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The European Food Manufacturing Summit proved to be a cornerstone event for the food and beverage manufacturing industry.

Held on 29-30 April at the Plaza Hotel Düsseldorf in Düsseldorf, Germany, the summit convened senior leaders for two days of strategic dialogue, high-impact networking and exchange of critical insights shaping the future of F&B manufacturing.

This year’s programme offered deep engagement across key topics – from supply chain resilience and food safety and quality to operational excellence and innovation.

We’re deeply grateful to all who helped make this year’s gathering so impactful. A special thank you to our emcees, speakers and sponsors whose expertise and presence brought cohesion, energy and momentum to every session. It was an honour to have you lead the conversations.

Day 1: Opening the summit with fresh ideas and insights

The summit kicked off with welcoming remarks from its hosts, Yvan Tomaselli, global head of food safety at Nestlé and Rodney Jack, editor at Food and Drink Technology.

Noeleen Donegan, chief operating officer for Europe at Kerry, delivered the opening keynote, 'Operational excellence: Designing for agile, consistent and compliant food manufacturing at scale'. Noeleen highlighted how food and beverage manufacturers can improve agility, consistency and compliance by redesigning end-to-end processes, reducing production bottlenecks and building stronger standards for high-mix manufacturing environments.

The session also explored how quality-by-design, connected plant data and continuous improvement can help teams protect product integrity, reduce downtime and respond faster to changing demand, labor pressures and food safety expectations.

Ryohei Tsuji, executive corporate officer, president and chief operating officer at Kikkoman, delivered an excellent plenary on how food and beverage leaders can blend deep heritage with modern science to drive meaningful innovation. His session explored how Kikkoman is decoding “oishisa” beyond taste, using data to turn intuition into a scalable innovation asset and bridging R&D with mass production through more agile industrial launch strategies. It was a standout session that offered a thoughtful look at how tradition and innovation can work together to shape the future of food manufacturing. 

Rounding out the morning, Abdallah Maazi, sales director for France at Uncountable, took the stage for an insightful session on building closed-loop quality from formulation through batch release. He shared how consolidating food R&D and QC into a single structured data environment can improve formulation optimisation, scale-up, product approval and audit readiness, while giving teams the visibility needed to spot trends, anticipate quality issues earlier and support more efficient, AI-ready operations.

The morning set an energising tone for the summit, with practical insights and forward-looking discussions carrying into the networking break and structured 1:1 meetings. Attendees used the momentum to build new connections, exchange ideas and continue the conversations sparked throughout the opening sessions.

Expert-led sessions: Mixing quality, performance and innovation

Attendees broke into two focused streams – process optimisation and quality & safety – enabling smaller, more targeted conversations around the operational strategies that matter most to their organisations.

In the process optimisation stream, Sandra Irene Jørgensen, VP, of product and innovation at Arla Foods, shared an insightful session on the role food producers must play in supporting public health. Her presentation explored how companies can redesign product portfolios around nutrition, encourage healthier food habits and collaborate across the wider food system to make better choices more accessible, desirable and easier for consumers.

Across the hall in the quality & safety stream, Paulo Simonetti, SVP of operations for Europe, and Rodrigo Cerejeira, director of manufacturing excellence for Europe and Africa at Barry Callebaut Group, explored how integrated working systems can drive measurable improvements in line performance.

Drawing on a recent case study, they shared how stronger process controls, real-time data, traceability and cross-functional collaboration can help teams improve consistency, reduce variability and keep quality at the center of manufacturing excellence.

The morning sessions concluded with two focused workshops. Rossen Ivanov, managing director for EMEA at Armstrong International, explored how Circular Thermal can help food and beverage manufacturers improve energy efficiency, reduce primary energy use and unlock heat recovery opportunities.

In parallel, Lukas Biedermann, co-founder of Sparetech, led a session on scalable MRO, highlighting how connected spare parts data, inventory transparency and cross-functional workflows can reduce surplus stock, mitigate risk and free up working capital.

