IMR International

Dennis Seisun has worked in England, France, Belgium, and, since 1980, has been based in San Diego, California. He graduated from Bath University in England with a bachelor of science degree in engineering and a master of science degree in industrial marketing. He worked as an engineer for Foster Wheeler, as a consultant for C.H. Kline S.A. in Brussels, and for Kelco (then a division of Merck) as commercial development product manager. He was closely involved in the market development of many new biopolymers to follow xanthan in the marketplace. In 1985, Dennis founded IMR International and has since focused his attentions on the food hydrocolloid markets of the U.S. and Western Europe. The Quarterly Review of Food Hydrocolloids was started by IMR International in 1991 and has become established as a comprehensive and independent source of information on the food hydrocolloid market. IMR has chaired the International Conference on Food Hydrocolloids since 1996 alternating between the USA and Europe.

Nesha Zalesny has over 20 years of technical experience in the food industry starting with 12 years at CP Kelco in R&D and Technical Service. She developed formulations and prototypes for everything from baked goods and dairy applications to salad dressings and sauces. She developed consumer products at Javo Beverage as Director of New Product Development and did technical sales and service at Fiberstar, working on a wide variety of clean label applications. Ms. Zalesny joined IMR in 2019, where she offers technical and business insights, hydrocolloid training and test development, product development consultation and ingredient resourcing. Ms. Zalesny has a BSc. in Food Science from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Cal State San Marcos.

Conrad Fessler is Senior VP Purchasing at the HARIBO Group, the international market leader in fruit gums, jellies and liquorice segments. He has extensive experiences in Supply Chain and Purchasing of different categories as packaging and commodities. As an economist Conrad has started his career in Finance at Unilever before moving into Purchasing roles at Unilever, Danone and Haribo. HARIBO is worldwide one of the largest processors of Gelatine, 100 Million Goldbears leave the production lines every day. The company was founded 100 years ago by Hans Riegel and is since there family owned with a HQ in Germany with 13 factories in Europe and Brazil. USA is coming soon. After many years abroad Conrad is currently living in Germany and Luxembourg is married and has two children.

Thorleif Thormodsen is the founder of Alginor ASA, as well as Primex Ingredients ASA, Seagarden ASA and Navamedic ASA. He holds an MBA from the Norwegian School of Economics and is a Certified European Financial Analyst (CEFA).

Lu Ann Williams is cofounder and Global Insights Director at Innova Market Insights, a worldwide market research firm headquartered in The Netherlands. An expert on trends driving the food and beverage industry, she is a frequent speaker at industry events. Thirty years of global experience, data analysis, and trendspotting give her a unique foundation for insights into what’s coming next in the industry in every region of the world.

Dr.-Ing. Johannes P. Schlebusch is a Mars associate for more than 28 years and held different R&D product & process development roles and was involved in currently 19 published patent families. As a principal scientist in the R&D wet Global Innovation Center of Mars PetNutrition he is active in the area of meat analogues and various other developments. Since 2008 he serves on the scientific committee of the research association of the German food industry (FEI, Bonn). Previous to Mars he spent 4 years with Procter & Gamble working on aseptic fruit juice manufacturing and in various logistic functions for European laundry and cleaning products. In 1992 he received his Ph.D. from the Technical University of Munich having worked on recovery processes for fermentation derived volatiles. Since 1987 he owns a masters degree received from the Technical University of Munich in food technology/food engineering.

Jinyuan Wang is president of Shanghai Brilliant Gum Co., LTD (BLG) a high-tech enterprise specializing in research and development, production and sales of hydrocolloids. Mr. Wang received a BScE from East China University of Science and Technology and an E-MBA from China Europe International Business School. Mr. Wang founded Shanghai Brilliant Gum Co., LTD. in 1996. His focus has been on development of talent, ingenuity, and a teamwork culture for his employees. BLG employs nearly 1,000 people.

Luca graduated with honors in law from the University of Verona, and obtained the post-graduate master in Innovation Management at CUOA in Altavilla Vicentina. He then furthered his education by attending the Advanced Training Course in Food Law at the University of Eastern Piedmont. Since 2018 he has focused his career on food and wine law, offering clients extra-judicial advice, judicial assistance, support in international regulatory affairs, and targeted training. Prior to joining Keller and Heckman, Luca oversaw the food law and regulatory practices at an Italian law firm. He also co-founded a beverage start-up company, which gives him a unique perspective on supply chain issues and helps him to assist clients in developing overall regulatory schemes and marketing strategies. Luca also founded Lexfood, which is a platform designed and developed to cover food and wine legislative and regulatory matters in Italy, the European Union, and the rest of the world, with the aim of connecting with and educating industry professionals.

Jwanro is an ‘Ingredient Expert’ at Nestle R&D Lausanne. Jwanro holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Lyon in France. He has 15 years of experience in project and laboratory management. Jwanro joined Nestlé R&D in 2008, developing innovative ingredients for clean label, plant-based ingredients and functional ingredients. From Linkedin: I have over 15 years of experience in team, project and laboratory management. ► Experience & expertise in raw materials quality & ingredients, extraction & analytical laboratory, food & beverage products, chemical & biomedical fields. ► Adaptable, positive attitude, attention to detail, proactive, strong team player He started his career in medical diagnostics, developing reagents such as antibody-enzyme bioconjugates for immunoassay analyzers.

Jonathan Doyle holds a PhD from University College Cork entitled Molecular Interactions in Solutions and Gels of Galactomannans and Carrageenans. Jonathan is currently the Regional Business Development Lead for Functional Technologies at Kerry Europe, which include Texture Systems, Enzymes, and Brewing Ingredients. He began his career at Kerry in 2007 as part of the R&D team developing new product innovations and now spends his time working with customers to provide solutions that help address current market needs and improve process efficiency while maintaining product quality and consistency.

TBD