Charles Coristine is changing the way we think about snacking. As the President and CEO of LesserEvil Snacks, located in Danbury, CT, Charles channels his passions for mindfulness and healthy living into creating snacks and a brand that inspires those same virtues in others. He believes LesserEvil’s success, aside from it being a vertically integrated company, is deeply rooted in a strong company culture and high capital efficiency - focusing on profitability and not just growth. He delights in finding innovative ways to nourish the company and, more importantly, the 270+ employees in all of their personal and professional pursuits.

Denise is the Founder and CEO of Partake Foods, a natural food company that was inspired by her daughter’s experience with food allergies. Launched in 2017, Partake’s first product — delicious, better for you, allergy-friendly cookies — can now be found in more than 13,000 retailers including Target, Kroger, and Whole Foods Market. Partake's offerings have since expanded to include graham crackers and pancake & waffle mixes. Denise is the first Black woman to raise more than $1 Million publicly for a CPG food startup. To date, the company has raised over $20M from investors including HER, Rihanna, CircleUp Growth Partners, FF2032 and Marcy Venture Partners. Partake was named #151 on the Inc 5000 list in 2023. Prior to launching Partake, Denise spent a decade in consumer packaged goods at various Fortune 100 companies. She is also the founder of 501c3, Black Futures Fellowship, an annual program that matches active HBCU students with paid internships in the CPG food & beverage industry. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jeremy, and daughter, Vivienne. She graduated with her BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Arizona State University.

Kevin Lee is a co-founder of immi, which invented the world's first low carb, high protein, and 100% plant based instant ramen. He previously led better-for-you food & beverage investing at Pear VC and is an angel investor in 40+ companies. He grew up working alongside his grandparents on their produce farms in Taiwan.

Osher is currently the Chief Marketing Officer for KIND® North America. He joined KIND® in September from Mars Snacking where he led M&A strategy as Vice President of Global Business Development. Osher was a key architect of Mars’ H&W Snacking Unit through the development and execution of the global KIND® partnership in 2017, Mars’ majority stake in 2020, the Nature’s Bakery® acquisition in 2020, and most recently the acquisition of trü frü® in 2023. He has also been a driver of Mars’ emerging channels strategy and a pioneer of progressive models in critical growth geographies. Prior to his role in Business Development, Osher was the Global Head of Strategy for Mars Snacking and was a brand builder and business leader in Mars Snacking North America. During his time in North America, Osher led the marketing, planning, and execution on a $1.5B multi-brand portfolio consisting of SNICKERS®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, 3MUSKETEERS® and SKITTLES®. Under his leadership, this portfolio experienced strong Quality Growth, adding more than $300M of Sales and 500 basis points of Earnings. Osher is widely recognized for developing and launching SNICKERS® ‘You’re Not You When You Are Hungry,’ which achieved the #1 Super Bowl ad in 2010 and is regarded as one of the most enduring and iconic campaigns in snacking over the past decade. In a career with Mars that spans 20 years, Osher is known for putting people and culture at the heart of the business to deliver exceptional results. Before joining Mars, Osher was in JPMorgan’s Retail and Consumer Investment Banking Group. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Binghamton University and an MBA from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Ayeshah Abuelhiga is the founder and CEO of Mason Dixie Foods, the fastest-growing comfort food brand in the U.S., best known for its clean label biscuits, sandwiches and waffles. Following a successful career in tech leading projects for iconic brands like Audi and Toshiba, Ayeshah left the corporate world. As a first-generation American, Ayeshah proudly watched her Asian and Middle Eastern immigrant parents serve quality comfort food at their small carry-out restaurant and convenience store. She started Mason Dixie Foods in 2014 with the vision to change comfort food for the better, replicating the clean ingredients used in her family’s kitchen while growing up. Ayeshah has rapidly scaled Mason Dixie Foods from a small beloved pop-up restaurant to a multi-million dollar nationally distributed CPG brand. Today, Mason Dixie’s products are carried at over 6,000 stores across the US, including Target, Publix, Kroger, Costco and Whole Foods, and served at 3,000 Marriott Select Brand Hotels nationwide. Recognized as the NOSH Person of the Year and an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Mid-Atlantic Finalist, Ayeshah has established herself as a leading voice in the CPG community and beyond. A passionate advocate for inclusive leadership, Ayeshah co-founded Project Potluck in 2020, with the goal to help people of color build successful careers and companies in the CPG industry. She remains active in the Baltimore community, volunteering her time with local organizations like Rainbow Families and the Franciscan Center of Baltimore. Ayeshah regularly speaks at events nationwide on topics related to AAPI leadership, DEI, and entrepreneurship. She’s spoken at SXSW, EXPO West and the EY Strategic Growth Forum, among others.

