Speaker profile coming soon.

Speaker profile coming soon.

Bill Gerlach is research and development director at Melissa's World Variety Produce. Los Angeles-based Melissa's is the largest speciality produce wholesaler in the US. It services all major retail chains coast to coast with over 1,200 items of speciality produce. To diversify the American diet, Bill searches the world for new plant germplasm, edible species and finished varieties. Much of his work in Central and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia involves interacting with local growers, national agricultural authorities and USDA-APHIS to identify and develop plant species for quarantine clearance and importation.

Flavio Alzueta is the global marketing and communication manager of GlobalGAP, which annually certifies more than 110,000 producers around the world. Flavio manages relationships with producers, retailers and foodservice buyers to share the benefits of the certification programme and enhance communication among the organisation's growing membership base. Based in Germany, he is an Argentinean citizen who has held sales and marketing positions in the fresh produce industry for seven years, most recently at a Spanish co-operative based in Almeria.

Abdulatif Al-Ayoub is operations director at Bioconservación, the world's largest producer of air purification systems for the preservation of fruit and vegetables in storage and transit. Through partnerships with major produce suppliers Abdulatif has been pivotal in helping Bioconservación produce filters that became the industry standard for a highly effective low-cost method of extending shelf life. Prior to Bioconservación, Abdulatif was operations director at Sensitech UK for 12 years. His major accomplishment has been the publication of best cold-chain practices that are used throughout Europe today.

David Williams has been the head of the agriculture office at the US consulate in Mumbai since 2010. This is his second tour in India, having previously been assigned to the US embassy in New Delhi from 1993 to 1997. His other foreign assignments include Mexico City and Dubai. In conjunction with colleagues at the embassy in New Delhi, David represents the US department of agriculture in India.

Vivek Dhume is director of Future Group, India's largest organised retail company. With master's degrees in personal management, and retail management and international marketing, and over 25 years of experience in retail and the fresh produce industry, Vivek is an expert in developing and bridging the gap between growers and international retail chains. He has pioneered many successful models to help growers meet retail chains' expectations around food safety, pre- and post-harvest technical knowledge, packaging and logistics.

Speaker profile coming soon.

Speaker profile coming soon.

John Giles is a divisional director of Promar International, a consultation and research group operating in the agricultural, food and drink sectors and a subsidiary of the leading agribusiness and technical services company, Genus - ABS. Educated at the University College of Wales, Giles has been with the company for over 18 years.

In the fruit and vegetable sector, he has worked on assignments for temperate, tropical, exotic and ethnic products with both fresh and processed products.

John has been appointed a visiting fellow at the School of Agriculture, Food and the Environment at Cranfield University, and is also chairman of the UK Chartered Institute of Marketing's Food, Drink and Agriculture Group.  He is also the vice-chair of the Institute of Agricultural Management.

Speaker profile coming soon.

Peter Beaven has been chief executive of Pipfruit NZ, the industry organisation for apples and pears, since 2005. He is also a member of the executive of the International Pink Lady Alliance and deputy chair of the World Apples and Pears Association. His main task for NZ growers and exporters has been to improve market access and production systems, and to represent them in a range of domestic and international forums.

John Baker is the chief executive of Produce Marketing Australia, which he established in 1998 to provide marketing, promotion and consultancy services to the international fresh produce industry. He has more than 30 years of experience in fresh produce production and marketing. For Washington apples and potatoes, and northwest US pears and cherries, John has delivered over 100 retail training workshops to almost 200 retail groups in 14 countries. From 1989 to 1998 he was managing director (and marketing manager) of the Australian Horticultural Corporation. Before that he was secretary (general manager) of Sydney wholesale markets, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.