Export opportunities for Swiss food and beverage manufacturers
Plant-based, GMO food, cellular agriculture – there’s no shortage of food trends. But which ones have potential for a business? Which will become established? And which trends can be found in which markets? You’ll get answers to these questions in our "Inspiration Talk" on April 12, 2021 with trend researcher Christine Schäfer from the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute.
Food is and always has been a topic of interest. Food is culture. And food is a basic need. This is clear from a glance at Maslow's hierarchy of needs. It puts food at the top, making it no surprise that trends in this area are almost as big as the subject itself. How is our eating behavior going to change? What will we eat? What will we do without? We have freedom of choice today, particularly when it comes to eating. This gives greater impetus to the market and the related research.
Trend researcher gives her view
This future and trend research is a valuable source of development, growth and export opportunities for companies in the food and beverages sector. Our "Inspiration Talk" is the ideal platform for this. Here, Christine Schäfer, trend researcher at the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, provides an introduction to the mega and counter trends in the area of food. She presents markets and structures and addresses new consumer needs – such as how meat consumption will develop or the potential of cellular agriculture.
Export opportunities and experience reports
The most relevant food export markets are presented in another keynote speech. Finally, a panel of three Swiss food SMEs discusses the future for Swiss food and beverage exporters. They tackle questions such as: What challenges will exporters have to expect in the future? Innovation or tradition – what is more important? And how can you ideally position your own brand in foreign markets? You can look forward to valuable insights and a fascinating exchange – we hope you can join us.
Intro
Information
Date | |
iCal | Download |
Target audience | Swiss and Liechtenstein SMEs |
Organizer | Switzerland Global Enterprise |
Event language |
English |
Place |
Online webinar |
Cost of participating | Free of charge |
Registration deadline |
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Login |
You will receive the login for the platform "InEvent" one day before the webinar by email. |
Program
Speakers
Researcher, GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute
Christine Schäfer is a researcher and speaker at the GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute and analyzes social, economic and technological changes with a focus on food, consumption and retail. She has written numerous trend reports and this year is also responsible for compiling the European Food Trend Report. Christine Schäfer studied business administration at the Universities of Bern and Valencia, specializing in marketing and consumer behavior. Before joining the GDI, she completed the trainee program at the American pharmaceutical and consumer goods manufacturer Johnson & Johnson in Zug.
Consultant
Damian Felchlin is currently pursuing a full-time MBA at Babson College with a focus in sustainability and entrepreneurship. As a teacher’s assistant he developed and taught a “How to Export Food” case study. He works part-time for a global impact advisory firm providing global market access and capital. In his free time he is a mentor for the Food-X accelerator in New York.
In his previous position Damian was a Trade Commissioner for the Consulate General of Switzerland based in San Francisco. He advised Swiss companies entering the U.S. market by helping them determine their pricing, sales channel, branding, and supply chain strategies. Damian also served as the subject matter expert for food and beverages for Switzerland Global Enterprise.
Before joining the Swiss government, Damian was a product manager responsible for over 15 million USD in sales annually at the largest private U.S. food importer. He was responsible for sourcing specialty food items from all over the world and worked closely with international suppliers to optimize the supply chain and push sales in the foodservice and retail channels.
In his free time he loves helping social-impact startups grow and enter new markets. His most recent projects include advising startups in the following industries: point-of-sale feedback solutions, plant-based food alternatives, mass market greenhouse solutions, healthy organic snack products and fair trade organic clothing.
MD, Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley
Christina is a Food Innovation Passionista aiming to be a part of changing the food system for the better. With a core focus on Food Science and Nutrition Christina is the Managing Director of the Swiss Food & Nutrition Valley, driving collaboration between sectors to innovate better and faster. Further she is co-Director at the Founder Institute’s Swiss Chapter, supporting early stage startups to get off to a great start and on the advisory board of two startups.
Christina holds a Master degree in Food Science & Technology from University of Copenhagen and a Master in European Food Studies from Wageningen University.
She spent the first 12 years of her career at Mondelez in roles across R&D, Innovation management, Marketing and Strategy before she moved on to working with entrepreneurs and startup collaborations. She has studied and worked in 14 different countries and has a special devotion to the Ocean.
CEO, Swissmooh
Patrick Bastin, CEO of swissmooh AG is responsible for the international business development of swiss dairy specialties under the swissmooh brand, leading cheese brand on T-Mall and jd.com e-commerce platforms in China. Being in the international food business for 23 years he always tries to create valuable and sustainable food businesses building bridges between a good offer and demanding consumers around the world. The experience of 9 years on the buying side working for a leading German retailer in Germany, Austria and Italy and 14 on the sales side working for several export oriented food production companies in Italy and Switzerland, helps him to faster understand and translate hidden needs into sales opportunities to create value added business.
Head of Food Service, Hug AG
Thomas Sprenger, Head Food Service, is responsible for the domestic and international food service business at HUG, a family-owned producer of baked goods. The company offers a wide range of products under its well-known brands HUG, Wernli and DAR-VIDA. After studying economics and business administration at the University of Applied Sciences in Baden he spent more than 20 years in the Swiss food industry working for international brands like Toblerone, Philadelphia and Hero before joining the HUG family in 2015. Thomas is a passionate sales & marketing person, holds an EMBA in General Management and calls himself a B2B expert. In its current role he focuses on further growing HUG’s food service business, especially in export markets.
Editor-in-Chief, foodaktuell/alimenta
Roland Wyss-Aerni has been chief editor of alimenta/foodaktuell since 2011. alimenta/foodaktuell is the leading print magazine and news platform for the Swiss food business. He studied history, political science and media science at the Universities of Bern and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated in 2000.
Before working for alimenta/foodaktuell, he worked as a freelance journalist and as chief editor with Agricultural Information Service Landwirtschaftlicher Informationsdienst.