Kristy is the President and Fourth Generation owner of the Mile Hi Companies based in Denver, Colorado. The Companies include Mile Hi Foods, a consolidated food distribution company servicing over 450 McDonald’s restaurants and Mile Hi Bakery which is a high-speed LEAD gold certified bakery of buns and English muffins for McDonalds, Chic -Fil -A, In N Out and other similar, restaurant groups.

Utilizing her experience as a 4^th Generation owner, Kristy began working with other family businesses to help guide them through the many unique challenges that multi-generational businesses face. Kristy’s focus is to inspire leaders in their organizations to fully understand the part they play within the family unit and business while deciphering the value each family member brings to the organization. Kristy also has a passion for fostering the entrepreneurial spirit and supporting a DE&I culture. She has expertise in generational transitions, succession planning, strategic growth, M&A and navigating family dynamics.

The Mile Hi Companies continue to be ranked among the Top Ten Family-Owned Businesses in Colorado by ColoradoBiz Magazine. She holds a BA in Business from the University of Denver and received her executive coaching certification through the Coaches Training Institute (CTI).

Presentation
Young Professionals Educational Session – Women in Baking Panel
Tuesday, March 1
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Valerie Wayland has more than 34 years of experience in the food industry, with 28 years in the baking industry.  Valerie’s background includes technical and regulatory positions with Marriott Corporation, Kraft Foods, Mrs. Smith’s Bakeries, and currently as the Director of Technical Services & Regulatory Compliance for Flower Foods.  In addition to her responsibilities at Flowers, Valerie is an active member of the American Society of Baking, the Institute of Food Technologists, the Society of Bakery Women, and the Georgia Association for Food Protection.  Valerie also serves as co-chair for the American Bakers Association Food Technical & Regulatory Affairs Professionals group (FTRAC).  Valerie loves to travel and explore and has been married to her husband George for 29 years.

Presentation
Young Professionals Educational Session – Women in Baking Panel
Tuesday, March 1
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Charlotte Atchley is the editor of “Baking & Snack.”  She has spent 11 years covering all aspects of the baking industry including formulating, operations, bakery expansions and trends.  Ms. Atchley also launched and hosts the magazine’s first podcast, “Since Sliced Bread,” which features in-depth conversations with leaders in the industry. She served as a session chair for ASB’s BakingTECH 2015 annual conference.   Ms. Atchley has a bachelor’s degree in communication form Southwest Baptist University as well as a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.

Presentations
Young Professionals Educational Session – Women in Baking Panel
Tuesday, March 1
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Trends in Baking Automation Panel Discussion
Thursday, March 3
9:15 am – 10:15 am

As a Senior Food Safety Specialist, Nathan brings over 20 years of food manufacturing leadership in both manufacturing plants and corporate positions.  Currently in his role as the global bakery and snack lead for CFS he works to ensure internal alignment within their bakery focused specialists and externally with bakery suppliers to support their continuous improvement.

Immediately prior to joining Commercial Food Sanitation, Nathan had the corporate responsibility for the sanitation and allergen programs at Heinz North America. In that role he worked to lead corporate programs on sanitation challenges, alignment, and training, with a focus on unique and challenging cleaning and allergen validations including gluten free and supplier partnerships.

Over the course of his career, Nathan has had the benefit of working across a wide range of products and technologies at Heinz North America, Kraft Foods and Ralcorp.

Nathan is bilingual in English and Spanish and holds a Masters degree in Food Safety from Michigan State University, a MBA from California State University and a Bachelors degree in Economics/Finance from Missouri Southern State University.

Presentation
Successful Expansion with Hygienic Design and Cross Functional Teams
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
1:15 pm – 1:50 pm

Dr Morgaine Gaye is a Food Futurologist and director of bellwether: Food Trends, the first food trend research compendium. She has her own health-food product range of functional food blends called Dr Gaye, which are sold globally on-line. 

Morgaine looks at food and eating from a social, cultural, economic, trend, branding and geo-political perspective. Her work involves running ideation sessions, consulting to food companies, developing new products and ideas; writing articles/ trend reports for PR and ad agencies; giving public , university and corporate lectures on specific food trends, developing new ideas for food-related TV and radio programmes and doing research on all elements of the eating experience from mouth-feel to olfactory perception. She consults to leading blue chip food companies and manufacturers, delivering bespoke trend briefings and NPD ideation. 

Morgaine is a frequent media contributor in print, radio and TV. A number of her academic research papers have been published. She is a guest university lecturer in UK and Sweden and is on the reviewing panel for the International Food Design Conference and yearly academic journal. As part of the EU Commission, Morgaine was the chair at the Brussels Parliament for 2015. As part of TED X 2016, Morgaine’s talk was ‘It Doesn’t Make Any Scents’. She is currently writing a book ‘A Taste of Things to Come’ about food trends and why they matter. 

Presentation
Closing Keynote Presentation
Thursday, March 3, 2022
2:15 pm – 3:00 pm

Sophia Leung is a Food Science Lab Manager of a baking applications laboratory at Enzyme Innovation, a division of Specialty Enzymes & Probiotics. She has worked in product development of baked products, biotechnology research, and patent examination in food packaging and processes. Sophia has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rice University and M.S. in Food Science from University of Illinois.

