Michael Barker is a journalist with more than 20 years of experience covering the international fresh produce and farming industries. He is a former editor at the Fresh Produce Journal and fresh foods editor at The Grocer magazine, and currently works as a contributing editor at Fruitnet, as well as writing regularly for a range of trade and consumer food and farming publications in the UK. He is a highly experienced host of industry events and moderated the last two editions of the International Strawberry Congress.

Hans Vanderhallen is managing director of Coöperatie Hoogstraten, a major player in the fresh produce world. Coöperatie Hoogstraten is home to over 165 unique producers, united in our mission and our values: to create a sustainable future for the fruit and vegetables sector through integrity, involvement, connection, growth and horizon. Together, we grow and distribute top quality fresh fruit and vegetables to clients all over the world. All year long. Hans started his career at Hoogstraten in 2000 as manager of logistics, and became managing director in 2020.

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Protoplast-CRISPR technology

Lena Maas is the Genetics Team Lead at Hudson River, responsible for managing the genetics, CRISPR editing and sequencing operations of the BioMaas platform. Her background is in molecular plant biotechnology and she holds a PhD molecular biology with focus on transcriptional regulation of plant regeneration.

Amelia Kallman is a leading London futurist, speaker, author, and host. She has spoken at 100+ conferences, hosted 20+ events, written industry-leading reports,addressed the House of Lords and the U.N., and regularly consults for Fortun e500 companies. Recently named one of the Top 20 World-Leading Futurist Speakers, as well as one of the Top 25 Women in the Metaverse, Amelia’s clients include: AT&T, Bloomberg, Allianz, Adobe, Financial Times, Puma, PWC, Unilever, JLL, Keywords Studios, Bending Spoons, Lloyd's, Red Bull, and UK Parliament. She is a mentor and activist in the responsible tech movement, and is currently writing her third book.

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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, IGOs, and multi-national firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.

And an award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor.

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Mr Nabil Belmkaddem holds a master’s degree in Plant Science from California State Universtity, Fresno. He has 30 years of experience in fruit production and exports. Since 2017 he has been the general manager of Cooperative Bestberry which is a grower organization based in Larache in North Morocco. Bestberry operates in exports of all berries both fresh and frozen and has partners in all the major European markets. Mr Nabil is a member of the Moroccan Association of berry packers and exporters and has been a speaker in numerous berry congresses in Morocco and in Europe.

Huan Zhangis an agriculture consultant based in China and the founder of Twinkle StarBerry Consulting Company. He earned his Ph.D. from Washington StateUniversity’s Small Fruits Horticulture Program, where he developed extensiveexpertise in collaborating with berry growers. Huan has also gained valuableexperience working with international berry companies. He is committed tosharing his insights and driving advancements in the berry industry. Outside ofwork, Huan enjoys spending time in the fields with his wife and daughter,fostering a family passion for agriculture.

Steven J. Knapp is Distinguished Professor and Emeritus Director of the Strawberry Breeding Program in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis.  He is an expert on plant breeding, quantitative genetics, and genome-informed breeding and has extensive experience with single-cross hybrid breeding systems in heterotic species.  His past research focused on the breeding, genetics, and genomics of sunflower, peanut, and industrial oilseeds.  Since 2015, his research has focused entirely on strawberry, with emphases on developing high-yielding disease resistant cultivars, enhancing fruit quality and shelf life, the development of genomic and bioinformatic resources, and the application of genome-informed breeding approaches in strawberry.  He was previously Global Director of Vegetable Breeding Technology at Monsanto (2009-2015), Professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and Graduate Program Coordinator in the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics at the University of Georgia (2004-2009), and Professor and Paul C. Berger Endowed Chair at Oregon State University (1985-2004).  He taught Quantitative Genetics at UC Davis (2015-2025) and previously taught Advanced Plant Breeding and Quantitative Genetics at OSU (1985-2004).

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Philippe Binard joined the fresh fruit and vegetables business in 1987. Since 2001, he is the General Delegate of Freshfel Europe , the European Association representing the interest of the fresh fruit and vegetables sector. Freshfel ( www.freshfel.org) incorporates more than 200 members (associations and companies) across the fresh produce supply chain from production down to retail. Philippe Binard has also other responsibility including the Secretary General of WAPA (World Apple and Pear Association -www.wapa-association.org) and WCO ( World Citrus Organisation).

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Joeri Beniest, Head of Fruit and Vegetable Purchasing at Lidl, has spent 10 years at the company, with 9 of those years dedicated to fruit and vegetable procurement. His expertise lies in building strong, sustainable partnerships, ensuring top-quality produce. "Growing is something we do together with our partners" is his mantra as he works to deliver the best for customers every time.

Michiel Vermeiren is currently responsible for the fruit business unit at Coöperatie Hoogstraten, a major player in the fresh produce business. Strawberries are obviously the biggest category within the fruit segment, but Coöperatie Hoogstraten also offers blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and kiwi berries. Michiel started his career in Hoogstraten as sales and business analyst in 2020. He was working on different projects to gain more insight in the data and processes within the organisation. From that position, he often worked intensively with the sales and quality team which he is now leading.

Dr. Arne Stensvand is a senior researcher at Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research(NIBIO) and a professor at Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). His research is on pathogen biology, epidemiology and disease control, primarily in fruit and berry diseases but also in other horticultural crops. Developing integrated solutions for plant protection that can be affordable and easily implemented by the industry is a key goal of Dr. Stensvand. Over the recent years, physical means as alternatives to chemical disease control has been a major researchinterest of Dr. Stensvand.

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