Lisa Turano
Turano Baking Company

Lisa Turano is the Vice-President, Legal of Turano Baking Company and the President of the Turano Foundation.  Turano Baking is a premier national baking company providing artisanal bread, hamburger buns and breadsticks to many of the country’s most recognized chain food service establishments.  She is the eldest member of the 3rd generation of the Turano family now involved in the family business which is celebrating more the 57 years of success.  She earned her juris doctorate degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law and her MBA from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.  She is an active member of various boards and philanthropies ranging from children’s product safety, feeding the elderly through Meals on Wheels and the ALS Foundation.

In her role as VP-Legal, Lisa is the primary contact for all legal matters related to the business and family including Labor/Human Relations, Contracts, Real Estate, Corporate Transactions, Litigation, Estate Planning, etc.  Additionally, Lisa participates with the American Bakers Association as a member of the Human Resource Committee and Legal Committee.

Presentation
Developing Your Own Personal Brand
Sunday, March 1, 2020
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Young Professionals Educational Session

Rachel Wyman
Montclair Bread, LLC

Rachel Wyman is an award-winning lifelong baker, who learned to write her name in buttercream with a pastry bag before she could hold a pencil. She started her career at Bread Alone, during her time as a student at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. After completing her studies, she went on to manage the night production at Amy’s Bread in New York City. 

After moving to Montclair, NJ with her family, she opened the Montclair Bread Company in 2012. On a whim, she and her staff began frying up doughnuts one morning, and soon Montclair Bread Co. became known as a bread bakery with a doughnut addiction! Rachel was featured on the Food Network’s “Donut Showdown,” where her tres leches doughnut took home the top prize.

Presentation
Building Your Community: Building Your Brand
1:40 pm – 2:15 pm
Breakout 1: Marketing

Geri Berdak
CloverQuest

Geri Berdak is president of CloverQuest Group, who’s focus is to help companies navigate the dynamic, changing food/wellness landscape and become leading brands in the space.

Geri has dedicated her career to the broader health & wellness category, leading marketing and product innovation efforts for consumer-packaged goods and ingredient companies including PepsiCo, Isagenix, Kerry, Solae/DuPont, United Soybean Board and the Innovation Center for US Dairy.

A nutritionist and classically trained marketer, Geri partners with her clients to create brand positioning, identify which products to offer and determine the best way to take them to market so that they are highly consumer relevant, and strategically linked to the client’s brand image.

Presentation
How to Incorporate Wellness into Product Branding/Marketing
Monday, March 2, 2020
2:20 pm – 2:55 pm
Breakout 1: Marketing

Kathy Sargent
Corbion

Kathy Sargent is the Strategic Innovation Director for Corbion, a global market leader in lactic acid, lactic acid derivatives and lactides, and a leader in functional blends containing enzymes, emulsifiers, minerals and vitamins. Kathy is respected for her ability to bring industry knowledge, insights and team-building to projects. She is a graduate of Kansas State University, with a master’s degree in food science and technology and a bachelor’s degree in cereal chemistry and bakery science.

Presentation
A Safe, Label Friendly Way to Reduce pH in Baked Goods
Monday, March 2, 2020
1:00 pm – 1:35 pm
Breakout 2: Ingredients

Naggie T. Jeradechachai
Bay State Milling Company

Naggie T. Jeradechachai is the Manager of Research at Bay State Milling Company. She leads BSMC strategic activities focuses on varietal identification and commercialization, new test method development, and fundamental carbohydrate research in food systems. Prior to joining Bay State, Naggie worked for the Northern Crops Institute as the Crop Quality Specialist, where she was responsible for providing technical solutions on wheat and legumes applications in baking, pasta, and snack extrusion. As well, Naggie served as a research assistant with the USDA in Fargo, ND where she conducted research on plant proteomics and insect lipid biochemistry. Naggie got her B.S. and M.S. Degrees at North Dakota State University in Cereal and Food Science. She is from Bangkok, Thailand.

Presentation
The Evolution of Alternative Protein Ingredients in Baking from the Past to the Future
Monday, March 2, 2020
1:40 pm – 2:15 pm
Breakout 2: Ingredients

Rajen Mehta
Grain Millers, Inc.

