I am the global senior merchant over Candy and Functional Snacks at Whole Foods Market. Prior to joining Whole Foods Market in March of 2017, I spent 6 years at Target, Amazon, and General Mills in a variety of merchandising and marketing roles. I am proud alumni of The Ohio State University where I completed my Bachelor’s Degree, and The Monte Ahuja College of Business at Cleveland State University where I completed my MBA.

Katie is currently Vice President, Category Management & Growth Solutions at KeHE Distributors, where she develops supplier and retailer category management solutions based on analytics, consumer insights, and category trends. Katie has been serving at KeHE for ten years and has held positions in Analytics, Pricing, Integration, Category Management, and Smart Growth Solutions. Katie received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Marketing from Western Michigan University. In 2015, Katie was named one of Griffin Report’s Food Marketing “40 Under 40” in 2015. She received her EMBA degree in Food Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University in June 2017 and is currently applying that knowledge back into the industry.

Heidi Traore has been a passionate member of the natural products industry since the late 1980s and currently serves as business development manager for National Co+op Grocers (NCG), a business services and purchasing co-op with $2.1 billion in annual sales serving 145 US retail food co-op members. An established sales and marketing professional, Heidi worked with NCG’s category management team on solidifying a fact based business approach through targeted bi-annual business planning events that have enhanced business relationships and created efficiencies for her organization and its partners. Under her leadership, NCG promotional program revenue grew 69% over a four-year period. Through collaborations within cooperative supply chains, Heidi has been instrumental in bringing exclusive products produced by co-ops or made with cooperatively sourced ingredients to market at retail food co-ops. In her current role, she introduces new and emerging brands to NCG and works to promote the vital role that food co-ops play in the natural products industry. Heidi strives to be an agent of change and is a fervent supporter of inclusivity in society. When she’s not at work, you may find her on the floor of a West African or Latin based dance class, or roller skating with her daughter and grandchildren.

Bentley is a driven entrepreneur who loves helping emerging, mission-driven consumer brands scale. He is the CEO of Good Eggs, an online grocery delivery service that’s pioneering a new way for customers to feed their families, without settling. After spending time with Johnson & Johnson and Clif Bar, Bentley joined the early executive team at Plum Organics. In less than 7 years, Plum grew to become the largest organic baby & kids food co. in the US, and was acquired by the Campbell Soup Co in 2012. Originally from just north of Boston, he now lives in Marin, California and spends his free time exercising outdoors, eating tasty food and laughing with his two young sons.

Gail Becker is the Founder and CEO of CAULIPOWER and Vegolutionary Foods. Already well known in professional circles, Gail’s career reached the highest levels of media, politics and business - including executive roles at Warner Bros., The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and Edelman. But as a mom of two boys with celiac disease, Gail was not happy with the gluten-free options available to her family. Who wants pizza that’s full of sugar and chemicals, or doesn’t taste anything like pizza, or takes 90 minutes to make? Seeing that the food industry offered no nutritious solutions for busy, foodie families to enjoy together, Gail took matters into her own hands and launched CAULIPOWER in early 2017. CAULIPOWER disrupted one of grocery’s most stagnant categories and is now the #1 gluten-free pizza and #1 fastest growing pizza brand in the U.S., with availability in over 22,000 stores. Earlier this year, CAULIPOWER was honored with Walmart’s “Supplier of the Year, Innovation” award. In 2018, Gail launched a new mother brand, Vegolutionary Foods, as a platform for innovative, approachable and convenient meal-hacking products, including the world’s first superfood toast, Sweet PotaTOASTS. Gail is a passionate advocate for new entrepreneurs, women in business and making vegetable nutrition accessible and delicious to all - especially kids.

Jaime Athos is a visionary and passionate leader in the plant-based foods industry. With more than 14 years of experience building and supporting its growth, Athos is energized by the ever-increasing opportunity and adoption of plant-based foods worldwide. Prior to his current role as President and CEO at The Tofurky Company, Athos held a variety of other positions within the brand that is also his family’s business, from a college summer job making tempeh to roles in quality assurance, research and development, and operations. As a category leader Tofurky serves a purpose beyond the plate, acting as an engine for global change. Athos exemplifies and manifests this change by way of plant-based political activism, eco-friendly manufacturing, and pursuit of food innovation that helps people to make better choices for farm animals, the environment and health. Athos holds a Doctoral degree in neurobiology and behavior from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Science degree in fish biology from the same. He is a founding member of the Plant Based Foods Association, where he currently serves as president of the Board. The association aims to ensure a fair and competitive market place for all businesses selling plant-based foods, promoting policies and practices that improve opportunities for the industry, and educating consumers.

Natasha Case founded Coolhaus in 2009 with Freya Estreller after she was working in architecture at Walt Disney Imagineering. They launched their architecturally-inspired, unique ice cream sandwich company from their barely driveable postal van at the Coachella Music Festival to an audience of 100,000. They built a loyal following over the festival weekend and returned to LA to an abundance of viral press, a rapidly building social media following, and an eager foodie audience. Since then, Natasha has been named a Forbes 30 under 30 Food & Beverage, Zagat 30 Under 30, Linked in 10 under 35 for Food & Leisure, as well as being featured in many national publications and radio like Cosmo, Dwell, and NPR, and TV shows including Food Network’s Chopped, Barefoot Contessa, Unique Sweets, Good Morning America, King of Cones, Andy Cohen Live and many more. The company has become one of the leading innovative small dessert businesses, growing significantly to include 4 trucks and 2 storefronts in LA, 2 trucks and one cart in NYC, and 4 trucks in Dallas, Texas. Moreover, consumers can now find Coolhaus’ pre-packaged ice cream sandwiches, hand-dipped bars, and hand-packed pints in 6,000+ gourmet grocery stores nationally, including Whole Foods and Gelson's, and larger retailers like Meijer and Safeway, and now internationally in Asia and the Middle East.

Proven entrepreneur and innovator, Keith Belling is the founder and CEO of RightRice, the breakthrough vegetable rice grain that launched nationally in February 2019 with Whole Foods Markets and on Amazon and is now available in all Kroger banners nationwide and other leading retailers. Keith is also the founder and former CEO of popchips, the innovative popped-snack company that launched in 2007 and was named one of “America’s Hottest Brands” by Advertising Age. Keith is on the Board of Directors of Restoration Hardware and has launched and led a variety of businesses including AllBusiness.com and has been an advisor, providing strategic counsel and/or an investor in a variety of innovative consumer and technology companies ranging from AllBusiness.com, Olly and Modern Meadow to JUST Foods and Ripple. Like popchips, which Keith led to almost $100 million in revenues in just over five years, RightRice redefines another household favorite. RightRice is a complete, plant-based protein that’s made from vegetables and has more than double the protein, five times the fiber and almost 40% fewer net carbs than a bowl of white rice, and comes in Original and four already seasoned flavors (Lemon Pepper, Spanish, Garlic Herb and Thai Curry). RightRice is quickly gaining awards and acclaim, including being named “Best Plant-Based Food” by PEOPLE magazine in 2019. Keith, based in San Francisco, is a graduate of the University of California at Davis and holds a J.D.from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.