Fresh Event 2010 Conference Program

Program at a glance

Conference	Trade Show	Tours & Field Day	Social Program
Thursday 10 & Friday 11 June 8.00 am to 1.30 pm Plenary & concurrent sessions with leading local and international speakers and all the hot topics	Thursday 10 & Friday 11 June 1.30 pm to 5.30 pm Over 60 exhibitors, with demonstrations and presentations of exciting new products and services	Wednesday 9 June 8.30 am to 4.00pm Tour of Melbourne’s leading produce retailers Saturday 12 June 8.00 am to 4.00 pm AFFCO/IHD Expo Field Day to Montague Fresh and Bonview Orchards	Wednesday 9 June 6.00 pm to 8.00pm Welcome Reception Thursday 10 June 7.00 pm to 10.30 pm Conference Gala Dinner Saturday 12 June 7.00 pm to 11.30 pm AFFCO 15th Anniversary Crystal Ball

Click here to download the comprehensive Fresh Event 2010
Conference Program

Plenary Speakers

	Bryan Silbermann President & Chief Executive Officer, Produce Marketing Association, USA Bryan Silbermann is President and Chief Executive Officer of Produce Marketing Association (PMA), the largest, worldwide, not-for-profit trade association representing companies that market fresh fruits, vegetables, and related products. PMA's membership of 3000 companies in nearly 50 countries ranges from supermarket retailers to farmers, foreign exporters to restaurant chains. The association's programs promote the efficient distribution and increased consumption of members’ products worldwide. Bryan joined PMA in 1983 and in 1996 was selected to become president. As the President and Chief Executive Officer of PMA, he directs more than 80 staff professionals and has been instrumental in launching and developing new programs and services for the fresh produce and floral industry. He is a sought-after speaker and recognised as one of the top fifty ‘power players’ whose actions drive the food industry.
	Patrick Noone Managing Director, Costco Wholesale Australia Patrick Noone has 30 years experience in the retail industry. Patrick’s relocation from Australia to Canada in 1985 saw his move into store operations and warehousing management with large format supermarket chain Loblaw and The Price Club — now Costco Wholesale — who introduced the membership warehouse club format to Canada. Since joining The Price Club in 1990 as warehouse manager Patrick has worked as warehouse manager in four Vancouver warehouses until a promotion in 2002 to Regional Manager and later Vice President in the western region. In 2006 Patrick transferred to Sydney to investigate opportunities in Australia for Costco Wholesale.
	Harry Rumpler Chief Executive Officer, IGA Fresh Harry Rumpler joined the IGA Fresh in November 1997 as National Fresh Food Manager for Merchandise and was then appointed to General Manager IGA Queensland in 2005. He was appointed to Chief Executive Officer of IGA Fresh in November 2007. Harry has been in the retail industry for 32 years gaining experience in all areas of the business including operations, merchandise and buying with both retailers and suppliers.
	Stan Srage General Manager - Merchandise, Franklins Ltd Stan joined PICK N PAY (Hypermarkets division) in South Africa as a Food Trainee Manager in January 1990 after completing a Higher Diploma in Business Management. During his training Stan spent time learning the day to day operations in all food divisions including fish, bakery, deli and produce. This culminated in his first management appointment as Merchandise Manager for the Norwood Hypermarket in 1994. After 7 years of shop floor and day to day operational experience, Stan ventured into the buying ranks, first as Fresh Food Buyer, then Perishable Buyer and ultimately the Head Food Buyer of the store, looking after groceries. In 1998 the company centralized many Hypermarket functions and created a support office looking after the 14 hypermarkets nationally, which Stan joined in 1999 as the National Perishable Buyer looking after chilled and frozen products on a national basis, as well as having a team of fresh food buyers reporting to him. In late 2002 Stan, moved to Australia, beginning his new retail career as a Perishable Buyer with Franklins. In 2005 Stan became General Manager – Merchandise with Franklins and sees this role as an exciting challenge. Stan is looking forward to playing a key role in establishing Franklins as a 3rd supermarket chain in NSW and is very excited at Franklins prospects in moving forward.
	Greg Foran Director of Supermarkets, Liquor and Petrol, Woolworths Limited Greg Foran commenced his career at Woolworths (Hamilton, NZ) in 1979 as a trainee manager. In the 1980’s Greg held a number of managerial roles within the organisation including a secondment to the John Lewis Group (UK), Bond and Bond, Maximart and Woolworths Variety stores, and eventually transferred to the supermarket operation of Woolworths where he held various positions in stores and buying. In 1992 he was appointed to the role of Marketing Director and further promoted in 1994 to Buying and Marketing Director for Woolworths NZ. In 1997 he moved to Sydney as Director of grocery merchandising and marketing for Franklins Australia before joining Woolworths Limited in 2001 in the position of General Manager of private label and general merchandise, the first in a series of senior appointments within Woolworths Limited. In December 2008 Greg was promoted to the position of Director of Food, Liquor and Petrol - Australia and New Zealand.
	Jackie McArthur SVP/Director of Supply Chain Austrlaia and New Zealand, McDonald's Australia Jackie started off her working life as an Aeronautical Engineer at Hawker de Havilland, working on Boeing and Airbus projects. Following this she commenced work at the then FJ Walker Foods (now McKey) in distribution. That’s where Jackie got the infusion of ketchup in her veins! Jackie then worked for the Mars Group (Uncle Bens in Albury), Sun Microsystems and then for the Havi Group who manage all of McDonald's packaging and global logistics. In 2003 Jackie moved to McDonalds managing the equipment department at first, then the futures team, and lucky enough found a job in Supply Chain! She was promoted to her present position as Director of Supply Chain 2 years ago and has since been promoted to Senior Vice President/Director of Supply Chain for Australia and New Zealand.