Rajen Mehta is the Senior Director of Specialty Ingredients at Grain Millers, Inc., a leading manufacturer of whole-grain ingredients and fibers. In his present position, Rajen is responsible for business development and creating functionally improved healthy ingredients. He also assists food companies to leverage the positive attributes of fibers, functional derivatives and whole grains to develop functionally improved foods.

Rajen obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. in Food Science from Kansas State University and has since worked with both ingredient companies and consumer food companies in bakery, dairy and functional foods & beverages that offer health and nutritional benefits. His primary ingredient focus has been on fibers, whole grains and functional derivatives. Throughout his career Rajen has concentrated on the market development of healthy, nutritionally superior, and good-tasting foods that leverage trends to meet the demands of health conscious consumers.

Presentation
Fibers to Improve the Quality of Traditional & Health Baked Goods: Post-FDA’s 2016 Regulation
Monday, March 2, 2020
2:20 pm – 2:55 pm
Breakout 2: Ingredients

Robert Burgh
Nexcor Technologies

Robert Burgh is the President of Nexcor Food Safety Technologies, a software provider for Food Manufacturing organizations worldwide.  He first learned the baking business in his family’s wholesale hearth plant in Trenton, NJ.

After graduating from K-State and AIB BME #3, Robert held a number of engineering positions with several different bakeries.  He founded Nexcor in 1983 and has since transformed the industry with KLEANZ for Food Safety/Sanitation Management and CAMS-PM for Maintenance Management.  Robert is a member of the ANSI Z50.2 committee to update standard sanitary design of bakery equipment and has spoken previously at ASB.

Presentation
IoT, Automation, and the Future of Safety
Monday, March 2, 2020
1:00 pm – 1:35 pm
Breakout 3: Technology & Baking

Julie McGill
FoodLogic

Julie McGill is the Director of Implementation and Strategic Account Management at FoodLogiQ, the leading SaaS provider of food safety compliance, whole chain traceability, and supply chain transparency solutions. As food companies face mounting demands for traceability and supply chain visibility, McGill supports their needs and increases their speed to value. She previously worked at GS1 US for over 16 years on various teams, including Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) implementation services and global account management. McGill also led the Foodservice GS1 US Standards Initiative for seven years, working with manufacturers, distributors, operators and supply chain partners to increase efficiencies and build a foundation for traceability and supply chain visibility through the use of GS1 standards.

Presentation
Block Chain Presentation
Monday, March 2, 2020
1:40 pm – 2:15 pm
Breakout 3: Technology & Baking

Josh Lamkins
Shick Esteve

Josh Lamkins is the Software Development Supervisor of Shick Esteve. He has 10 years of experience in software development including embedded systems, server administration, controls engineering and cloud-based web applications. His food industry experience includes controls implementation of liquid/dry ingredient handling, CIP, ingredient/recipe management, and real-time data aggregation to improve business processes and reduce waste/downtime. He is in charge of delivering industry-leading innovation and technology support regarding ingredient/recipe management and real-time data collection to meet Shick Esteve’s customers evolving needs.

Presentation
Bridging the Gap Between Administration and Manufacturing in the Baking Industry
Monday, March 2, 2020
2:20 pm – 2:55 pm
Breakout 3: Technology & Baking

Deborah Martin
Enzyme Technical Association

Deborah Martin is a Regulatory Affairs and Product Stewardship Manager at DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences. In this role, Ms. Martin is responsible for the implementation and maintenance of product stewardship & sustainability programs associated with DuPont enzyme products in a variety of industrial applications. She is a Certified Industrial Hygienist with a specialty in enzyme safety and helps DuPont customers to build good enzyme safety practices using a hierarchy of controls. Ms. Martin has over ten years of professional experience providing expertise in enzyme safety across a variety of industries, including the baking industry. She also serves on the Enzyme Technical Association Product Safety & Stewardship Committee and is Co-Chair.

Presentation
Safe Handling of Enzymes in the Baking Supply Chain
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
12:55 pm – 1:30 pm
Breakout #5: Food Safety