Wayne Wu is a General Partner at VMG Partners. VMG works intimately with founders and leaders of branded consumer product companies, providing the resources and guidance needed to propel them to their next level of growth and value. Beyond capital, Wayne provides a value-added investment philosophy that pulls from his decades of experience, strategic guidance, and passionate focus to help our partners accelerate growth, brand awareness, and achieve their own definition of success. VMG has worked closely and successfully with brands such as Ancient Nutrition, Drunk Elephant, Humm Kombucha, Justin's, KIND, Nature's Bakery, Perfect Snacks, Quest, and Spindrift, to name a few. Wayne is energized by the next generation of innovative, consumer product entrepreneurs, and looks forward to helping them fully realize their vision. Wayne is based in San Francisco, CA.

Dario Wolos was born in Elmira, New York and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, his mother’s hometown. He grew up traveling across Mexico with his family, who often hosted international guests and introduced them to Mexican food and culture. Dario’s experience spending time between Mexico and abroad instilled a passion for Mexico’s people and laid the foundation for his ambition to share Mexico’s distinctive culture and traditions beyond its borders. Dario studied economics through high school and at Cornell University, and had internships at Magna International and Porsche AG that profoundly affected his views on company culture and branding. Prior to graduating, he joined the successful internet startup CCBN-StreetEvents, where he first built the Latin American operation and then led the development of the European Market from London through its sale to Thomson Reuters. Dario founded Tacombi in 2006 in Playa del Carmen as a beach side taco stand, with a global vision to share Mexican hospitality through restaurants and products, while investing back into Mexican communities. Today, Tacombi has more than a dozen limited-service taquerias across New York City, Miami and Greater Washington, D.C., with new openings set for later this year and beyond. In 2015, Dario founded Tacombi’s first CPG business Vista Hermosa, a line of high quality products, made from simple, non-GMO and organic ingredients, when he couldn’t find authentic products for the taquerias. Vista Hermosa products are used across the Tacombi menu and sold in retail. The line includes tortillas and totopos (tortilla chips) and frozen burritas that are available at over 800 retail locations and expanding.  Dario’s commitment to aid Mexican communities is met through The Tacombi Foundation, a certified 501(c)3 charitable organization. As Tacombi opens in new cities, each taqueria participates in the Tacombi Community Kitchen, an arm of the foundation, that provides food for people in need by donating thousands of quality and reliable Mexican meals prepared by the taqueria kitchens.

Activism, acting and entrepreneurship are in Patrick Schwarzenegger’s DNA. He thoughtfully balances each passion through his work as an Alzheimer’s advocate, actor, investor and now — food founder. As a successful entrepreneur, Patrick is known for his trend-spotting abilities in the better-for-you food and beverage industry. He’s an active investor and advisor to numerous brands in the CPG space, including the 350+ fast-casual Blaze Pizza, fastest-growing coffee company Super Coffee, the recently Unilever-acquired Liquid I.V., Simulate, and many more. Patrick is committed to helping founders scale their emerging businesses to the next level, and now he is betting on himself alongside his mother Maria Shriver to do just that with the launch of their new brain health brand MOSH.

Mr. Ng is a Vice President in Houlihan Lokey’s Consumer, Food & Retail Group, focused on providing investment banking and M&A advisory services to consumer companies, with a specific focus on the high-growth emerging branded food & beverage / active nutrition space. Since joining Houlihan Lokey in 2014, Mr. Ng has worked on a variety of engagements including sell-side M&A transactions of some of the biggest category disrupters, other corporate finance assignments, and fairness opinions, including 25+ sell-side M&A transactions in the branded food and beverage space. Some notable high-profile transactions include category disrupting brands like TruFru, Dot’s Pretzels, Tate’s Bakeshop, Kodiak Cakes, Lily’s Sweets, Cholula, Skinny Pop, Angie’s Boom Chica Pop, Vive Organics, Gardein to big name CPGs like Mars, Hershey, Mondelez, McCormick, and ConAgra. Additionally, he invests significant time in networking and assisting entrepreneurs and previously competed on the Singapore National Team in Swimming and Waterpolo.