	Johnathan Sutton Group Servicing Manager, Tesco Stores Ltd Johnathan Sutton has been influential in the development of the successful direct exports of fresh produce from Thailand, Vietnam, China, India & New Zealand to Tesco businesses around the World. His current role is to focus on the sourcing and management of fresh produce from Asia & Oceania for Tesco UK & European stores network. He is dedicated to establishing long term strategic partnerships, that mutually benefit producers, retailers & consumers and is fully aware of all the challenges that are faced everyday by growers. He is also very determined to raise the standards for everyone involved in the supply chain, with an emphasis on safe, quality production & worker welfare values.Johnathan has extensive understanding of commercial production, the supply chain and markets across every continent. Johnathan’s 25 years of practical experience of the agricultural industry begun as a vegetable agronomist at Unilever prior to joining Tesco where he succeeded in a number roles including technical manager of brassica and root vegetables, category technical manager for fresh vegetables before joining the Tesco European Group Sourcing team, which has most recently seen him move to Bangkok to raise quality standards for Tesco in Thailand and Malaysia.
	Terry Brown Group Marketing Manager, Turners and Growers/ENZA Terry has a strong background in consumer marketing, retail category and account management for fresh products, initially in fresh meat and more recently in fresh produce. Terry experience extends to retail account management and consumer marketing campaigns domestically in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Japan, the Middle East, Europe and to a lesser extent in North America. In his current role with Turners & Growers, Terry has the dual responsibility of Group Marketing Manager (covering domestic markets and international brand work with ENZA) and National Account Manager in the NZ Market. He also represents Turners & Growers on the Executive of United Fresh Inc NZ as one of two Wholesaler representatives.
	Anthony MacKay Innovation Manager, Visy Anthony Mackay has spent 25 years in technical development roles for the polymer and paper manufacturing industries. He began his technical career at BASF and then moved to Dow Chemical where he spent 20 years working on new product development for polymer packaging, coated packaging board and printing papers. During his time at Dow, Anthony was the Asia Pacific application development leader for emulsion polymers, and gained more than 10 years experience working in China and across Asia to develop polymer products for the coated paper market. He has been in his current role as R&D manager for Paper and Fibre Packaging at Visy since 2007. He leads Visy's development effort on fibre based packaging and is responsible for a team focused on product innovation and manufacturing process improvements. Visy's current high priority projects include improved water efficiency for the paper manufacturing process, and development of new papers for high humidity packaging applications.
	John Durkan Merchandise Director, Coles Supermarkets John Durkan joined Coles in early July 2008 as Merchandise Director. He brings with him a wealth of retail experience, having worked for 17 years with UK retailer Safeway Stores, a 500-store network including convenience and supermarkets. In his last three years as Trading Director, he was responsible for devising and executing strategies around format, range, house brand development and pricing and promotions. John’s most recent role was as Chief Operating Officer with UK’s largest mobile phone retailer, Carphone Warehouse. The business, which spans ten European countries from Sweden to Spain, presents a different retail experience for John. It has a smaller range, smaller supplier base, extremely high growth and a fast paced, entrepreneurial culture. “The culture was one of the defining attributes of Carphone Warehouse and I’m keen to see how we can bring some of the fast paced innovation and entrepreneurial style to Coles,” said John. John has responsibility for range, quality, pricing, promotion and presentation strategies, as well as supply chain and logistics.
	Luke Harris Chief Operations Officer , Harris Farm Markets Luke is Chief Operations Officer with Harris Farm Markets, the largest independent fruit and vegetable retailer in Australia. As head of operations, Luke manages the internal and external operations of all 21 Harris Farm Markets sites, including the management of over 1000 store employees. Developing store specific strategies, Luke works closely with the Executive team and Regional Managers to develop and deliver an outstanding retail business across the Harris Farm Markets platform. In addition to running the operational side of the business, Luke controls business development opportunities, including locating buildings and redeveloping sites for future stores. Luke is an executive board member of Harris Farm Markets, Market Development and Consumer Advisory member to the Australian Vegetable Growers Association (AUSVEG), holds an executive level food and beverage certificate with Monash University, Executive Leadership certificate from Loyola Institute and a Family Business Association Forum Group Member. With over 15 year’s retail experience, Luke possesses a wealth of experience and knowledge within the retail and services industries. Luke has outstanding interpersonal skills, as well as being an inspiring leader in the workplace with a sharp eye for retailing.
	Tristan Harris General Manager - Buying and Marketing, Harris Farm Markets Tristan manages the Marketing and Buying departments. Tristan has a long and varied management experience in the Retail and IT&T sectors including running his own business. He holds an honours degree in Engineering from UNSW and is currently undertaking his MBA at the AGSM.
	Yahya Kanj Associate Director - Client Service, The Nielsen Company Understanding the shopper has never been more important to the fresh produce industry. With over 10 years of shopper research experience working for The Nielsen Company, Yahya Kanj brings a wealth of knowledge to our industry. During this time, Yahya has worked extensively with both retailers and FMCG manufacturers across Australia, New Zealand, as well as more recently with the fresh produce industry. Yahya’s expertise lies in providing relevant market insights and recommendations to help build effective sales and marketing strategies and ultimately grow your business.