During lunch in the exhibition hall, attendees joined small-group Lunch & Learn roundtables hosted by AICON X-RAY, TraceGains, Spirax Sarco, EZ Factory and Velotic. The sessions covered intelligent inspection and full quality assurance; cross-functional NPD as a driver of faster innovation and lower risk; right-sizing the thermal foundation of production ecosystems; operator-led performance gains through accessible digital tools; and smart factory strategies that connect plant-floor execution to boardroom priorities.

Day 1 afternoon highlights: A recipe for smarter F&B manufacturing

Kicking off the afternoon, Sagi Ben Rimon, VP of operations at Strauss Group, examined what it takes to build efficient, sustainable operations across a multi-category food and beverage business. He highlighted the value of streamlined structures, Centers of Excellence, aligned execution, people-focused transformation, automation and digitisation in driving agility, consistency and long-term growth.

In the quality & safety stream, Roberto Buttini, VP of global quality, food safety and R&D strategy at Barilla, delivered a forward-looking session on reimagining quality and food safety through digital transformation. He highlighted how standardised processes, strong data governance, real-time analytics and operator-focused adoption can improve transparency, accelerate issue resolution and strengthen consumer trust.

The afternoon continued with workshops on the technologies and facility strategies shaping the next generation of food production. Sonja Meijerink, CCO at Cobotx, explored how cobots can deliver practical impact on the factory floor, from palletising and case packing to easing repetitive tasks and scaling automation across multiple lines.

While Tobias Rosenbaum, managing director at IE Food, examined the future food factory, highlighting smart design, scalable logistics, sustainability, digital planning and risk management in complex production environments 

After a second networking break, 1:1 meetings and a happy hour sponsored by Inexto, attendees reconvened for the final plenary session. Sebastian Gottschalk, SVP of supply chain strategy, technology and operations excellence at Barry Callebaut Group, led 'Transforming Global Supply Chains Through Customer-Centric Operations'. He shared insights on resilience, customer-centric network design, functional excellence and end-to-end value creation from bean to bar.

Day 1 closed on a high note with a final panel discussion on “Overcoming barriers and scaling innovations in process optimisation'. Sebastian Gottschalk of Barry Callebaut Group, Marcin Klimas of ARYZTA QSR, Silviu Calin of FrieslandCampina, George Chantoumakos of Coca-Cola HBC and Paul Lammers of Nestlé shared perspectives on breaking down barriers to technology adoption, balancing cost with long-term innovation, strengthening workforce readiness and scaling new processes through digitalisation, AI, sustainability and cross-functional collaboration.

The day concluded with a vibrant Networking Drinks Reception, with lively conversations to close out a high-impact first day.

Day 2: Powering the future with quality, innovation and operational intelligence

Day 2 began on a high note with an inspiring keynote from Carla Serpa, chief quality officer at The Magnum Ice Cream Company, who shared her perspective in “Quality, trust and transformation: Building the future of food manufacturing”. Her session explored how quality is evolving from a compliance checkpoint into a strategic driver of innovation, resilience and consumer trust, with AI, digitalisation, predictive analytics and stronger supplier partnerships helping manufacturers improve consistency, traceability, sustainability and long-term operational excellence.

The momentum continued with Christian Borg, VP of sustainable operations tower at Oatly, who presented 'Innovating sustainable operations across the food value chain”. He explored how responsible sourcing, regenerative practices, lower-carbon logistics, resource-efficient factories and circular thinking can help food and beverage manufacturers build more sustainable, credible and future-ready operations.

To close out the morning, attendees moved into two engaging workshop sessions focused on workforce modernisation and real-time quality intelligence.

In room 1, Tommy Schroeder of Indeavor and Paula Wilkinson of Nestlé shared Nestlé’s journey from Excel-based scheduling to a centralised labour operations model, while in room 2, Maximiliano Moreira and Hauke Rapold of Mettler Toledo explored how connected quality metrics, sensor integration and science-backed weighing practices can support stronger consistency, compliance and data-driven decision-making across the food value chain.

