Plenary Speakers

Customer Director-Food, Beverage & Consumer Goods (Mid-North Island)

Originally a farmer from Hawkes Bay, Craig leads teams who are growing businesses in the biological and manufacturing value chains. He has worked internationally in Board and Executive capacities with Lion, Cadbury, Yoplait, Dr Pepper/7Up and Heinz; and is currently a leader with New Zealand’s international business development organisation,NZTE. He’s Chair of the Industry Advisory Panel for the High Value Nutrition National Science Challenge developing scientifically-proven health foods; Chair of the Industry Advisory to MPI for development of the F&B ITP; and a Board Member of the NZ Product Accelerator, assisting businesses commercialise new designs and manufacturing methods. He’s a member of the MBIE College of Assessors,and a graduate of Massey University (NZ) and of Thunderbird School of Global Management (Arizona, USA)

Professor Marriott’s research commenced at LaTrobe University (Ph.D.) then continued at Bristol (Postdoc). Academic appointments include the National University of Singapore, then in Melbourne at RMIT and Monash University.His primary research is in comprehensive two-dimensional GC (GC×GC) and multidimensional GC,and mass spectrometry, including fundamental development and a broad applications base. Foods, flavours and beverage analysis feature strongly amongst key directions for the advanced separations technologies he has developed.

Kathy Glass joined the Food Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985 and currently serves as Associate Director. Her primary role is to work with the food industry to develop and validate formulation-safe foods. Kathy is an active member of several advisory committees and professional associations including the National Advisory Committee for the Microbiological Criteria of Foods and the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP). She has served as Past-President of IAFP and its Wisconsin affiliate, is the recipient of the 2011 IAFP Fellow Award, the 2017 National Cheese Institute Laureate Award, and 2019 Wisconsin Meat Hall of Fame. In addition,Kathy is a regular instructor at workshops on challenge studies, Listeria control methods,and dairy and meat safety. She earned her Doctorate in Food Microbiology and Safety at the UW-Madison, focusing on formulation safety of pasteurized process cheese products.Kathy has more than 155 invited presentations, 97 technical abstracts, 60 peer-reviewed publications, and three book chapters.

Warren McNabb is a Professor of Nutritional Sciences at the Riddet Institute, a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE), hosted by Massey University. His research interests include nutritionfor health, sustainable nutrition, human-microbiome interactions, physiology and metabolism.Warren leads several programmes including the MBIE-funded, New Zealand Milks Mean More and the Sustainable Nutrition Initiative. Warren is also an Associate Investigator in the HVN National Science Challenge, Healthy Digestion and Infant Health. His focus is on food structures-nutrient digestion interactions, clinical investigations of nutrition, and sustainable nutrition.Warren has had a long career in food science and has published >200 scientific papers with >15,000 citations. Warren is a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, a member of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology, a member of the American Society of Nutrition and the Canadian Nutrition Society, and has served on national and international research advisory and funding panels.

Juliet trained at Oxford University and moved to Aotearoa in 1993 where her career hasincluded roles in both Crown Research Institutes and universities. Juliet’s research background is broad and interdisciplinary, with particular interests in fundamental and applied protein science. She has held an Industry and Outreach Fellowship with Callaghan Innovation, founded a start-up company, chaired the Marsden Council,served on the Board of Directors of Plant and Food Research, and is currently on the Board of Te Papa.Since Juliet’s appointment in 2018 as the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Kaitohutohu Mātanga Pūtaiao Matua ki te Pirimia, she has worked from a base of four founding principles: rigour, inclusivity, transparency, and accessibility. She has supported the science and science advisor community to provide advice to the PM, ministers, and the public on a wide range of topics, including advice on the Christchurch mosque shootings, the response to the Whakaari| White Island eruption,the Cannabis referendum, rheumatic fever and the Covid-19 pandemic.The Office has released three major reports,Rethinking plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand,The future of commercial fishing in Aotearoa New Zealand, and Kotahitanga - Uniting Aotearoa against infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance and has a current focus on food waste.

Lain Jager is best known for his time with the hugely successful kiwifruit marketer Zespri where he was CEO from 2008 to 2017. During his tenure as CEO Zespri grew strongly through the impact and recovery from the bacterial vine disease Psa, grower returns doubled, and the share price grew from$1.00 to $8.00.Today, Lain is involved in a range of investment projects in Tourism and Agribusiness, serves as a Director on several Boards, was the Chairman of the Primary Sector Council which produced the Fit for a Better World Report focused on the New Zealand Food and Fibre Sector, and is the Co-Chair of Te Puna Whakaaronui – a Food and Fibre think tank. Lain and his wife Debra live on a lifestyle block in Tauranga, New Zealand.

Brett Cowan has a diverse background including an honours degree in mechanical engineering, registration as a medical practitioner, studies in theology and ancient history, and an MBA from the University of Auckland.Brett is ESR’s Chief Scientist on the senior leadership team responsible for leading research and he has taken on significant responsibilities in supporting the COVID-19 response and research activities for New Zealand.Brett was previously the General Manager of Business at Auckland UniServices Limited, the commercial arm of the University of Auckland. Prior to this he was Associate Professor and Head of Radiology also at the University of Auckland where he set up and directed the internationally recognised Centre for Advanced MRI.He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in clinical trials, medical imaging, machine learning and computational modelling, and is the recipient of over 30 academic and business awards including innovation in medicine for neurosurgical equipment and medical diagnostic software. He has taught ethics at the University of Auckland and was previously deputy chair of the Human Participants Ethics Committee..

General Manager, Risk Management and Intelligence Food Standards Australia New Zealand

Glen is responsible for the risk management and intelligence functions associated with developing food standards. This includes labelling, contaminants, composition, additives and foods requiring preapproval such as novel foods, public health nutrition standards, and the economics and social science inputs to standards development. 

His background is in public health and he has held a range of leadership positions within New Zealand’s central government food and biosecurity authorities, such as the Ministry for Primary Industries. 

Glen thinks that the megatrends of the increasing integration of global food supplies, emerging risks, increased attention on foods role in public health and tightening public sector budgets are strong forces that drive the need for increased collaboration, agility and creativity. 

He is currently a member of the Singapore Food Story Advisory Panel and represents the work of FSANZ on a FAO Technical Working Group on cell-based food products.