Charlotte Apps is the Global EVP of Bain’s Consumer Products practice and leads Bain’s work on Insurgent Brands. She has published a series of Bain studies on the impact of Insurgent Brands, with a specific focus on their unique growth model and implications for consumer packaged goods companies. She works with Consumer Product clients across related topics of brand acceleration, portfolio strategy, acquisitions and operating model, and advises Insurgent Brand diligences in both corporate and private equity settings. Charlotte joined Bain in 2006 and has worked extensively in both Europe and North America. Prior to joining Bain, she worked in investment banking at Merrill Lynch. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, and graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University with a BA in political science and economics. She currently lives in Toronto with her husband and three children.

Josh Wand is an entrepreneur who creates businesses that power the growth of consumer brands by connecting people, technology, and community. His entrepreneurial journey began in 2007 when he founded ForceBrands, the leader in strategic recruitment for consumer brands that offers a full spectrum of services for executive search, direct hire recruitment as well as a job board for consumer brand professionals. Through building consumer businesses, Josh recognized the lack of consistency and data around field activations and agency relations. This led him to launch PINATA in 2016, a task management software platform that optimizes operational field management and data transparency. As ForceBrands continues to innovate how talent and brands connect, new products and services have emerged. In 2021, ForceBrands launched goHire, a job board network that enables investment groups and membership organizations to provide their community with a real-time, branded career platform to attract, manage, and hire new talent. Launching in 2022, ForceBrands will introduce Impactful Search, a transformative Executive Search experience that fuels the acceleration of purpose-led companies by engaging and integrating catalytic leaders. In 2021, Josh, alongside fellow entrepreneurs, co-founded a specialized venture capital firm, The Family Fund and Founder Community (FFFC), that invests alongside top-tier firms and repeat entrepreneurs.

Kathryn Peters has served SPINS for over 15 years across numerous key areas of the growing business. Her commitment to and passion for retail and our industry inspires her work developing and sustaining valuable relationships across the ecosystem. Kathryn’s insight into helping retailers, brands and partners succeed with SPINS is informed by her previous vice president roles in merchandising and marketing at Ahold and BI-LO, LLC. as well as years of category management and sales experience with retailers during her time with Ralston Purina.

Sean Kelly is a three-time INC 500 founder & entrepreneur whose businesses have generated over $200M in revenue in the eCommerce, SaaS & B2B service categories. In addition to being a General Partner at The Family Fund, he’s currently CEO of the demand generation agency, LeadRoller. Previously, Sean served as the Chairman & CSO of Caroo - a SaaS platform & CPG marketplace that provides companies with employee recognition solutions. Sean was also the Co-Founder & CEO of SnackNation, a health-focused foodservice company & emerging brand discovery platform. SnackNation was named one of the country’s Best Workplaces by Inc. Magazine, a Top Company Culture by Entrepreneur Magazine, and a Certified Great Workplace by Great Place to Work®. Forbes magazine has named Sean one of the top 30 leaders under 30 and one of America’s most promising CEOs under 35, and he’s been recognized by Comparably as one of the country’s top 50 small-to-medium sized business CEOs. Sean is a two-time national medalist in freestyle snowboarding, sits on the advisory board of growth capital firm Meaningful Partners, holds a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University, and lives in Venice, CA with his wife and college sweetheart Shannon and their goldendoodle Jameson.

As the Vice President of Merchandising at Gopuff, Max Crowley is responsible for overseeing the strategy and execution of product assortment, promotions, pricing, and digital placement to drive sales and provide a relevant, compelling assortment for customers. Max has extensive experience in creating, launching, and scaling startups. He joined Gopuff in 2020 following the acquisition of Bandit, a mobile-app-only coffee shop concept he co-founded. Under his leadership as CEO, Bandit, which integrated technology into the coffee retail experience, grew its presence in New York City before expanding to Austin, Texas. Prior to Bandit, Max spent seven years at Uber, starting as the 25th employee in 2011. He played a pivotal role in establishing Uber's operations in Chicago, the company's fourth market, and subsequently launched and led Uber for Business, which evolved into a significant division for the company.

