Rounding out the morning, Abdallah Maazi, Director, Sales, France at Uncountable, took the stage for an insightful session on building closed-loop quality from formulation through batch release. He shared how consolidating food R&D and QC into a single structured data environment can improve formulation optimization, scale-up, product approval, and audit readiness, while giving teams the visibility needed to spot trends, anticipate quality issues earlier, and support more efficient, AI-ready operations.
The morning set an energizing tone for the summit, with practical insights and forward-looking discussions carrying into the networking break and structured 1:1 meetings. Attendees used the momentum to build new connections, exchange ideas, and continue the conversations sparked throughout the opening sessions.
Attendees broke into two focused streams—Process Optimization and Quality & Safety—enabling smaller, more targeted conversations around the operational strategies that matter most to their organizations.
In the Process Optimization stream, Sandra Irene Jørgensen, VP, Product and Innovation at Arla Foods, shared an insightful session on the role food producers must play in supporting public health. Her presentation explored how companies can redesign product portfolios around nutrition, encourage healthier food habits, and collaborate across the wider food system to make better choices more accessible, desirable, and easier for consumers.
Across the hall in the Quality & Safety stream, Paulo Simonetti, SVP, Operations, Europe, and Rodrigo Cerejeira, Director, Manufacturing Excellence, Europe and Africa, at Barry Callebaut Group, explored how integrated working systems can drive measurable improvements in line performance. Drawing on a recent case study, they shared how stronger process controls, real-time data, traceability, and cross-functional collaboration can help teams improve consistency, reduce variability, and keep quality at the center of manufacturing excellence.
The morning sessions concluded with two focused workshops. Rossen Ivanov, Managing Director, EMEA at Armstrong International, explored how Circular Thermal® can help food and beverage manufacturers improve energy efficiency, reduce primary energy use, and unlock heat recovery opportunities. In parallel, Lukas Biedermann, Co-Founder of Sparetech, led a session on scalable MRO, highlighting how connected spare parts data, inventory transparency, and cross-functional workflows can reduce surplus stock, mitigate risk, and free up working capital.
Lunch in the exhibit hall brought attendees into small-group Lunch & Learn Roundtables hosted by AICON X-RAY GmbH, TraceGains, Spirax Sarco, EZ Factory, and Velotic. The sessions covered intelligent inspection and full quality assurance; cross-functional NPD as a driver of faster innovation and lower risk; right-sizing the thermal foundation of production ecosystems; operator-led performance gains through accessible digital tools; and smart factory strategies that connect plant-floor execution to boardroom priorities.
Kicking off the afternoon, Sagi Ben Rimon, VP, Operations at Strauss Group, examined what it takes to build efficient, sustainable operations across a multi-category food and beverage business. He highlighted the value of streamlined structures, Centers of Excellence, aligned execution, people-focused transformation, automation, and digitization in driving agility, consistency, and long-term growth.
In the Quality & Safety stream, Roberto Buttini, VP, Global Quality, Food Safety, and R&D Strategy at Barilla, delivered a forward-looking session on reimagining quality and food safety through digital transformation. He highlighted how standardized processes, strong data governance, real-time analytics, and operator-focused adoption can improve transparency, accelerate issue resolution, and strengthen consumer trust.
The afternoon continued with workshops on the technologies and facility strategies shaping the next generation of food production. Sonja Meijerink, CCO at Cobotx, explored how cobots can deliver practical impact on the factory floor, from palletizing and case packing to easing repetitive tasks and scaling automation across multiple lines. While Tobias Rosenbaum, Managing Director at IE Food, examined the future food factory, highlighting smart design, scalable logistics, sustainability, digital planning, and risk management in complex production environments
After a second networking break, 1:1 meetings, and a happy hour sponsored by Inexto, attendees reconvened for the final plenary session. Sebastian Gottschalk, SVP, Supply Chain Strategy, Technology and Operations Excellence at Barry Callebaut Group, led "Transforming Global Supply Chains Through Customer-Centric Operations," sharing insights on resilience, customer-centric network design, functional excellence, and end-to-end value creation from bean to bar.
