Our judging panel is composed of New Food’s advisory board members. They represent experts from across the global food and beverage community. They have been selected to ensure they can apply their knowledge, expertise and skills to the judging criteria and ultimately, to award the finalists.
We are committed to ensuring the judging process for The Apples is transparent, independent, fair and unbiased.
Professor of Food Safety and Director of the Institute for Global Food Security, Queen’s University Belfast.
Chris is currently Professor of Food Safety and Founder of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast.
He served as Pro Vice Chancellor responsible for the Medical and Life Sciences Faculty between 2015 and 2018 and has published more than 450 peer review articles, many of them relating to the detection and control of agriculture, food and environmental related contaminants.
His main research interests are in the development of innovative techniques to provide early warning of toxin threats across complex food supply systems. Protecting the integrity of the food supply chain from fraud is also a key research topic and Chris led the independent review of Britain’s food system following the 2013 horsemeat scandal.
Dr Ruchi Gupta is a founding director at the Centre for Food Allergy & Asthma Research.
Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH is Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, and the founding director of the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research at Northwestern University and Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
Dr. Gupta is world-renowned for her research on the epidemiology, economic impact, prevention, and management of allergic conditions, and strives to find answers and shape policies surrounding these conditions in order to reduce burden and improve health equity.
Co-Founder of Women in the Food Industry.
Mecca Ibrahim was formerly Head of Marketing & Social Media at Great British Chefs – the UK’s fastest growing food website. After almost eight years in that role, Mecca (who everyone calls Mex) co-founded ‘Women In The Food Industry‘ – an initiative that shines a spotlight on the work of inspiring women in the industry.
Mex has also set up a freelance social media, marketing and content creation agency, and is a member of the Guild of Food Writers. Her expertise includes sustainability, food entrepreneurs, equality within the food industry and ethical eating.
Sterling Crew .Hon.FIFST, FCIEH FRSPH, MSOFHT, CEnvH, CSci.
Sterling Crew is an experienced food sector director who currently holds a portfolio of positions including Chair of the Food Authenticity Network. He is the Independent Scientific Advisor at Campden BRI and sits on its board. He is also Strategic Advisor at Shield Safety Group and Dynamic Risk Indicator.
Moreover, Sterling sits on the audit governance board at Eurofins and is Scientific Advisor for OLIO. He is Co-Founder of Kitchen Conversation as well as being Managing Director of SQS ltd.
Sterling has over 35 years’ experience of working in the food industry in the fields of food safety, governance, horizon scanning and innovation. He started his career in government before a successful track history in retailing with Marks and Spencer and Tesco. He has also worked in the branded environment for Coca-Cola and Disney and as a Technical Director at two manufacturers. With experience as a regulator, retailer, manufacturer and brand owner, he has a unique perspective on the global food supply network.
Executive Director of Clean Label Project.
Jaclyn Bowen MPH, MS is the Executive Director of Clean Label Project and a food safety and quality systems engineer. Prior to coming to Clean Label Project, she spent 15 years at the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre, NSF International, working on the creation and enforcement of food safety and water quality standards and compliance systems.
Nolan Lewin is a member of our advisory board and is Executive Director for the Food Innovation Center at Rutgers University.
Nolan Joined Rutgers Food Innovation Center in April 2018 as the Director of the Piscataway Facility. Shortly thereafter, assigned additional responsibilities as Director of Operations for both Bridgeton and Piscataway facilities.
Currently serving as Executive Director for the Food Innovation Center at Rutgers University is a unique food business incubator and accelerator that is a unit of the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES).
The Center supports established early stage entrepreneurs and existing food companies from concept to commercialization.
Head of Zone AMS
Nestlé Quality Assurance centres
Founding director
Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research
Professor
Food distribution and policy
CEO
Balanced Health Botanicals
Vice President, Quality, Safety & Environment (QSE)
The Coca-Cola Company
President, Institute of Food Science and Technology
Executive Director
Clean Label Project
Food Safety and Hygiene Consultant
Executive Director
Food Innovation Center, Rutgers University
CEO
EIT Food
Head of Zone AMS
Nestlé Quality Assurance centres
Fabien Robert is currently Head of Zone AMS for Nestlé Quality Assurance centres. He has worked for Nestlé for 20 years, dedicated to the enhancement of the quality of life and contributing to a healthier, sustainable future.
His past positions within Nestlé have included the Analytical Services Manager and Food Safety Platform Leader in Corporate international HQ, Project Manager in the corporate Nestle Nutrition Operation department, and Project Manager in the corporate Regulatory and Scientific Affairs department. He previously worked for 10 years in R&D at the Nestle research Center in Lausanne (Switzerland).
Fabien is a graduate of the University Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in France, where he earned, among others, his PhD in Organic Chemistry. Following his university completion in France, Fabien earned his post-doctorates in Bio-Organic Chemistry and Organometallic Chemistry from Université de Genève/Sciences II & III in Switzerland.
Founding director
Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research
Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH is Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, and the founding director of the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research at Northwestern University and Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
Dr. Gupta is world-renowned for her research on the epidemiology, economic impact, prevention, and management of allergic conditions, and strives to find answers and shape policies surrounding these conditions in order to reduce burden and improve health equity.
Professor
Food distribution and policy
Dr Sylvain Charlebois is a professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. His current research interest lies in the areas of food distribution, security and safety.