Arnulfo Ventura focuses on driving shareholder value as CEO for mid-stage consumer packaged goods companies where his experience over the last sixteen years in the industry spans across eight brands comprising fourteen different categories, including scaling companies ranging from start-up to nine-figure revenue- generating brands. In January 2022, Arnulfo joined Alter Eco Foods as chief executive officer. Within his first fifteen months, most notably Arnulfo led Alter Eco to become the #3 ranked chocolate brand (up from #9) in the Natural & Specialty Foods channel of trade. Further, under Arnulfo’s leadership and within his first 12 months, the Company finished the 2022FY with both the most EBITDA improvement and topline revenue growth realized by the Company in the last seven years. Arnulfo has overseen all aspects of the brand’s innovation including the launches of a new category, two new product lines as well as two product line extensions, which resulted in three innovation awards in 2023. Prior, Arnulfo served as chief executive officer of Beanfields and was charged with the brand’s turnaround where he led the company to not only 3x growth on topline, but also a profitable run-rate by shedding $12mm in EBITDA losses. Arnulfo grew the business to a recognized top-five brand in the highly competitive snacking chip category and launched some of the company's most successful, award-winning innovations, including the first-to-market line of Grain-Free Vegan Cracklins and Grain-Free Ring Puffs. A self-proclaimed “reformed banker” and former architect, Arnulfo pursued his MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. At Stanford Arnulfo formed the startup, Cobá, and pioneered the first line of ready-to-drink all-natural aguas frescas. Later in 2012 during the “Fiscal Cliff “crisis, Arnulfo was one of 15 CEOs invited to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Arnulfo returned to the White House in 2013 as one of 30 business leaders for the inaugural Hispanic Business Leaders Forum. And over the last sixteen years, and as one of the early Latino/x entrepreneurs in the health and wellness food and beverage sectors, Arnulfo has aimed to raise awareness around issues impacting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the industry. In 2020, Arnulfo was one of three entrepreneurs who came together to found Project Potluck, a non-profit organization with the singular mission of helping people of color build successful companies and careers in the CPG industry, and where today Arnulfo continues to serve as a founding Board member. Prior to Beanfields, Arnulfo apprenticed with industry veteran and plant-based innovator, Greg Steltenpohl at Califia Farms. There, he led Califia on strategic growth initiatives and incubating new marketplaces, including the formation of the company’s global eCommerce platform. During his tenure, Califia Farms was selected as a finalist in Internet Retailer's 2017 Web Redesign of the Year, as well as America’s 100 Most Innovative E-Retailers “Hot 100.” Arnulfo’s background in the CPG industry includes leading corporate sales strategy at PepsiCo’s venturing and innovation business unit, Naked Emerging Brands (NEB). There, Arnulfo served as a founding member of PepsiCo’s Global eCommerce Steering Committee. Online sales for IZZE, O.N.E. and Naked Coconut Water realized unprecedented YOY growth gains, and under his leadership they would commercialize on Amazon.com the #1 selling beverage SKU category wide. Arnulfo and his wife, Gloria, along with their 14-year-old daughter reside in Pasadena, California.

Mel Li is an Investor at Offline Ventures, a SF-based venture fund backing early-stage companies that make the world healthier and happier. At Offline, Mel concentrates on wellness and digital health, better-for-you CPG, commerce enablement, and web3. She has been involved in consumer deals Magic Mind (the world’s first productivity drink), Try Your Best (play-to-earn platform for brands including F&B), Sunnyside (the #1 mindful drinking app), and many others. Additionally, Offline’s portfolio includes celebrity-favourite organic formula brand Bobbie and Tyra Banks’ SMiZE & DREAM ice cream. Mel also serves as a mentor and adviser at leading accelerators Techstars, Alchemist, and Springboard Enterprises with a focus on media tech and healthcare. Mel is passionate about helping creative founders tap into powerful storytelling, community-led GTM, and delightful customer experiences - especially those in F&B.

