Barny Clevely, MD of FCB Coffee, will be appearing in an exclusive interview at lunch! 2019. Arrive early to grab a front row seat, as he talks to Anya Marco about the rise of FCB and their unique place in the food-to-go and coffee shop sector (1.30pm, Friday 20 September).
Jim Wealands is group food development director at CH&CO Group. He’ll be taking part in the show’s first ever Contract Catering panel (with representatives from Sodexo, Eurest, Aramark and Elior) talking about how innovation in concept and product keeps them at the top of their game.
For Geoffrey Hunter, head of food at Pure, “lunch is an essential date in the diary”. He’s looking forward to being part of this year’s Head of Food Panel, which will take a behind the scenes look at the challenges (and rewards) of developing and launching a new product or menu.
Paul Hopper, founder and co-MD of HOP Vietnamese, calls lunch! a “a hubbub of activity and inspiration”. He’ll be there on opening day, taking part in the Brands To Watch panel (which also features Cojean UK, Crosstown and K10 Restaurants).
Another new speaker for 2019 is Katie Lister, marketing director at Chilango. She’ll be at the show on opening day for The Supersonic Food Marketing Podcast panel, hosted by Mark McCulloch, with Helen Harrison, brand director at Crussh, and Fatima Diez (formerly of Five Guys and Burger King).
Ian Chant is Holland & Barrett’s head of food (covering chilled, frozen, confectionery, drinks and food on the go). He’ll be talking at lunch!, with his colleague Louise Broom (category manager), about H&B’s journey into food-to-go — sharing retail insights and lessons learnt following the launch of its new, affordable vegan and veggie lunch-to-go range. Currently being trialled at six London stores, further rollout is expected (2.15pm, 19 September).
Ollie Rosevear is head of environment at Costa Coffee – the UK’s largest coffee shop brand. He’ll be appearing in lunch!’s highly-anticipated ‘Sustainability Panel’ on opening day.
Diane Wehrle is marketing and insights director at Springboard. One of the UK’s leading experts on current and emerging retail issues and trends, she’ll be sharing her expertise in a joint insights session, with The NPD Group’s Dominic Allport, taking place at 10.15am, on Friday 20 September.
Dominic Allport, insights director – foodservice at The NPD Group, will be taking part in a joint presentation with Sprinboard’s Diane Wehrle (10.15am, 20 Sept). In this unique insights session, they’ll provide a holistic view of events within the eating out and retail market and set out how operators can maximise their opportunities in response to ever increasing customer expectations.
Meet Helen Harrison, brand director at Crussh. Since joining the healthy food and juice bar chain in 2016 (following senior marketing roles at Sainsbury’s and EAT), she’s helped promote its successful expansion across London. And, thanks to franchise deals with SSP Group and Sodexo, there’s plans to open 30+ more outlets across the UK and Ireland in the coming years.
Natasha Wilmans is UK operations director at all-day Danish bakery chain Ole & Steen. She’ll be appearing in lunch!’s ‘Operations Director panel’, alongside LEON’s Shereen Ritchie, Tortilla’s Matt Chapman, and Chilango’s Richard Franks (2.45pm, Thursday 19 September).
Meet Richard Franks, operations director for Mexican restaurant chain Chilango. An experienced operator, with a strong people-focus, he boasts nearly two decades of service in food retail. He’ll be appearing in lunch!’s opening day ‘Operations Director panel’, and is looking forward to sharing strategies for “strengthening operations” and highlighting just how “crucial operations is to ongoing business growth and innovation”.