Thought Leaders Breakfast Panel

Sumit is the Head of International Foods at Bloom Foods and Beverages – a subsidiary of Future Consumer Limited, which is the Food and FMCG company of one of India’s largest retailers, The Future Group.

His responsibilities include setting up distribution channels for imported foods, establishing international connections and handling global food promotions across the various retail formats that Future Group owns and operates.

Sumit’s expertise lies in food marketing and establishing successful food brands through market research, retail promotions and supply chain interventions.

Before joining The Future Group, for 15 years Sumit was the Director of agribusiness consulting firm The SCS Group.

He has also been closely involved in the successful launch of several imported produce items in India, including: California table grapes, USA pears, Washington State apples, US apples, California prunes and California walnuts.

Sumit regularly advises wholesalers and retailers in India on issues such as: retail merchandising, cold chain management and the ways in which to overcome the country’s fragmented supply chain.

Cindy is a senior research analyst within the 80-strong global Rabobank Research Food & Agribusiness team in the Netherlands, where she focuses on the international fresh fruit, vegetable and floriculture sectors.

She has published numerous reports on various topics covering the complete supply chain from grower to consumer. Topics include: the berry business, the European greenhouse sector, the fresh-cut fruit and vegetable industry, fresh produce sourcing, the global floriculture trade and the impact of online grocery retail within the produce sector.

Cindy has been a keynote speaker at several international fresh produce events. Her research and analyses are key deliverables for Rabobank customers and prospects, both in the corporate and rural domains.

Before joining Rabobank in 2001, Cindy worked for Wageningen Economic Research and the European Parliament as a research analyst in the food and agribusiness sector. She earned a Master’s degree in Economics from Tilburg University in 1997.

Loren Zhao is the co-founder of Shanghai-based, Fruitday Company.

Founded in 2009, Fruitday is the largest fresh fruit e-commerce company in China. They mainly import includes cherries, oranges, apples and kiwifruit. Fruitday provides an end-to-end home delivery service to ensure customers receive their order within 48 hours.

Fruitday is China’s highest grossing fruit e-commerce company, in terms of sales revenue. Today, they have six distribution centres across China in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou. Their fresh delivery service covers more than 300 cities in China and has more than 5,000,000 customers. In 2014, Fruitday generated RMB500mn in sales revenue with more than 150% growth on the year before.

Before founding Fruitday, Loren was an industry analyst at iSuppli Research for the Chinese telecom industry. During his five years at iSuppli, he was in charge of the analysis of China’s telecommunications market covering mobile networks, broadband, optical equipment etc. Their customers included China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, Samsung, Huawei and ZTE.

Before working at iSuppli, Loren worked for Alcatel Shanghai Bell and SVA Intrusion as telecom equipment engineer for five years.

Loren graduated from Shanghai University with a Bachelor Degree in Telecom Engineering in 2001.

Rune is CEO of BAMA, the Norwegian retail market leader for fresh produce. Taking over in 1994, Rune has led the company through the most prosperous growth years of its 130-year history.

A global player with a significant operational reach, BAMA counts on a large network of producers on all continents, which is complemented by operations in other European markets. In 2016 the retailer’s consolidated sales reached €1.8bn.

BAMA’s vision is to make Norway fresher and healthier by linking the value chain from field to fork in the most sustainable and efficient way, combined with strong marketing programmes based on consumer insight, knowledge and inspiration. Fresh and healthy growth for BAMA’s partners is the company’s driving force.

Edward McLaughlin is the Robert G. Tobin Professor of Marketing at the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University in the US state of New York, where he also serves as Director of the Food Industry Management Program.

Edward’s research interests include: retailing strategies, linking customer satisfaction to firm performance, and the economics of retailing and fresh food marketing. His research appears in numerous academic journals.

In addition, Edward teaches retailing at the Graduate School of Management in Lille, France; is the Adjunct Professor of Retailing at Nyenrode, The Netherlands School of Business; is Founding Director of the Ahold Retail Academy in The Netherlands; and the Dean of the Cornell Retail Management Program in Japan.

Edward has won several national awards for both his research and teaching, and is the author or co-author of three books. He also serves on the boards of several public and private organisations.

Marc Hoogenberg is a Partner with PwC’s Strategy. He is based in Amsterdam and consults food and beverage manufacturers, food service and food retail organisations in Europe on commercial strategies and developing their commercial capabilities like Marketing, Sales, E-Commerce, and Revenue Management.