Rob has been in the food and beverage industry for over thirty years. The Lyric Group, which he founded in 2008, provides consultative services to both emerging and established brands in the specialty food and beverage space. Rob works with pre-revenue brands to develop effective go-to- market strategies, assists established brands to navigate retailer, distributor, co-packer, and designer relationships, and helps multinationals tap into growing domestic consumer trends. The Lyric Group has established relationships with buyers across multiple channels, including specialty, natural, conventional grocery, foodservice, mass, club and export. Previously, Rob has served as EVP of Sales & Business Development at Ciao Bella Gelato, a category-leading national ice cream brand, and EVP of Sales & Marketing at D’Artagnan, a national specialty meat brand. He has ongoing relationships with buyers at retailers such as Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, Target, Walmart, Publix, Costco, Kroger, Albertsons and Sam’s Club, among many others. Rob has been a mentor at incubators like Pilotworks and Accel, and has served on the advisory boards of Crumbs Bakery, LunaPops and Southern Culture. Past and present clients include Sir Kensington’s, Glanbia, Fazer, ParmCrisps, Vosges Haut-Chocolat, Monsoon Kitchens, Irvins, High Road, Hu Kitchen, Chia Smash, Leilo and Grady’s Cold Brew.

Carol is the Editor of NOSH, BevNet’s media property focusing on Natural, Healthy, Sustainable and Organic food products. Carol previously worked and consulted for several consumer goods companies, many within the food space. She also was on the marketing team for Whole Foods Market in the North Atlantic region. Prior to focusing on the food industry, Carol worked at several tech companies, including HubSpot, and served as a consumer researcher at AMP Agency. A graduate of Brandeis University in Journalism, Cultural Anthropology and Theater Arts, Carol is passionate about the food, agriculture and beverage industries.

Ray has been with BevNET since March 2011 and oversees strategic planning and content for the Taste Radio podcast, BevNET's education platform and various aspects of BevNET conferences.

Katie Eshuys is an experienced executive in the global food and beverage industry, specializing in scaling emerging brands and delivering high revenue growth with a passion for ushering in the next wave of disruptive, innovative CPG products. She is currently the Chief Sales Officer at Los Angeles based That’s it., where she has expanded the brand internationally and driven high revenue growth in the competitive North American market, scaling the company significantly to 4X the size in a few short years. Katie was previously the General Manager of International Markets at Halo Top Creamery, where she grew the company from $5m in revenue to $60m in 24 months by accelerating disruptive entry into 8 countries and leading marketing initiatives to position the brand for long term growth. Katie is also on the board of directors for a publicly listed Australian CPG company that creates better for you products to inspire health conscious consumers, drive value for shareholders, and lead on innovation.

Vilma is the CMO at Nature's Bakery, a plant-based, nut-free better-for-you snack brand, which was transacted successfully to Mars Snacking in 2020.  Since joining Nature's Bakery in 2017, Vilma executed a rebrand, launched three incremental product lines and developed the brand’s digital commerce business.  In this time, Nature’s Bakery has become the fastest-growing and 6th best-selling granola and snack bar brand in a $4B category.  Previously, Vilma lead Marketing for Dogswell, Califia Farms, and Nestle's Coffee-mate and Wonka brands.  She's worked on global category leaders as well as insurgent, purpose-driven brands.    She is an active member of Women on Boards, working to diversify the boards of private consumer companies.  Outside of work, Vilma enjoys cooking for family and friends, hiking and staying active.  She lives in Altadena, CA with her husband and their three school-aged kids.  Vilma earned her BA and MBA from Stanford University.

Joanie has dedicated her career to the CPG industry, concentrating on strategically leveraging data to help brands succeed. Her experience includes past roles at Nielsen, and now SPINS where she has worked for 3+ years. At SPINS, Joanie manages two services dedicated to supporting small and emerging brands in the market. Outside of work, Joanie loves to attend CorePower classes and explore new and innovative restaurants in Chicago.

Kaitlin’s journey in the CPG industry has been marked by her commitment to using data to empower brands. Her work at Nielsen and now at SPINS has allowed her to support a wide range of brands in achieving their goals through data-driven recommendations and strategies. At SPINS, Kaitlin manages the Client Insights service across the Beverage and Snacking segments. During the past 3+ years at SPINS, Kaitlin has found a unique intersection of her professional motivations and personal passions. Her commitment to wellness, coupled with a firsthand understanding of the challenges of food allergies, has inspired her to help purpose-driven brands. Outside of work, Kaitlin loves staying active and exploring nature with her dog Louie.

