Professor Norman Myers
Professor Norman Myers is a Fellow of the 21st Century School, Green College and the Said Business School, Oxford University. He is an Adjunct Professor at Duke University and a Visiting Professor at the Universities of Vermont and Cape Town. An Ambassador for the World Wide Fund for Nature/UK; he has undertaken research projects and policy appraisals for the World Bank, United Nations agencies, the White House, numerous foundations, the European Commission and OECD. Advised leaders of the Brundtland Commission, the Rio Earth Summit, the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Food Summit, and the World Summit on Sustainable Development. He has lectured widely in North America and to 50-plus corporations in Japan.
In 1998 he received a Queen’s Honour for ‘services to the global environment.’ He has received the Volvo Environment Prize, the UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize, and the prestigious Blue Planet Prize, making him only the second environmentalist in the world to receive all three leading prizes. These awards have recognized him as being the first to warn of mass extinction of species, tropical deforestation, and environmental threats to security, ‘perverse’ subsidies, environmental refugees, and degradation of future evolution. In the late 1980s he originated the biodiversity hotspots thesis, since then it has mobilised over $850 million for conservation, the largest sum ever assigned to a single conservation strategy. He has published several hundred scientific papers and popular articles, plus 19 books including (2001) Perverse Subsidies: How Tax Dollars Undercut the Environment and the Economy, (2004) New Consumers: The Influence of Affluence on the Environment, and (2005) a fully revised and expanded New Gaia Atlas of Planet Management.
Richard Worzel
When it comes to his presentations, Worzel is known for his professionalism, enthusiasm and versatility. He works with conference planners to develop a customized presentation that is useful, thought provoking, and entertaining, regardless of the type of industry. Whether it is in a major keynote speech to an audience of two thousand, or an intimate workshop for five, he has proven that he is a speaker who is versatile enough for any audience.
A Chartered Financial Analyst, Worzel is also a best-selling author of Who Owns Tomorrow? and frequent media commentator on business and economic trends.
Geoff Ward, FCSI
Geoff Ward is one of the most respected and innovative members of the Environmental Health profession. He has created one of the largest worldwide consultancy practice HMS Limited, which is now part of the National Britannia Group of Companies, supporting the hotel, catering and leisure sector. The Company consultants deliver the simplest, cost effective solutions to the complete arena of legal compliance.
Geoff is a career environmental health professional with over 30 years of professional experience and has worked in many sectors including Military, Local Government at Manchester City Council and with commercial experiences with Trusthouse Forte.
He is also a keen supporter of the profession in partnership with industry. He therefore seeks to promote dialogue between enforcement officials and the industry whenever possible. This partnership is demonstrated by his involvement as the Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health West of England Branch and branch member of Commercial & Industrial Special Interest Group and also a keen professional member of FCSI. Geoff also promotes chefs with EHOs at culinary competitions including Salon Culinaire de Londres.
Chris Sheppardson
Chris is the Managing Director and founder of Chess Partnership and Chess Executive, which is one of the Industry’s leading executive management recruitment concerns, with offices in London, Geneva, Edinburgh, Manchester and Nottingham. Chris was inspired to start his own business by a belief in the importance of individuals and in the principle of cultural fit within organizations.
Chris graduated from London University with a B.A Hons Degree in the mid eighties before entering the industry with J.Lyons. He moved into consultancy in 1989 and founded Chess in 1998.
“Most recruitment companies evolve around a database system, which is absolutely fine but in my eyes there is more to appreciate and understand. Recruitment is really about understanding culture, people and the market. Sounds simple but is really quite complex, which makes it a fascinating business to lead.”
Chris also oversees En Passant Magazine, which is circulated on a bi-monthly basis to over 6,000 industry professionals.
“The Hospitality Industry is never ever dull. The objective of the magazine is to try and talk about real issues and real people. The industry is full of great characters who have achieved success through trials and tribulations, of great creative talents, of extrovert and charismatic leaders who are passionate and committed. So often, the Industry talks itself down and yet it actually has so much to talk about.”
Gerald A. “Gerry” Fernandez
Gerry Fernandez is founder and president of the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance (MFHA), an educational and business resource that promotes the economic benefits of diversity and inclusion in the restaurant, foodservice and lodging industries. Gerry conducts lectures and workshops for some of America’s most powerful companies, organizations and brands.
Gerry began his career with General Mills in 1992 in research and development. He was promoted to National Account Sales in the fall of 1995. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Foodservice Management from Johnson & Wales University where he also earned a Culinary Arts degree in 1976.
Prior to joining General Mills, Gerry spent more than 10 years as senior manager of fine dining restaurants including The Capital Grille; Hemenway’s Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar and The Old Grist Mill Tavern. Earlier in his career, Gerry held various leadership positions in fine dining establishments including The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, The Harborside Inn on Martha’s Vineyard and the famed Royal’s Hearthside Restaurant in Rutland, Vermont.
