WASHINGTON, DC – The Morning Business Session during the American Bakers Association (ABA) 2017 Convention will kick off with an energetic panel, “Disruption – Business as Unusual.”
On March 27, Cyrille Filott, Global Strategist for Consumer Foods at RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness, will moderate a panel discussion on the variety of disruptions the baking business is encountering, including fast and vast changes in commerce, consumer preferences and the supply chain. The panelists joining him on the stage will be Jean-Manuel Leveque, CEO of Delifrance; Danielle Gould, Founder and CEO of Food+Tech Connect; Aline Clavellina, Vice President of New Businesses and Global Brand Head of Health & Wellness for Grupo Bimbo; and Ashleigh Michaels, Corporate Executive R&D Chef for RaceTrac Petroleum, Inc. They will explore the changes the baking industry is seeing with the consumer, consumer preferences and the channels used to connect with the consumer. These business-minded experts will also discuss the change, if any, that disruption in the baking industry is causing and how the industry can adjust to it.
“I think attendees will find this panel discussion very provocative, especially on the topic of emerging growth opportunities, which I believe is top of mind for all bakers these days,” said ABA President and CEO Robb MacKie.
Filott is a business economist with a great deal of experience in fund management and equity research. He joined the research team at RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness in 2008 and has been a strategist for the Consumer Foods sector since 2014. Cyrille earned a Master’s degree in Economics from Erasmus University in Rotterdam. He also holds a VBA designation.
Leveque began his career in 1983 in the milling business in France before joining the flour export department, where he was in charge of exporting large quantities of flour to third-world countries. He became Managing Director of this subsidiary in 1995. He then joined Délifrance, where he was initially responsible for the development of its international development for five years. Then, for the last 13 years, he has held the position of CEO of DELIFRANCE, thereby playing an active role in the company's growth, through both organic and external growth in France, Europe and Asia. He is Vice-President of the French Federation of Industrial Bakers ( F.E.B.) and is the current President of the A.I.B.I (International Association of Plant Bakeries), based in Brussels.
Gould believes technology, collaboration and innovative business models are key to creating a better future for food. In 2009, she started Food+Tech Connect to help people get the information and connections they need to re-engineer the food system. In 2010, she hosted the first food hackathon, and she continues to work with game-changing companies like Applegate, Google and Chipotle to build a community of innovators tackling big challenges through hackathons. Most recently, she launched Food+Tech Ed, a learning community dedicated to helping food entrepreneurs build and grow successful businesses. She is a founding member of the Culinary Institute of America's Business Leadership Council, a member of the Google Innovation Lab For Food Experiences and a mentor for Accel Foods and Food-X.
Clavellina graduated with honors in Systems Engineering and also with top MBA studies at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. She has extensive experience with the Latin-American market in food business as well as the beauty care business. She started her professional career in 1991 at Procter & Gamble. In her current position at Grupo Bimbo, she is in charge of generating new business models to grow new food categories within the health and wellness spectrum. She is also in charge of Global Brand and M&A opportunities assessment worldwide for this category, testing new revenue channels and accelerating global group progress through digital collaborative tools and externally focused networks.
After graduating from culinary school, “Chef Ashleigh” fell in love with the science and creativity found in culinary research and development. She joined the Schwan’s Foodservice R&D team where she was able to develop her knowledge behind the science of ingredients and gain a strong understanding of food manufacturing. With a history of high-ranking R&D positions for different food manufacturers, as well as the experience of running her own consulting business, today Michael’s culinary repertoire ranges widely between Food Manufacturing, QSR, CPG/Licensed products and most recently, Convenience Store Food Programs and Offers. In 2016, Michaels accepted a position as the Corporate Executive R&D Chef at RaceTrac Petroleum Inc.
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About the 2017 Stronger Together Convention:
The premier annual gathering of the baking industry, the 2017 ABA Convention will take place March 26 – March 29 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton, Fla. This annual event is where top industry leaders participate in business seminars to cement best practices, connect with the latest trends, engage with industry colleagues to share ideas peer-to-peer, and determine the best solutions for baking issues. Find more information at www.americanbakers.org/2017ABAConvention. Follow the convention with #ABAConvention
About the American Bakers Association:
The American Bakers Association (ABA) is the Washington D.C.-based voice of the wholesale baking industry. Since 1897, ABA has represented the interests of bakers before the U.S. Congress, federal agencies, and international regulatory authorities. ABA advocates on behalf of more than 700 baking facilities and baking company suppliers. ABA members produce bread, rolls, crackers, bagels, sweet goods, tortillas and many other wholesome, nutritious, baked products for America’s families. The baking industry generates more than $102 billion in economic activity annually and employs more than 706,000 highly skilled people.
Source: American Bakers Association