John started Maggiore’s Sales & Marketing in 2003 as a brokerage and consulting firm specializing in Natural and Specialty products. As a broker John represents Natural Food products to the supermarket channel in the New England region. Among the lines currently represented are Lemon Perfect Water, Siggi’s Yogurt and Red’s Burritos, previously he represented the brands of Pirate’s Booty, Bear Naked, Kind Bar and Vita Coco Coconut Water. As a consultant he primarily works with company to develop a sales strategy and drive sales, in addition to other sales management functions such as to broker selection and trade spending management. John currently is on the Board of Directors of Biena Snacks, Demer’s Food Group and Vermont Nut Free. Twice a year John works with the Natural Products Consulting in running their sales seminar “Becoming a More Effective Sales Manager in the Natural and Specialty Channel”. Prior to starting his own company, he spent 17 years working on the retail side of the business his last position was the Category Manager of Natural Foods at Stop & Shop Supermarkets. John is a graduate of Northeastern University.

As a consultant since 1998, Bob Burke provides assistance in bringing natural, organic and specialty products to market across most classes of trade. This includes work in strategic planning, growth strategies, writing sales, marketing and business plans, budgeting, pricing, building distribution, broker selection and management, organizational development, strategic options, financing, branding, trade spending management and assistance around M&A, due diligence and venture strategy groups. He is also the co-author and co-publisher of the Natural Products Field Manual, Ninth Edition. Prior to consulting, Bob was with Stonyfield Farm Yogurt for 11 years as Vice President, Sales & Corporate Development and Vice President, Marketing & Sales. He has held marketing positions with Colombo, Inc. and Sperry Top-Sider. He received an MBA from Babson College.

Cybele Pascal is the Founder of Cybele's Free-to-Eat, a top selling, nationally distributed line of allergy-friendly snacks that are gluten-free and free from the top nine allergens. Cybele provides executive leadership to her team by overseeing sales and market growth strategies, product innovation, quality control, marketing and consumer relations decisions. Cybele is also the author of three best-selling cookbooks, Allergy-Free & Easy Cooking, The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook, and The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook. She has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, The Food Network, the Today show, Good Morning America, PBS, NPR and most recently, QVC to launch her new line of products, Ancient Grain Pops which is her first collaboration with Free to Eat’s new partner, Awakened Foods. Cybele lives in Los Angeles with her two sons, and enjoys hiking and yoga in her spare time.

Holly Adrien, the Natural and Organic Strategy and Innovation Manager for The Kroger Company, is a strategic and passionate leader with over 20 years of analytic, merchandising and retail experience. She began her journey with The Kroger Co. working with CPGs and Kroger to utilize customer data to inform strategy at dunnhumbyUSA and 84.51° . She transitioned to Kroger Merchandising where she held roles in category management and digital merchandising for Kroger.com and Vitacost.com. Today, Holly’s deep background in customer insights, analytics and merchandising is used to develop The Kroger Co.’s strategic focus to meet customer’s evolving needs in natural, organic and better-for-you across the total store. She has the privilege of collaborating with all Kroger banners, insight providers, as well as established and emerging brands to continuously innovate in all ways to meet customer’s natural, organic and better-for-you needs in-store and online.

Born and raised in Ohio, Wade spent twenty years with Buehler’s Fresh Foods headquartered in Wooster Ohio, in varying positions at both store and the corporate level. Wade left Buehler’s in 2019 as the Sr. Director of Center Store. Wade then joined Rouses Markets headquartered in Schriever Louisiana as a Grocery Category Manager before being promoted to the Director of Non Foods, HBA, GM & Confections. From there, Wade worked with Jimbo’s headquartered in San Diego California as a Grocery Buyer before being promoted to the Director of Grocery. Next (and currently) Wade works at The Fresh Market headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina as the Vice President of Center Store & Space Planning. Wade’s experience in conventional, specialty, and the natural/organic channels gives him a well-rounded perspective of the retail grocery business. Wade is known for his eagerness to work with emerging brands, his open-minded approach to collaboration, and his ability to build and develop relationships. Wade is also the co-host (along with Alex Bayer) of the “CPG Vibes” weekly LinkedIn podcast which caters to the CPG/emerging brands community.

