The judging panel for the World Dairy Innovation Awards 2022, in association with Zenith Global, has now been announced.
This year’s panel includes recognised and reputable names from across the global dairy industry and between them, they will be responsible for deciding the winners of the World Dairy Innovation Awards, taking place in June 2022.
There are 21 trophies to be won in total, and being shortlisted provides a hallmark of success that will prevail long after the awards draw to a close. To find out more information, including how to enter, click here.
A full list of the 2022 judges can be seen below.
Mike Ciresi
Dairy Scientist at Dairy Management Inc.
Mike Ciresi is a Senior Dairy Scientist at Dairy Management Inc. He has over a decade of experience in product development and innovation. Mike has served as a consultant to major restaurant and retail brands to expand their dairy platforms and product offerings.
Mike specialises in bringing new food and beverage experiences to life for consumers. His relentless creativity is inspired by the ever-changing global food and beverage trends as well as new and emerging technologies. He has a passion for creating solutions that provide opportunities for innovation.
Ciresi has a proven track record of developing and launching award-winning products that meet the needs of consumers. His ultimate goal is to continually delight consumers by developing delicious food and beverage products that are experiential and memorable.
Click here to view Mike’s LinkedIn profile
Shane Cooney
Head of R&D, Saputo Dairy Australia
Dr. Shane Cooney is a leader in Research & Development and FMCG Manufacturing with over 10 years of experience driving growth and profitability in commercial organisations in Australia, Ireland and China. Shane is currently Head of R&D at Saputo Dairy Australia where he leads a team to deliver new products from concept through to commercialisation.
Shane started his career with Danone working across Ireland and Europe before moving to Australia in 2014. Shane has a strong knowledge of the food manufacturing business having worked in operations, quality, capital projects, business development and R&D. Combining his unique experience in FMCG, nutritionals and food technology, Shane has a passion for innovation of value-add products.
Shane holds a B.Sc. (Hons.) Industrial Microbiology and PhD in Molecular Microbiology from University College Dublin. In addition, Shane currently serves on the Melbourne University Dairy Innovation Hub committee.
Click here to view Shane’s LinkedIn profile
Celine Daire
Application and Innovation Engineer, Bel Group
Celine has been working in Japan, for almost three years, for the French-family owned company, Bel Group. Celine has been interested in nutrition and cooking since she was young and she is always looking to create new recipes.
Celine graduated with a Food Science Engineer degree at ONIRIS in Nantes, France and specialised in Innovation Project Management. After graduating, Celine began to work for Bel as Application and Innovation Engineer in Tokyo. She is developing new recipes with a local factory, designing technical study to analyse their products compared to competitors, organising sensory sessions and she’s constantly looking at the trends and consumer habits.
Click here to view Celine’s LinkedIn profile
Yi Jiang
Dairy Marketing Director, Amcor
Yi is responsible for Dairy Marketing based in Amcor’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Yi joined Amcor in 2008 and held multiple roles in marketing, innovation and business development based in USA and Europe. Yi’s market knowledge spans across diverse consumer goods segments and is an active champion for Sustainability and Digitalisation. Yi holds an MBA from Henry B. Tippie School of Management, The University of Iowa, USA.
Click here to view Yi’s LinkedIn profile
Veronique Lagrange
Director, California Dairy Innovation Center, USA
Veronique has directed the new California Dairy Innovation Center (CDIC) since December 2020. The CDIC was formed by the California Milk Advisory Board, USA, to stimulate and support product-oriented innovation in the industry. The CDIC funds research, applications and training programs for the dairy industry, and support the “incubator” program for entrepreneurs and start-ups.
She worked for the American Dairy Products, USA (2018-2020) with a focus on educating American consumers on the superior benefits of dairy proteins, while also providing technical support to the industry. Previously, she spent over 20 years with the US Dairy Export Council, USA, where she ran business development, product and nutrition research programs in China, North and SE Asia, Mexico and Latin America.
She holds a BS in Food science and Nutrition, MS in Food Science, and completed professional engineering and management programs at George Washington University, Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She lives in Sacramento, California.
Click here to view Veronique’s LinkedIn profile
Dr Carolien van Loo-Bouwman
Innovation Manager, Yili
Carolien is the Innovation Manager Nutritional Sciences at Yili Innovation Centre Europe in the Netherlands, which is located on the Wageningen university campus. She obtained her PhD in Medical Sciences and MSc in Human Nutrition and Health. Since 2007 she has worked at the R&D of global dairy companies and was involved across all the scientific, product development and regulatory activities. In her current role she is involved in innovative dairy research at universities and maintaining relationships with ingredients companies to drive healthy food innovation.
