Mr. BENOIT WINSTEL
DIRECTOR - COLIN PALC
PRESIDENT - EUROPEAN SPICE ASSOCIATION

About : Engineer in agronomy, Master of Science in Post Harvest technology from Cranfield University, UK, I have been working in the food industry since 1994. After 3 years in Morocco as a factory manager producing dehydrated vegetables, I became in charge of the Purchasing Department of Groupe Colin, a French company specialized in spices and dried ingredients for the European Food Industry (www.colin-ingredients.com). I am currently the Director of the Vegetal division of the company. I am also chairman of the technical commitee of the French Spice Association and Chairman of ESA (European Spice Association).

Mr. Duc Dung Nguyen
Vice Director
Research Center for Fertilizers and Plant Nutrients - Soils and Fertilizers Institute (SFI)

About : Researcher, background in soil science, plant nutrition and fertilizers. Has 25 years of experience working at the Institute of Soil and Fertilizers, is a member of the International Union of Soil Sciences, has participated in more than 30 domestic and international projects on the research of fertilizer use efficiency, plant nutrition and the application of radioactive isotopes in environmental impact assessment. Research on causes, measures to restore degradation, pollution of agricultural land, limiting factors to productivity, crop quality and greenhouse gas emissions, etc.

Mr. Emmanuel Nambusseril
Chairman
All India Spices Exporters Forum

Mr. Gabriel Sarasin
Sustainability & Technology Director
McCormick & Company, Inc. (USA)

About : Gabriel Sarasin has managed Herbs & Spices sustainable sourcing programs for McCormick & Company since 2018. As a Director for Sustainability & Technology, Gabriel works to deliver McCormick's 2025 and 2030 sustainable sourcing targets on key herbs and spices. Gabriel led the design of McCormick sustainable sourcing framework and certification scheme Grown for Good (G4G). He also spearheads enabling technologies to collect, analyze and display farmer sustainability metrics, traceability, and other data. Prior to join McCormick, Gabriel worked for multiple international organizations in support to smallholder farmers in different African countries. Gabriel has a master's degree in Agroforestry and a graduate degree in Integrated Rural Development from Laval University in Canada. He is also an active Steering Committee member of the Sustainable Spices Initiative.

Mr. Gustavo Ferro
Sector Expert
SIPPO Swiss Import Promotion Programme

About : Gustavo Ferro is an international trade and development expert with over 17 years of experience in sustainable agro-food value chains, with a particular focus on spices & herbs and other natural ingredients. He collaborates with the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) as a sector expert, and has also supported other international organizations such as the Dutch Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI), the German Import Promotion Desk (IPD), the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), among others. His focus is to support SME exporters and business support organizations in accessing the European market successfully and sustainably. Gustavo’s expertise includes building capacity, particularly market updates, facilitating workshops, and advising on sustainable trade strategies, BSOs’ service development that aligns with international market trends.

Mr. Hoang Trung (Chief Guest)
Vice Minister
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development - MARD

Mr. Jasvinder Singh Sethi
Director
Namagro

About : He is the founder of Namagro, a brokerage house and management consultancy . The company moves niche agro produce including pepper across all six continents. With over 140000 MT the annual throughput of the compapny has reached over 500 Mn USD within 6 years of establishment. Mr Jasvinder consults International Pepper community, The World Bank and several corporate houses on Sourcing of Spices and Nuts.

Mr. Jos van Gulick
General Director
Nedspice Processing Vietnam Limited

About : Mr Jos van Gulick is the General Director of Nedspice Vietnam since November 2021. He lives in Ho Chi Minh City and holds his office at the Nedspice Processing facility in Binh Duong. Jos joined Nedspice in May 2017 as Manager Corporate Development and before that he worked at Deutsche Bank within its Investment Banking division for 4 years. In this role he advised corporations and financial investors in the field of mergers & acquisitions and other corporate finance topics. Jos graduated from VU University Amsterdam with a MSc. in Econometrics and a MSc. in Business Mathematics & Informatics. He also completed the Business Excellence program at Columbia Business School in New York.

Mr. Mac Nguyen Bao Khanh
General Director
GOEX TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS CORPORATION

About : Khanh Mac is the General Director of GOEX Transport, a position he holds after a distinguished career in the logistics and transportation industry. He holds a Master's Degree in International Business from Monash University, Australia. Khanh began his career at Maersk Vietnam and Cambodia, where he held various roles in Trade and Sales Management. Prior to founding GOEX Transport, he served as District Head of Sales for Expeditors Vietnam, further solidifying his expertise in global logistics and supply chain management.