CEO
Balanced Health Botanicals
Chase Terwilliger is the CEO of Balanced Health Botanicals™ in Denver, Colorado. After graduating with an MBA from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University and having his medical device distribution start-up acquired by JNJ, Chase sought out an opportunity to become the CEO of an organisation that he was confident would change the world.
Since leading BHB, the team has grown from four employees to 100+, increased product SKUs from one to over 800, and have solidified BHB as one of the top companies in the CBD market with over $60,000,000 in 2019 sales. Chase’s goal is to continue the growth of the house of brands, becoming the largest supplier of hemp-derived CBD and other cannabinoids in the world.
Vice President, Quality, Safety & Environment (QSE)
The Coca-Cola Company
Dr. Zoltan Syposs is Vice President, Quality, Safety & Environment (QSE) at The Coca-Cola Company. In the role of VP QSE, Zoltan is responsible for leading global strategies for quality, food safety, sustainability, operational health and safety, leading global technical governance, technical risk management;,policies and requirements.
Zoltan is a proven global system leader with over 20 years of experience working across both The Coca-Cola Company and bottling operations. Zoltan joined Coca-Cola in 2000 as Quality Manager in Central Europe. Since then, he has held several operational leadership roles in Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company in manufacturing, supply chain and Technical operations, QSE management and Supply Chain Technical Manager/QA Manager at Beverage Partners Worldwide.
Zoltan holds a Master of Science degree in Horticulture & Food Science from the University of Horticulture & Food Industry in Hungary and a Ph.D. degree in Food Microbiology from Szent Istvan University. Since 2016 he serves as an Associate Professor at the Szent Istvan University, Hungary, Department Food Safety & Microbiology. In 2019 Zoltan was elected as a member of the Advisory Board at the Nova School of Business and Economics, Leadership for Impact Knowledge Center in Portugal. As of 2021 Zoltan is a member of the GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) Steering Committee.
President, Institute of Food Science and Technology
Sterling Crew is an experienced food sector director who currently holds a portfolio of positions including Chair of the Food Authenticity Network. He is the Independent Scientific Advisor at Campden BRI and sits on its board. He is also Strategic Advisor at Shield Safety Group and Dynamic Risk Indicator.
Moreover, Sterling sits on the audit governance board at Eurofins and is Scientific Advisor for OLIO. He is Co-Founder of Kitchen Conversation as well as being Managing Director of SQS ltd.
Sterling has over 35 years’ experience of working in the food industry in the fields of food safety, governance, horizon scanning and innovation. He started his career in government before a successful track history in retailing with Marks and Spencer and Tesco. He has also worked in the branded environment for Coca-Cola and Disney and as a Technical Director at two manufacturers. With experience as a regulator, retailer, manufacturer and brand owner, he has a unique perspective on the global food supply network.
Executive Director
Clean Label Project
Jaclyn Bowen MPH, MS is the Executive Director of Clean Label Project and a food safety and quality systems engineer. Prior to coming to Clean Label Project, she spent 15 years at the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre, NSF International, working on the creation and enforcement of food safety and water quality standards and compliance systems.
Food Safety and Hygiene Consultant
François Bourdichon is a trained microbiologist from Pasteur Institute, Paris. With over 20 years of experience, he works as Food Safety, Microbiology and Hygiene Consultant for the food industry, with a focus on dairy, infant nutrition and confectionery. He specialises in microbial risk analysis, food safety and hygiene, food microbiology, fermentation and bio-preservation.
He has been delegate for France at the International Dairy Federation (IDF) since Since 2010 and elected chair since 2018 of the Standing Committee on Microbiological Hygiene (SCMH). He represents IDF at international organisation technical committee (ISO TC 34 / SC 9, Codex Alimentarius CCFH, FAO, WHO).
He has been collaborating with New Food since issue #2 of 2010.
Executive Director
Food Innovation Center, Rutgers University
Nolan Joined Rutgers Food Innovation Center in April 2018 as the Director of the Piscataway Facility. Shortly thereafter, assigned additional responsibilities as Director of Operations for both Bridgeton and Piscataway facilities.
Currently serving as Executive Director for the Food Innovation Center at Rutgers University is a unique food business incubator and accelerator that is a unit of the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES).
The Center supports established early stage entrepreneurs and existing food companies from concept to commercialization.
CEO
EIT Food
Dr Andy Zynga is the CEO of EIT Food, a food innovation community working to build a future-fit food system that produces healthy and sustainable food for all. EIT Food is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.
Based in Leuven, Andy has international experience in food systems, innovation, telecoms and technology services, and a proven track record in building profitable businesses in the US and Europe.
Winning an award can increase your company’s visibility and reputation within the industry. This can help attract new customers, improve brand recognition, and ultimately increase sales.
Participating in an awards competition allows companies to benchmark themselves against their competitors and gain valuable insights into their strengths and weaknesses.
Being recognised for their hard work can be a great motivator for employees. Entering an awards competition can inspire them to strive for excellence and take pride in their work. Winning an award can also help to boost employee morale and build team spirit.
Entering The Apples will provide valuable networking opportunities and a great place to meet industry leaders, potential customers, and suppliers. This can help to build relationships that may lead to new business opportunities in the future.
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