The panel of dragons is made up of key figures from the UK food and drink industry and includes industrial, governmental, professional and media representatives.
Adam Harris
Research Fellow Chocolate Application, Mondelēz International
Adam's career at Mondelez spans over 25 years, during which he's designed and launched a diverse portfolio of confectionery products, his experience ranges from medicated confectionery formulations to pioneering groundbreaking technologies and novel ingredients. His current focus is on leading the product design response to the changing global regulatory landscape around wellbeing, ensuring product design in snacking and indulgent categories remains consumer-centric and delicious.
Ash Stretton
Food Regulatory Affairs Manager, Marks and Spencer
Ash has been in the food industry for 15+ years, working across production, operations, process, quality, technical, regulatory affairs and legal in manufacturing and retail. Ash is responsible for all things regulatory and compliance related in the food-side of M&S, previously chair of the IFST Regulatory Group, a Fellow of the Institute, a Registered Food Safety Principal and Chartered Scientist.
Chris Gilbert-Wood
IFST Judge
Chris is a professional Food Technologist with 40 years’experience in retail and manufacturing, having managed quality, food safety and sustainability in both own label and branded supply chains. Much of this time was spent working at the interface between agriculture and the primary processors. A Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology and a Registered Food Safety Principal, Chris is currently working as a consultant In the food industry, using experience and expertise to help others meet their objectives.
Clare Galvani-Neal
Head of Product Development Innovation, pladis
Clare brings over 17 years of experience in the food industry, with a diverse background that spans snack foods, petcare, R&D and procurement. Before joining pladis, she honed her skills at Mars, developing a deep passion for product innovation. In her current role she is leading her product development team in developing & delivering global breakthrough innovations across pladis.
Gavin Sharman
Product Development Manager, Weetabix
Gavin has 25+ years’ food development experience with breakfast cereals and products, he has wide know-how implementing product change from concept through to manufacture across ideation, recipe creation, quality management through to process solutions. Gavin currently leads a team of product developers accountable for delivering recipe change for Weetabix’s iconic brands whether that be new products or key renovation.
Laetitia Rocha
Global R&D Internal Capability Director, PepsiCo
Laetitia leads a cultural transformation initiative which spans Global R&D and PepsiCo, anchored in its pep+ strategy. In the last 20 years, she has managed a broad range of projects from front-end innovation, technology innovation to product launch, in Europe and Africa, for several FMCG.
Martin MacFarlane
R&D Director, Unilever
Martin has worked for Unilever for 20 years. He originally focussed on ensuring the safety of products and manufacturing for consumers, employees and the environment for various products across Personal Care and Foods. He then moved to Ice Cream R&D, developing recipes and technologies to give new consumer benefits and experiences. After 4 years as Head of R&D for the Europe, AMESAA and NASEA regions in the Pepsi Lipton Joint Venture, Martin returned to Ice Cream where he now leads the Global Ingredients & Formulation Team.
Matthew Bandar
Head of Technical – Meat, Fish, Poultry & Eggs, Tesco
Matthew has over 11 years’ experience in the Food Quality & Technical team at Tesco, following a successful seven-year career within the facilities management sector. At Tesco, he has held various Head of Technical positions across both Fresh & Ambient product areas. Matthew is currently responsible for leading a team within the Meat, Fish, Poultry & Eggs category, managing supplier strategy, supply chain resilience, food quality & safety, as well as close links with sustainability & agriculture initiatives.
Nabil El Bouzrati
Chief Engineer for Confectionery, Nestlé Product Technology Centre
Nabil has close to thirty years of experience in food manufacturing and operations covering various businesses across a wide cultural and environmental backgrounds. Currently, he serves as the Confectionery Product Technology Centre and Strategic Business Unit Chief Engineer, where he plays a crucial role in shaping the future of confectionery products. Nabil is responsible for developing and implementing innovative solutions, processes, and packaging concepts while also providing technical support to Nestle factories worldwide.
Peter Headridge
CEO, Campden BRI
Peter is the current CEO of Campden BRI and has worked in the food industry for over 30 years. Peter has a pedigree of 22 years of executive experience within the Kellogg company in various technical and commercial roles and latterly was a member of the European Executive Leadership Team. Before joining Campden BRI he was Vice President of R&D, Quality, Nutrition & Regulatory for the EMEA Region at Kellogg.
Sam Millar
Director of Quality, Warburtons Ltd.
Sam is the Director of Quality for Warburtons Ltd, responsible for product and packaging quality, food safety and regulatory compliance. Sam is a Board Director of the Federation of Bakers Ltd, has served as a Board Director for the Cereals & Grains Association (AACCI) and is a Fellow of the IFST as well as the Academy of the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC).
Verena Schwick
Scientific & Regulatory Affairs Senior Manager UK & Ireland, Coca-Cola
Verena has over 15 years’ experience in Scientific and Regulatory Affairs in leading food companies including Kraft Foods, Mondelez and Pladis. As a Senior Manager for Scientific & Regulatory Affairs at the Coca-Cola company, her responsibilities include ensuring compliance of formulations, ingredients, products, packages, labels, claims, and communications for the UK, Ireland and European Innovation. Verena is also supporting regulatory advocacy initiatives.
Victoria March
Product Development Manager, Sainsbury's
Victoria is a retail product development specialist with 17 years’ experience in the food industry. Victoria has spent the last 10 years as a product development manager at Sainsbury’s leading the concept to launch process across various grocery and fresh categories including desserts, meat, fish and poultry and most recently prepared ready meals. Victoria has vast experience in the industry having worked on both the manufacturing and retail sides including experience at Greencore, Asda and McDonalds.
Preliminary judging
All entries will be carefully reviewed and then shortlisted by a panel of judges with expertise in new product development:
Vince Craig
Managing Director, Meadowbrae Technical Services
Julian Cooper
Owner/ Director, 342 Consulting Limited
Simon Chattock
Head of Vendor Assurance, Compass Group UK & Ireland Ltd
Carol Phillips
Retired Professor
Kelvin Thomson
Consultant and Workplace Assessor/Trainer, Pinnacle Food and Drink Services
Steve Timms
Commercial Development Manager, Food & Nutrition, Brenntag UK & Ireland
If you are an IFST member and would like to be put yourself forward as a preliminary judge, please contact us.