Kim Coffin, SVP and Chief Forager, joined Sprouts in 2012, bringing over 30 years of experience in the grocery retail space. Prior to her current role, she served as SVP of Non-Perishables at Sprouts for eight years. Before joining Sprouts, she held various leadership roles at Albertson for over 23 years.  Her experience spans product categories and merchandising disciplines including product selection, supplier partnerships, pricing and promotional planning, brand building, and product presentation. She has been married to her Husband Geoff for over 25 years and has one fur baby named Fancy.  Their hobbies include boating, golf, hiking, trips to Kauai, spending time with family and friends and breeding/showing Arabian Horses.

Scott Romano has been in the Grocery industry for over 31 years: 18 years in the conventional grocery retail industry and 13 years in the natural/organic grocery industry. Scott’s experience has been evenly split across store-level operations, multi-unit operations, and category management/merchandising, holding positions such as Store Director, Produce Operations Specialist, Sr. Grocery Category Manager, Director of Dairy Frozen, Beer/Wine, and many more. Scott enjoys working with and mentoring startup companies to launch new and innovative products to enhance our customer's shopping experience at Sprouts Farmers Market. Scott has four children, 2 boys and 2 girls, ranging in age from 7 to 27. His hobbies outside of work include playing guitar and spending time with family.

Ayeshah Abuelhiga is the founder and CEO of Mason Dixie Foods, the fastest-growing comfort food brand in the U.S., best known for its clean label biscuits, sandwiches and waffles. Following a successful career in tech leading projects for iconic brands like Audi and Toshiba, Ayeshah left the corporate world. As a first-generation American, Ayeshah proudly watched her Asian and Middle Eastern immigrant parents serve quality comfort food at their small carry-out restaurant and convenience store. She started Mason Dixie Foods in 2014 with the vision to change comfort food for the better, replicating the clean ingredients used in her family’s kitchen while growing up. Ayeshah has rapidly scaled Mason Dixie Foods from a small beloved pop-up restaurant to a multi-million dollar nationally distributed CPG brand. Today, Mason Dixie’s products are carried at over 6,000 stores across the US, including Target, Publix, Kroger, Costco and Whole Foods, and served at 3,000 Marriott Select Brand Hotels nationwide. Recognized as the NOSH Person of the Year and an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Mid-Atlantic Finalist, Ayeshah has established herself as a leading voice in the CPG community and beyond. A passionate advocate for inclusive leadership, Ayeshah co-founded Project Potluck in 2020, with the goal to help people of color build successful careers and companies in the CPG industry. She remains active in the Baltimore community, volunteering her time with local organizations like Rainbow Families and the Franciscan Center of Baltimore. Ayeshah regularly speaks at events nationwide on topics related to AAPI leadership, DEI, and entrepreneurship. She’s spoken at SXSW, EXPO West and the EY Strategic Growth Forum, among others.

Born and raised in Ohio, Wade spent twenty years with Buehler’s Fresh Foods headquartered in Wooster Ohio, in varying positions at both store and the corporate level. Wade left Buehler’s in 2019 as the Sr. Director of Center Store. Wade then joined Rouses Markets headquartered in Schriever Louisiana as a Grocery Category Manager before being promoted to the Director of Non Foods, HBA, GM & Confections. From there, Wade worked with Jimbo’s headquartered in San Diego California as a Grocery Buyer before being promoted to the Director of Grocery. Next (and currently) Wade works at The Fresh Market headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina as the Vice President of Center Store & Space Planning. Wade’s experience in conventional, specialty, and the natural/organic channels gives him a well-rounded perspective of the retail grocery business. Wade is known for his eagerness to work with emerging brands, his open-minded approach to collaboration, and his ability to build and develop relationships. Wade is also the co-host (along with Alex Bayer) of the “CPG Vibes” weekly LinkedIn podcast which caters to the CPG/emerging brands community.

Elizabeth Brown is an Investor at Vanterra Ventures. Vanterra Ventures is a venture and growth equity fund that partners with visionary founders building disruptive branded products and technologies that will shape the Future of Consumer Health. Elizabeth is responsible for supporting deal sourcing, diligence, and post-close value-add for Vanterra's portfolio, which has backed brands like Hu Kitchen, Oats Overnight, Dose, Bombas, Quip, and Arrae. Elizabeth is energized by supporting the next generation of innovative, consumer product entrepreneurs and investors.