Click here to view Carolien’s LinkedIn profile
Raquel Melo
Vice President of Product Innovation, Dairy Farmers of America
Raquel Melo is Vice President of Product Innovation at Dairy Farmers of America, the largest dairy cooperative in the United States. In that role, she is responsible for driving innovation strategy, new product development and go to market strategy for the Dairy Brands division, which represents DFA’s many retail and food service brands across multiple dairy categories.
Previously, Raquel was Vice President of Innovation and New Business Development at Land O’Lakes Inc. She began her marketing career at General Mills, Inc. She is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Business School. Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York City and New England, she has been happy to call Minneapolis, MN (USA) home for over 20 years.
Click here to view Raquel’s LinkedIn profile
Marcelo Pereira de Carvalho
Founder and CEO, AgriPoint
Marcelo Pereira de Carvalho is the founder and CEO at AgriPoint, a company that provides qualified information for the dairy market in Brazil through many channels: websites, symposiums and consulting services. Its website MilkPoint is the largest think tank for the dairy sector in Brazil, with over 100.000 subscribers. Its MilkPoint Mercado dairy market intelligence service has over 260 corporate customers.
Marcelo gave more than 300 talks in 19 countries in the last 10 years, on the following topics: Brazilian dairy market perspectives; World dairy trade and perspectives; Supply chain management in the dairy sector and milk promotion; strategy and dairy innovation.
Agronomist, graduated at the University of São Paulo (1992), with a master degree in Animal Sciences at the same University (1988) and a MBA through FIA – Fundação Instituto de Administração (2005).
Marcelo is also Co-founder of AgTech Garage, a connection hub for agtech startups and corporations in Brazil.
Click here to view Marcelo’s LinkedIn profile
Briony Rideout
Dairy and Beverage Innovation Specialist, I.T.S
With a background in food science and product development, Briony started her journey at Leeds University where she graduated with a BSC in Food Science and Nutrition (industrial) in 2017. She now works at I.T.S. an independent UK flavour house. Briony looks after the growing portfolio of dairy customers, working closely with both large national dairies and exciting start-up brands.
She works across a wide range of applications helping to improve the taste in both dairy and dairy alternative products. Briony also manages I.T.S.’ UHT pilot facility to stress test flavourings and run customer trials.
When she’s not busy in the lab, she’s out exploring the dairy market for all the latest trends and new product releases. Outside of work Briony enjoys spending time in the kitchen baking celebratory cakes, catching up with family and friends, exploring new places and getting lost in a good book.
Click here to view Briony’s LinkedIn profile
Sumit Saurav
Head of Marketing, Fonterra Future Dairy Pvt. Ltd.
Sumit is a fast paced, entrepreneurial and performance driven Business and Marketing professional equipped with an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. Sumit has 10 years of rich experience in FMCG and consumer goods across diverse categories ranging from dairy, nutrition, foods, personal care and home care categories with a strong focus on brand building.
Sumit is currently working as the Marketing head for Fonterra Future Dairy Pvt. Ltd. Prior to this, he has successfully transformed brands like Park Avenue Fragrances, Farex, Protinex and Mangaldeep. With 10+ awards ranging across experiential marketing, communication, digital, print, packaging and strategy, Sumit is a creative enthusiast with a strong track record of delivering accelerated business & brand growth.
Sumit has been on the judging panel of reputed awards in marketing such as ET Brand Disruption Awards and WOW Awards Asia.
Click here to view Sumit’s LinkedIn profile
Tolga Sezer
Senior Executive and Advisor
Tolga Sezer is a senior executive and FMCG veteran with a proven track record in achieving revenue, profit, and business growth objectives within start-up, turnaround, transformation and challenging environments across ME & North Africa, East Europe and Central Asia.
He is currently leading transformation of a $1 billion USD F&B group whereas dairy category delivers majority of the turnover across Middle East and CIS markets.
Sezer has been CEO of Al Safi Danone between 2019 and 2021. A joint venture between Al Faisaliah Group of KSA and Groupe Danone of France. Between 2015 and 2018 he has been CEO of Aujan Coca-Cola Beverages Co. $750 million USD beverages business in 50/49 partnership with The Coca-Cola Company.
He has also held senior management roles in Unilever, Yıldız Holding (Ülker, Godiva, and United Biscuits) and Masafi Co. LLC
Tolga holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from Istanbul University and an Organisational Leadership degree from INSEAD.
Click here to view Tolga’s LinkedIn profile
Sian Yates
Senior Editor, FoodBev Media
Since joining FoodBev Media, Sian has witnessed numerous innovations in the dairy market, including a surge in functional products, plant-based alternatives, RTDs and even cell-based dairy.
Sian and the news team are constantly analysing and interpreting the latest trends and exciting developments in the industry. She will be looking for products, packaging and services that are truly disrupting the dairy market, and that serve the demands of today’s discerning consumers.
Click here to view Sian’s LinkedIn profile
Are you a dairy industry innovator worthy of our judges attention?
Enter the World Dairy Innovation Awards 2022 now!
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024