The mid-morning break gave attendees a chance to continue the conversation beyond the stage, reconnect with exhibitors and exchange perspectives with peers. With fresh insights from the morning sessions, participants headed into the afternoon energised for the discussions ahead.

From plant floor to plate: Raising the bar on F&B manufacturing

The afternoon programme resumed with a highly insightful plenary from Marie Suzette Joachim, VP of health and safety at McCain Foods, on redefining safety excellence in food manufacturing. Her session highlighted the critical role of leadership, continuous improvement, change management and smart factory technologies in building safer, more resilient operations across thermal processing, packaging, sanitation and other high-risk environments.

Attendees then moved into two focused workshops exploring how smarter factory visibility and workforce readiness are shaping the future of food manufacturing. Finn Boysen, chief revenue officer at NavVis, shared how spatial intelligence and accurate 'as-is' plant data can improve collaboration, reduce risk and support more sustainable production planning, while Rick van Echtelt, CEO of AG5, highlighted how digital skills visibility can strengthen compliance, reduce errors and ensure the right people are prepared for the right roles.

The energy continued across the dedicated stream sessions, with Yvan Tomaselli, global head of food safety at Nestlé, examining how stronger raw-material qualification, in-process controls, traceability and data-led insights can help manufacturers protect food safety against rising risks such as mycotoxins and climate change.

In the quality & safety stream, Nada Galesne-Armand, group director of quality at Refresco, explored how global beverage manufacturers can move beyond compliance by building a 'quality-always' culture rooted in leadership engagement, continuous improvement and shared ownership across every plant.

Over the summit’s final lunch, attendees took part in focused Lunch & Learn roundtable discussions covering some of the most timely topics in food and beverage manufacturing.

Led by speakers from Dr. Oetker, AAK, NoPalm Ingredients and Nomad Foods / iglo, the discussions explored sustainability across manufacturing, smarter quality systems, protein supply chain resilience and AI-powered digitalisation on the factory floor.

Wrapping up with bold perspectives on people, planning and progress

Attendees also had the opportunity to hear from an inspiring women in leadership panel featuring Leila Abdli, director of quality and food safety at ADM; Marie Suzette Joachim, VP of health and safety at McCain Foods; Chrystel Stouvenel, plant director at JDE Peet’s; and Carla Serpa, chief quality officer at The Magnum Ice Cream Company.

Their thoughtful discussion on mentorship, visibility, inclusive leadership and diverse perspectives was a powerful reminder of the role strong women leaders play in driving innovation, strengthening teams and shaping more equitable pathways across food manufacturing.

Johnny Petersen, VP of planning at Tine SA, shared valuable insights on optimising planning to build more resilient supply chains. His session explored how food manufacturers can balance shifting customer demand with long-term production needs by improving forecasting, strengthening cross-functional visibility, connecting planning with manufacturing and commercial teams and aligning sustainability goals with capacity planning.

The day concluded with a dynamic panel on shaping the future of food manufacturing for SMEs and innovators. Featuring Thomas Brinkmann of GAEA Products, Andres Cuka of Marbelize, Jeroen Hugenholtz of NoPalm Ingredients and Marion Schaefer of AAK, the discussion explored how emerging and mid-sized companies can navigate market volatility, finance innovation, overcome regulatory barriers, build resilient supply chains and scale through strategic partnerships in a rapidly changing food landscape.

From farm to future: A look at what’s next in F&B manufacturing

The European Food Manufacturing Summit brought together senior leaders for two energising days of fresh ideas, meaningful connections and timely conversations shaping the future of food and beverage manufacturing.

With momentum already building for next year, including familiar voices set to return to the stage, we look forward to welcoming the industry back for another standout summit in 2027.

Secure your place and join the conversations driving what’s next in food & beverage manufacturing. Learn more and reserve your seat here.