Day 1 closed on a high note with a final panel discussion on “Overcoming Barriers and Scaling Innovations in Process Optimization.” Sebastian Gottschalk of Barry Callebaut Group, Marcin Klimas of ARYZTA QSR, Silviu Calin of FrieslandCampina, George Chantoumakos of Coca-Cola HBC, and Paul Lammers of Nestlé shared perspectives on breaking down barriers to technology adoption, balancing cost with long-term innovation, strengthening workforce readiness, and scaling new processes through digitalization, AI, sustainability, and cross-functional collaboration.
The day concluded with a vibrant Networking Drinks Reception, with lively conversations to close out a high-impact first day.
Day 2: Powering the Future with Quality, Innovation, and Operational Intelligence
Day 2 began on a high note with an inspiring keynote from Carla Serpa, Chief Quality Officer at The Magnum Ice Cream Company, who shared her perspective in “Quality, Trust, and Transformation: Building the Future of Food Manufacturing.” Her session explored how quality is evolving from a compliance checkpoint into a strategic driver of innovation, resilience, and consumer trust, with AI, digitalization, predictive analytics, and stronger supplier partnerships helping manufacturers improve consistency, traceability, sustainability, and long-term operational excellence.
The momentum continued with Christian Borg, VP, Sustainable Operations Tower at Oatly, who presented “Innovating Sustainable Operations Across the Food Value Chain.” He explored how responsible sourcing, regenerative practices, lower-carbon logistics, resource-efficient factories, and circular thinking can help food and beverage manufacturers build more sustainable, credible, and future-ready operations.
To close out the morning, attendees moved into two engaging workshop sessions focused on workforce modernization and real-time quality intelligence. In Room 1, Tommy Schroeder of Indeavor and Paula Wilkinson of Nestlé shared Nestlé’s journey from Excel-based scheduling to a centralized labor operations model, while in Room 2, Maximiliano Moreira and Hauke Rapold of Mettler Toledo explored how connected quality metrics, sensor integration, and science-backed weighing practices can support stronger consistency, compliance, and data-driven decision-making across the food value chain.
The mid-morning break gave attendees a chance to continue the conversation beyond the stage, reconnect with exhibitors, and exchange perspectives with peers. With fresh insights from the morning sessions, participants headed into the afternoon energized for the discussions ahead.
The afternoon program resumed with a highly insightful plenary from Marie Suzette Joachim, VP, Health and Safety at McCain Foods, on redefining safety excellence in food manufacturing. Her session highlighted the critical role of leadership, continuous improvement, change management, and smart factory technologies in building safer, more resilient operations across thermal processing, packaging, sanitation, and other high-risk environments.
Attendees then moved into two focused workshops exploring how smarter factory visibility and workforce readiness are shaping the future of food manufacturing. Finn Boysen, Chief Revenue Officer at NavVis, shared how spatial intelligence and accurate “as-is” plant data can improve collaboration, reduce risk, and support more sustainable production planning, while Rick van Echtelt, CEO of AG5, highlighted how digital skills visibility can strengthen compliance, reduce errors, and ensure the right people are prepared for the right roles.
The energy continued across the dedicated stream sessions, with Yvan Tomaselli, Global Head, Food Safety at Nestlé, examining how stronger raw-material qualification, in-process controls, traceability, and data-led insights can help manufacturers protect food safety against rising risks such as mycotoxins and climate change. In the Quality and Safety stream, Nada Galesne-Armand, Group Director, Quality at Refresco, explored how global beverage manufacturers can move beyond compliance by building a “quality-always” culture rooted in leadership engagement, continuous improvement, and shared ownership across every plant.