Mrs. Hoang Thi Lien
Chairwoman
VIET NAM PEPPER AND SPICE ASSOCIATION

About : Mrs. Hoang Thi Lien was elected as the Chairperson of the Vietnam Pepper and Spice Association (in short VPSA) in December 2021 by the Vietnam pepper community to lead the Viet Nam spice industry and to implement the sustainability & development policies formulated by the Government. Mrs. Lien has been invited to present at various forums and conferences to share her knowledge on spice business, sustainability and economics gained through decades of experience in the domain. She has a Master background in economics in the U.K. She has worked with the Ministry of Industry & Trade of Viet Nam and as the Executive Director of International Pepper Community (IPC), an Inter-Governmental Organization of pepper producing countries under the UN-ESCAP. During her tenure she has co-ordinated with all stakeholders to systemize, harmonize, promote and accelerate the economic development of the global pepper industry as well as the pepper farmers. Prior to joining the International Pepper Community, she worked as the Director of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam where she mastered the trade and investment policy framework, familiarised with the rules and regulations of Asia countries and acquired a comprehensive knowledge of regional and international economic integration and global economy trends. Furthermore, she has also established networks and liaised with various Governments, international agencies, spice associations and the industry. She was also posted as Commercial Attaché at Viet Nam Embassy in Malaysia during 2010-2016 which helped her gain experience in international trade issues.

Mrs. Malathi C H
Manager- Sustainable Sourcing
Terova Inc

About : Working as a Manager- Sustainable Sourcing in Terova Inc (Griffith Foods) from almost 9+ years under the Sustainability Program. She closely works with backward Integration team to implement all the Sustainable Agriculture practices with their program farmers by focusing on 3 Ps (People, Plant and Performance) that align with Rainforest Alliance and UEBT standards and Sustainable Initiatives. She is the responsible resource to focus on all their sustainability programs worldwide like Pepper in Vietnam, Chilly, Turmeric, Cumin and Celery in India, Sage and Oregano in Albania. Along with this she also looks at other Certifications like Organic and Non-GMO Project Verification for her company. She comes from the background of Agriculture. She has done her Post Graduation in Agribusiness Plantation Management and Bachelor of Sciences in Agriculture Marketing from the deemed Universities. The main objective of her company is to source the sustainable, traceable, and of course quality produce right from the farmers to improve the livelihood of the farmers, environment and of course their Business. They believe in ethical sourcing of Products.

Mr. Masayuki Goto
Senior Staff
OKAWARA MFG. CO., LTD. (Japan)

About : Mr. Masayuki Goto Senior Staff of SUPERHEATED STEAM STERILIZATION SYSTEM Okawara Mfg. Co. Ltd. Address: Shizuoka JAPAN Mobile: +81 80-5100-6766 Phone: +81 548-32-3212 Email: m-goto@okawara-mfg.jp Web: http://www.okawara-mfg.com/english Founded: October 18th 1927 Business line: Manufacture and sale of Dryers, Granulators, Mixers, Sterilizers, etc.

Mr. Mike Liu
Chairman
BCFoods Inc. (USA) & China Spice Association (CSA)

Ms. Nguyen Hoang Yen
Head of Unit
OFI Viet Nam

About : Head of Sustainability, ofi Vietnam Spices MSc in Management with International Business, UK. Working at ofi Vietnam since 2018 in agricultural procurement and managing sustainability projects for ofi Vietnam Spices.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Truc
Director
Highland Herbs Company Limited - DATO

About : • 6 year Sale Manager experiences of Highland Herbs Company Limitied • 12 marketing experiences for Vietnamese and Japanese companies, 5 years as a Brand Manager, including 2 years in the pharmaceutical industry. • Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a degree in Biotechnology. • " I have worked and lived in Ho Chi Minh City for 16 years, where I have been exposed to the nutrition and pharmaceutical industries. This has shown me that Kon Tum has great potential for developing standardized medicinal herbs and agricultural products. Meanwhile, people in my hometown mainly grow corn, which yields low economic value. Therefore, I have decided to return to my hometown to start a business in herbs and spice”

Mr. Nguyen Quy Duong
Deputy Director
Department of Plant Protection - MARD

About : With extensive experience in agricultural project management, he has led initiatives in plant protection and sustainable farming. He managed projects on controlling Witches' Broom Disease in longan, implementing plant protection service models, and researching pesticide use across multiple provinces. He has co-managed FAO-funded projects, contributed to World Bank-funded IPM initiatives, and led Vietnam’s participation in the ASEAN-SAS project. Additionally, he provided technical support for the VnSAT sustainable agriculture project and co-led Public-Private Partnership (PPP) groups focused on pepper, coffee, tea, and agricultural chemicals.

Mr. Prakash Jhanwer
Managing Director and CEO, Spices
OFI USA

About : Prakash joined Olam in 1998, taking responsibility for coffee operations in Uganda. He moved into the risk function in 2001 and relocated to Vietnam in 2007 to take on the role of Country Head, extending to a regional role in 2010. Since 2016, he has been responsible for Olam’s Southeast Asia and China operations, which he continues to manage today. His key markets include China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Thailand. Prakash is a Graduate of Commerce and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management. He was recently awarded the prestigious Young Alumni Achiever Award by his alma mater for Corporate Leadership.