Gerry is a director of the National Restaurant. He is an active member of the Women's Foodservice Forum, the American Culinary Federation, the Women’s Chefs & Restaurateurs and is a founding member of the Research Chefs Association. In 1999, he received an honorary doctorate in Business Administration from Johnson & Wales University and the Hermann G. Rusch Humanitarian Award from the American Culinary Federation. In 2000 he was named one of Nation's Restaurant News “50 Power Players”.
Dr. Sanjay Nagarkar
Founder and Scientific Advisor, Globex Biotech Limited. Dr Sanjay Nagarkar is a world-renowned microbiologist, ecologist & biotechnologist. Having first developed his research expertise in marine microbiology at the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India, Dr Nagarkar later developed a unique scientific expertise in laboratory-based microbiology and field-based ecology during his doctorate project at The University of Hong Kong and
post-doctoral assignment at Ottawa University, Canada and HKU. After working for almost 15 years at various universities, Dr. Nagarkar founded his own company, Globex Biotech Limited, in 2002.Dr. Nagarkar has developed over 83 technologies in Natural Products, Environment Assessment, Food Safety Verification and Quality Assurance (FSVQA) & Bioremediations. His vision is to create values and awareness in our society so that we can develop a perfect model of sustainable development. Based on the above vision, Dr. Nagarkar has participated in many revolutionary projects in his career ranging from national organic farming, malnutrition projects, thematic organic supermarkets, junior ecologist programs, green construction, and mid-day meal and lunch-box programs to many sustainable development projects around the world.
Dr. Nagarkar has worked as a consultant and scientist in the projects of the United Nations, UNICEF, UNEP, UNDP, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Health Organization and NASA. Dr. Nagarkar is a member of the International Visionary Committee of the Gujarat Biotechnology Development Mission of the Government of India, and Chairman of the International Visionary Expert Committee to advise various governments and industries on sustainable development and green farming.
Dr. Nagarkar advises environmental, ecological, biological, biomedical, chemical, agricultural and food industries for quality production and know-how to acquire ISO 9001-9002, ISO 14001, HACCP, GMP and other quality production certifications.
Rick Caron
Rick Caron joined Enodis in February 2005 as the Chief Technology Officer and has been instrumental in the continued success of innovation at Enodis. Using the New Product Development process, Rick has enabled Enodis to lead in new product development and compete on the basis of technology.
Prior to Enodis, Rick served Chief Executive Officer for the Moseley Corporation in Franklin, Massachusetts. Rick was also the President and Chief Executive Officer of TurboChef, Inc. in Dallas, Texas; prior to that he was in consulting at Arthur D. Little in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he was Managing Director of the Consumer Products Practice. During his 19 years at Arthur D. Little, Rick led many consulting assignments involving technology, strategy, and product development. He has many patents in the foodservice industry (automated frying system, rapid cooking).
Rick holds a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering Practice from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Detlef (Mike) Münchow
Dr. Detlef Münchow, has been executive vice-president of Electrolux AB in Stockholm since January 1999 and at the same time took over the position of President of Electrolux Professional.
In this role, which covered a number of professional businesses within the Electrolux Group, he restructured and partially divested existing businesses which led to the subsequent focus of Electrolux Professional on Food Service and Laundry Equipment.
In 2002 he took over direct responsibility of the Food Service operation as its President. He is based in Stockholm and Venice, Italy where he is occasionally called to lecture the Cà Foscari University students in economics on International Business and Leadership courses.
Originally from Germany Dr. Münchow has been working for many years in Switzerland, Great Britain and the United States with various companies. In his former capacity he used to be with FAG Bearings Corporation as an extended Board Member, later located in Danbury Connecticut.
Dr. Detlef Münchow holds an MBA and Ph.D. in Economics.
John McDonough
John McDonough is President, ITW Food Equipment Group –
His most recent prior assignment had been that of President, Foodservice Division of Hobart Corporation, a position he had held since October 2000. Previous positions at
Prior to
Mr. McDonough earned a Master of Management degree from the J.L.Kellogg Graduate School of Management at
Kerry Burnett FCSI
Kerry has been involved in catering design consultancy since 1989 working in some of the premier Catering Contractor’s design departments as well as independent project management and is currently a partner in the well established CDIS~KARM Consultancy practice.
During this time, Kerry has been involved in the delivery of design solutions across a wide range of market sectors from B&I to Education, military feeding to Fine Dining, ranging in value and complexity.
As a founding member of the Catering for a Sustainable Future Group (CSFG) back in March 2006, he is very aware of the challenges that face our industry to find innovative solutions for providing the required services in the most efficient, economic, environmental and sustainable way. The CSFG brings together various disciplines from across our industry working together with the mission statement “To provide the foodservice industry with a code of practice and guidelines for consideration towards energy efficiency and use of sustainable products.” It is the work of the CSFG that Kerry will be presenting, its achievements so far and goals for the future.