Over the summit’s final lunch, attendees took part in focused Lunch & Learn Roundtable Discussions covering some of the most timely topics in food and beverage manufacturing. Led by speakers from Dr. Oetker, AAK, NoPalm Ingredients, and Nomad Foods / iglo, the discussions explored sustainability across manufacturing, smarter quality systems, protein supply chain resilience, and AI-powered digitalization on the factory floor.
Wrapping Up with Bold Perspectives on People, Planning, and Progress
Attendees also had the opportunity to hear from an inspiring Women in Leadership panel featuring Leila Abdli, Director, Quality and Food Safety at ADM; Marie Suzette Joachim, VP, Health and Safety at McCain Foods; Chrystel Stouvenel, Plant Director at JDE Peet’s; and Carla Serpa, Chief Quality Officer at The Magnum Ice Cream Company. Their thoughtful discussion on mentorship, visibility, inclusive leadership, and diverse perspectives was a powerful reminder of the role strong women leaders play in driving innovation, strengthening teams, and shaping more equitable pathways across food manufacturing.
Johnny Petersen, VP, Planning at TINE SA, shared valuable insights on optimizing planning to build more resilient supply chains. His session explored how food manufacturers can balance shifting customer demand with long-term production needs by improving forecasting, strengthening cross-functional visibility, connecting planning with manufacturing and commercial teams, and aligning sustainability goals with capacity planning.
The day concluded with a dynamic panel on shaping the future of food manufacturing for SMEs and innovators. Featuring Thomas Brinkmann of GAEA Products, Andres Cuka of Marbelize S.A., Jeroen Hugenholtz of NoPalm Ingredients, and Marion Schaefer of AAK, the discussion explored how emerging and mid-sized companies can navigate market volatility, finance innovation, overcome regulatory barriers, build resilient supply chains, and scale through strategic partnerships in a rapidly changing food landscape.
From Farm to Future: A Look at What’s Next in Food & Beverage Manufacturing
The European Food Manufacturing Summit brought together senior leaders for two energizing days of fresh ideas, meaningful connections, and timely conversations shaping the future of food and beverage manufacturing. With momentum already building for next year, including familiar voices set to return to the stage, we look forward to welcoming the industry back for another standout summit in 2027.
Secure your place and join the conversations driving what’s next in food & beverage manufacturing. Learn more and reserve your seat at: foodmaneurope.com
“My experience at the Summit was highly enriching, with expert presenters sharing practical insights and real-world perspectives. I found the sessions both inspiring and valuable, especially in addressing quality and safety culture within the organization, operational excellence, and current industry challenges. ”
Robert Rutherford, Managing Director, Eurosweet GmbH
“The summit was exceptionally well-organized. The mix of technical deep dives and high-level strategic sessions provided actionable insights for our current manufacturing challenges. The venue and flow of the event were top-notch.”
Anil Reddy Chilukuri, Project Manager, Bunge
“Absolutely fantastic! The event is very well organised and includes intriguing speakers, workshops, solution providers, and representatives from the food and beverage industry. An exceptional networking opportunity. The catering was great too!”
Amy Gurlitt, Account Executive, Tracegains
“After not attending seminars for 10 years, I did not have a clear expectation. I was positively surprised by the content of the presentations, the opportunity to catch up with peers, and the open conversations.”
Peer de Jong, Quality Director, Groupe BEL
“The sessions were insightful, and it was a great opportunity to network with industry leaders.”
Anita Czernicka, Global Head of Comanufacturing, Barry Callebaut
“The networking is excellent, and there is a high degree of knowledge sharing.”
Fredrik Espersson, Head of Industrial Development, Lantmännen Cerealia
“Good meetings! High-level profiles of attendees, coming from tier-one companies. The organisation is good, and the dedicated time for 1–2–1 meetings has been greatly appreciated.”
Benjamin Huet, Key Account Manager, Inexto
“Very good — amazing networking opportunities. Interesting topics across the business.”
Ewelina Chrost, Europe Quality Manager, JDE Peets
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