Mr. Ranjith Sasikumar
Business Unit Leader
Son Ha Spice & Flavourings Co Ltd

About : MBA (Marketing) with 17 years of rich experience in whole spices, ground spices, food ingredients like natural colours, natural anti-oxidants, spice oleoresins, essential oils, floral extract, nutraceutical ingredients & other value-added spice extracts

Ms. Shannen Kelly
Senior Manager of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs
American Spice Trade Association

About : Shannen Kelly serves as the American Spice Trade Association’s (ASTA) Senior Manager of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs, where she guides members on complex regulatory and scientific issues affecting the spice industry. She works to execute ASTA’s regulatory and technical affairs strategy by monitoring regulatory developments and creating member resources on regulatory and technical affairs matters to assist compliance activities. Before joining ASTA, Shannen held several scientific roles supporting trade associations, including the International Organization of the Flavor Industry (IOFI), the International Association of Color Manufacturers (IACM), and the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA). Engineer in agronomy, Master of Science in Post Harvest technology from Cranfield University, UK, I have been working in the food industry since 1994. After 3 years in Morocco as a factory manager producing dehydrated vegetables, I became in charge of the Purchasing Department of Groupe Colin, a French company specialized in spices and dried ingredients for the European Food Industry (www.colin-ingredients.com). I am currently the Director of the Vegetal division of the company. I am also chairman of the technical commitee of the French Spice Association and Chairman of ESA (European Spice Association).

Mr. Le Anh Son
Director
Binh Minh Co-operative

About : Mr. Le Anh Son is Director of Binh Minh Production Trade Service Cooperative, based in Đak Nong Province, Vietnam. Binh Minh Cooperative is one of the pioneering organizations in promoting sustainable pepper development in the local area. In recent years, Bình Minh Cooperative has collaborated with various public and private partners in the pepper industry, including local government authorities, pepper associations, the Rainforest Alliance for sustainable agricultural production certification, spice processing companies, non-governmental organizations, and, notably, pepper farmers. As of now, Bình Minh Cooperative has established partnerships with 972 households, covering an area of 1,420 hectares, with a total output of 3,031.9 tons.

Mr. Sudhanshu Kaul
Senior VP & Business Head
Spices & Vegetable Ingredients, Olam Vietnam Ltd

Ms. Sushama Srikandath
Managing Director
AVT McCormick Ingredients Pvt Ltd

About : Ms. Sushama Srikandath is the Managing Director of AVT McCormick Ingredients Pvt Ltd, which is a key supplier of processed spices, seasonings, and blends to major brands across the globe. Based on her passion and drive for improving the quality of life of farmer communities and promoting sustainable agriculture, Sushama envisioned for AVT McCormick, a simple, yet powerful value proposition: Helping Nature and Communities. Sushama served as a Jury Member in FICCI National Agri Start Up Awards in Dec 2021 and was part of the CII Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture group. She served as Board Member of American Spice Trade Association (2015-18), Spices Board, Government of India (2010-13), Food & Agriculture Department, Bureau of Indian Standards - Spices (2014-2018) and Chairperson, All India Spice Exporters Forum (2006-08) and has received prestigious awards which include Excellence in Business: Hindu Economic Forum 2018, etc. A prolific presenter at spice and food industry forums such as the World Spice Congress, European Spice Association, American Spice Trade Association, and International Pepper Community Conference, she is also a well-known speaker on Leadership, Work Life balance, Women empowerment and Vocational Excellence.

Mr. Tamas Sarkadi
Global Head of Sustainabillity
Ramon Sabater Group

About : With a distinguished career spanning over two decades in the food sector, I am privileged to serve as the Chair of the Sustainable Spices Initiative (SSI), the foremost sustainability platform driving the transformation of the spice industry. My expertise lies in navigating the intricacies of global spice and soft commodity supply chains, addressing the complexities and opportunities they present for sustainability, strategic sourcing, M&A, and supplier & business development. My commitment to fostering sustainability is underscored by my academic background, having completed Executive Education in Circular Economy and Sustainability Strategies at Cambridge Judge Business School. Additionally, I hold an Executive MBA from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, empowering me with the knowledge and skills to devise and implement innovative, pragmatic solutions aligned with the vision and business model of the SSI and its esteemed members. Passionate about creating positive impact and value across the spice industry and beyond, I actively contribute as the Sustainability Committee Chair at The American Spice Trade Association. Simultaneously, as the Communication Committee Chair at the SSI, I champion collaboration, engagement, and advocacy within the spice community and the broader public. My journey is a testament to my unwavering dedication to sustainability and my belief in the transformative power of strategic, collaborative efforts. I am driven by a vision where the spice industry not only meets the challenges of today but also paves the way for a sustainable and thriving future for all stakeholders.

Mr. Tran Hoai Phuong
Director of Corporate Banking Division
Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank - HD bank

About : Mr. Trần Hoài Phương joined HDBank in 2019 and is currently the Head of the Corporate Banking Division and a member of the Executive Committee. He has nearly 30 years of experience working at major international financial institutions such as Standard Chartered, Citi, and BNP Paribas, where he held management and executive positions. He has also served as Deputy CEO at domestic banks such as Techcombank, TPBank, and OCB. With over 25 years of experience, he has extensive expertise in developing solutions and fostering relationships with large enterprises, multinational corporations, trade finance, and supply chain financing. He has held the role of Head of the Corporate Banking Division at HDBank since December 31, 2020. Banking industry experience: 29 years Experience at HDBank: 5 years Education: Bachelor's degree in Foreign Trade – University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City (1989 - 1994).