Julia Buech is a Senior Analyst at Rabobank, based in the Netherlands. She is part of Rabobank’s highly valued global knowledge centre: RaboResearch. Within RaboResearch Food & Agri, Julia is focused on the consumer foods industry, providing clients with exclusive insights and views on markets developments, sector trends, and framework conditions. She is a regular speaker at industry events, covering a range of topics related to sustainability, nutrition and technology.

Esteban Sagel is a highly respected expert with over 30 years of experience in the petrochemical industry. As Principal and CEO of Chemical and Polymer Market Consultants (ChemPMC), which he founded in 2015, Esteban delivers critical insights to clients across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Throughout his career, Esteban has supported numerous international firms and investment funds, including Baerlocher, Daikin, Braskem Idesa, Esenttia, YPF, Petrocuyo, Pampa Energía, Dow Química Argentina, and UzDIF. His expertise encompasses a broad range of services, from developing training programs on petrochemical fundamentals to conducting specialized studies in pricing, investment due diligence, and market analysis.

Santiago Castro is a Senior Research Analyst at Wood Mackenzie, based in London. With over seven years of experience in petrochemical consulting, Santiago specialises in delivering insights and market reports that shape industry decision-making. Focused on the films and flexible packaging sector, Santiago provides strategic guidance and in-depth analysis of market trends. His expertise helps businesses navigate the evolving challenges and opportunities in this dynamic area of the petrochemical value chain.

A thought leader in his field, Santiago is a regular speaker at industry events, sharing valuable perspectives on market dynamics and innovations within the films and flexibles sector.

Adam is Director of Research and Reports at Smithers, the worldwide authority for the packaging industry.  Adam is responsible for the market report publishing business at Smithers, including a range of titles focussed on the flexible packaging industry including The Future of Global Flexible Packaging to 2028, The Future of Paper vs. Plastic Packaging Markets and The Future of Global Packaging.

Adam has over 20 years’ experience in project management, directing market research and working with clients to deliver high-value strategic studies and analysis. During his time at Smithers he has published or delivered hundreds of market studies, reports, technical books and single-client projects across a range of industries including raw materials. Adam has delivered presentations at packaging events around the world with a focus on future trends, market developments, opportunities and threats.

Boris Planer is a retail thought leader, speaker and consultant based in Frankfurt, Germany. He is the founder and managing director of Future Consulting, a consultancy supporting international retailers, suppliers and tech businesses in their efforts to spot trends early on and take new market opportunities effectively. Boris has got 25 years of experience in retail insight and consultancy, including at Planet Retail / Edge by Ascential and WGSN, the world’s leading consumer trend forecasters. He is also a speaker at Zukunftsinstitut, the Institute for the Future.

A Law graduate from the University of Seville, Finbarr González O’Sullivan is the Marketing Director at Agrosevilla, a global leader in the production and export of table olives. With a solid background in marketing and sales within international environments, he is recognized for his initiative in developing new products and brand strategies.
His experience includes managing multidisciplinary teams and designing impactful campaigns in both established and emerging markets. Currently, he focuses on driving projects that balance innovation and sustainability in the food products category, with a strategic yet hands-on approach to achieving global growth.

John Duhig has more than 25 years of working in EU public affairs, having worked at the European Commission for a number of years before spending more than a decade at two of Brussels’ leading public affairs agencies. John has experience of designing and executing successful lobbying campaigns with the EU institutions and the European Parliament in particular. He leads BOLDT’s Brussels advocacy and campaign activities, targeting members of the European Parliament, EU regulators and diplomats in Brussels, as well as national MPs and officials in many European countries on a wide variety of policy issues.

Mirela Tury Pastorini joined the Borealis group in 2005, working in different positions in Sales, Marketing and Circular Business Development. Currently she works as Circular Economy Strategic Platform Leader, responsible for Advanced Polymer Recycling.
Mirela has her international career developed in the automotive and chemical industry, before joining Borealis she worked at Volkswagen and Covestro. She holds a Master Science degree in Science and Technology of Polymers and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering.

Mario Abreu became Ferrero’s Group VP Sustainability in April 2020, leading the integration of sustainability in Ferrero's long-term business strategy. Prior to that he has worked over 20 years in sustainability for Tetra Pak, the last 5 of them as their Global VP Sustainability. Throughout his time in Tetra Pak he has led teams of up to 100 people globally, developing ground-breaking programmes for collection and recycling of beverage cartons across 80 countries, driving sustainable sourcing, and developing climate programmes. Earlier Mario worked as a technical and commercial director for paper and recycling businesses. In addition, he has served on several boards (e.g. FSC International, Proforest Initiative and RSPO), technical advisory groups (e.g. Science Based Targets Initiative), and was a founding member of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative. Mario has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering, a PG Diploma in Environmental Decision Making, having done sustainability and business trainings at CISL (UK), IMD (CH), Ashridge (UK), the Open University (UK), and Fundaçao Getulio Vargas (BR).

Riccardo Cavanna is a flowpack and sustainable packaging expert with a long-term vision of Total Cost of Ownership and an Industry 4.0 innovator.
He has more than 24 years of experience into packaging field. Graduated at Business School of Economics at Bocconi University and took an Executive MBA at the MIP (Milan Polytechnic), since 2021, he covers the role of President & Lead Strategist in Cavanna Group. Nowadays, he is also President of UCIMA (The Italian Packaging Machinery Association) until 2026. From 2015 to 2018, he has been President of Ipack Ima. He contributes to the White Paper ‘Flow wrap packaging: the most with the least”, a technical-scientific publication that investigates the relationship between flowpack and sustainability and a possible future of this technology.