Presentation
The Future of Probiotics in Baked Goods
Thursday, March 3, 2022
1:15 pm – 1:50 pm

Josh Becker is the newly appointed Bakery/Confection Segment Manager for Harpak-ULMA Packaging LLC.  In this new role, Mr. Becker is responsible for replicating ULMA’s global footprint in the bakery and confection markets in North America.  Prior to making the transition to Harpak-ULMA, he worked for 24 years in various senior engineering and operations leadership roles at Frito Lay, Kraft Foods, Bimbo Bakeries and The Hershey Company.  In his last role at The Hershey Company, he was Senior Manager of the Packaging Systems Engineering group.  He has a passion for the packaging industry and was an active member of PMMI’s OpX Leadership Network over the past several years.

Presentation
Single Serving Packaging
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
1:15 pm – 1:50 pm

Didier began his baking career in the traditional way: at age 15, with technical training at a regional French professional school and an apprenticeship under a local baker. But his love of bread and his desire to see the world soon set him apart — and his career on a very untraditional path.

After a few stints as staff baker in some exotic places, Didier’s abilities caught the attention of his employer, Club Med. He was assigned to the clubs with the most sophisticated clientele. Then Club Med noticed Didier’s organizational skills, and assigned him the task of opening new or remodeled bakeries at the company’s resorts. Included in his responsibilities was training local bakers to work in these bakeries. In 1995, Didier returned to France to enhance his professional skills at the respected Institut National de Boulangerie-Patisserie in Rouen. After five months of highly technical and business oriented training, he was awarded a Brevet de Maitrise, a degree that we would call a “Masters in Baking.”

While working on a private research project for Bay States Milling Company in the United States, Didier became trainer of the 1996 Baking Team USA. His expert advice and patient guidance were important factors in the American team’s first place finish in the bread category at the Coupe du Monde de Boulangerie in Paris in February 1996. In February 1999 under Didier’s guidance the team USA took home the gold medal of the competition and in April 2002, the silver medal. He was also the official coach of the US Baking team that won the gold medal in Paris in April 2005.

Didier has also contributed many technical articles for newsletters and baking magazines His formulas have been published in the professional press and are considerate by the industry to set the standards of quality in Artisan Baking.

When the National Baking Center was created in 1996, Didier was selected to develop and teach the Bread curriculum. His other functions at the NBC included the supervision of various research projects and consulting for specialty bread bakers and millers across the United States, South and Central America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Mexico), the Caribbean (Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica) Europe and Asia (Japan, Korea, Philippines)

In January 2002, he took the position of Head Instructor for the San Francisco Baking Institute where he continued to specialize in baking education and consulting, nationwide and internationally.

Since March 2005, Didier is the vice president of operations at Uptown bakers that serves customers all over the DC area. He also created his own consulting company (Red Brick Consulting) to continue to help the baking industry in the US and abroad.

Professional achievements:

• In July 2010, Didier was selected as a Top ten best bakers in the United States
•  In June 2012, he received the honor to be elected as a member of the prestigious Academie Culinaire de France.
• In December 2013, Didier completed his baking book: Pan, Sabor and Tradicion that won the Cookbook Award for best technical baking book in South America.

Presentation
Keynote Address – Automation
Thursday, March 3, 2022
10:30 am – 11:15 am

Julie McGill is the Vice President of Supply Chain and Insights at FoodLogiQ, a leading SaaS provider of food safety compliance, traceability, and recall solutions. Their platform helps companies achieve end-to- end traceability while supporting safe and high-quality food products across the supply chain. In her role, she supports evolving industry activity including regulatory, standards, traceability and food safety. Prior to joining FoodLogiQ, Julie spent over 16 years at GS1 US. There, she led the Foodservice Initiative, and worked with convenience stores and grocery retail. Julie also worked for Transora, which was one of the first GDSN data pools. Julie started her food and beverage career at Coors Brewing Company in Golden, Colorado, supporting the Store Level Data program, engaging their distributors to implement EDI with convenience and grocery retailers.

Presentation
Getting Ready for Traceability Record-keeping: FSMA 204 Proposed Rule
Thursday, March 3, 2022
11:25 am – 12:00 pm

David ‘Guilley’ Guilfoyle has been with IFF for 4 years as the Senior Group Manager of Bakery and Fats & Oils. His career began in food by dipping Dilly Bars from his highchair at his mother’s family-owned Dairy Queen in central Kansas. Guilley’s experience includes innovation positions at Anheuser-Busch Cos., Pizza Hut, Inc., The JM Smucker Co., Koch Industries, McDonald’s Partner Brands, Burger King, Inc., Interstate Brands Corporation, Little Caesar’s, and DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences. During his career, he has developed many technologies and products which are still in the market today. Guilley earned a Bachelor of Science in Foods and Nutrition Sciences from Kansas State University with an emphasis in Sensory. He is also a graduate of the American Institute of Baking and has an Associates Degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America.

Presentation
Make the Most of Your Healthy Bakery Strategy
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
11:25 am – 12:00 pm