place2beerMonday 11th September:
2pm: What's on your label?
What EU regulations do brewers need to note? And what other information should brands consider including on the label? What are the benefits of nutrition and ingredients labelling?
Attendees will learn about product designation, allergens requirements, minimum durability date and all the rules that inform consumers about the beer they consume. The session will also consider why providing ingredients and nutrition information may be an asset to the brewing sector, and how this information can be shared with consumers.
| Mathieu Schneider – public affairs manager, The Brewers of Europe |
Mathieu Schneider graduated from the College of Europe in 2008. Since then, he has worked at The Brewers of Europe where he is in charge of the societal issues as well as consumer information. A French national, Schneider speakers English, French and German. |
Tuesday 12th September:
10am: The big questions
What challenges could brewers face from hop shortages and availability of other ingredients? How are sources and supplies of key commodities changing? What about local sourcing of ingredients?
| Scott Casey – Manager of Market Insights and Reporting, RMI Analytics |
Scott Casey has worked as a multimedia journalist in general news reporting in Australia and the business-to-business agricultural press in the United Kingdom. Currently he writes the flagship Brewing Raw Material Journal for RMI Analytics which deals with prices, quality and availability of raw materials for beer brewing. |
| Ann George - Executive Director of the Washington Hop Commission, US Hop IndustryPlant Protection Committee, Hop Growers of America, and Hop Growers of Washington. |
For the past 30 years Ann George has guided the industry’s research and plant protection programs, including issue management, research and registration efforts, and international harmonization. Since 2007 she has also been responsible for the industry’s statistical, education and promotion programs. |
2pm: The craft beer landscape
Brewers of all shapes and sizes see opportunities for craft or craft-style brews. What does this landscape look like in 2017? Who are the players in the market; and how is the category evolving as a result? How is M&A activity coming into play?
From the distribution and marketing muscle of multinational brewers' craft style brands, to the independent positioning of smaller craft brewers, this session will seek to put the spotlight on how players are operating in the sector.
| Dr Ina Verstl and Ernst Faltermeier – authors of The Beer Monopoly |
For nearly two decades Dr Verstl has been a business correspondent for Brauwelt International, a leading and long-established independent publication focusing on the world of beer. Born in Germany, she grew up in England. After studying economics, philosophy and literature in Munich, Hull, and Oxford, she gained a doctorate at the University of Zurich. Following his Masters degrees in brewing and economics, Ernst Faltermeier held executive positions with large international and German brewing companies before joining the management board of one of Germany’s major beverage distributors. He is now sharing his expertise as strategy consultant and managing board member in the brewing and the packaging industry. |
| Sylvia Kopp – American Craft Beer Ambassador, Brewers Association (US) |
Sylvia Kopp is Ambassador of American craft beer in Europe for the Brewers Association, the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American craft brewers. The internationally renowned Beer-Sommelière also works as author, speaker and educator on the subject of the changing global beer culture, teaches sensory evaluation and the study of styles, and serves as long-term judge at international beer competitions such as World Beer Cup (USA), European Beer Star (Munich) and Brussels Beer Challenge. Her book “Barley & Hops” appeared 2014 with Gestalten (German: Das Craft-Bier-Buch, Italian: Malto & Luppolo). Kopp gives seminars and workshops across Europe. She lives in Berlin. |
Wednesday 13th September:
10am: Marketing and branding
Brewers may produce great beer – but how can they convince consumers to try it? What branding resonates with consumers? How can beer brands stand out among a plethora of 'quirky' marketing? Should brewers continue to use the word 'craft' or are there alternatives? How can brewers maximise the use of social media and other marketing methods?
| Hugo Hanselmann – CEO, HuHeHa |
Until 2014, Hugo was the Global Director of Digital Connections at Anheuser-Busch InBev. He was responsible for digital marketing worldwide. Working for one of the world’s top consumer product companies, he also set-up their innovation hub in Silicon Valley to drive the digital innovation of the company. Prior to this, Hugo spent 11 years at Daimler where he rose to become senior manager of eBusiness as well as member of the Innovation Committee. Currently he is CEO of B-Sprouts, an start-up accelerator and he runs his own advisory business, HuHeHa and also partner at 5CCG, a boutique consultancy. In addition, he is I-COM Global Board Member and Advisory Board Member at DMI International, Social Impact Apps and Ampion. |
| Ankur Jain – founder and CEO, B9 Beverages (Bira 91 craft beer) |
Launched in early 2015, Bira 91 is disrupting the beer market in India with its great taste, superior consumer experience and a clutter-breaking visual identity. Creative, urban, unorthodox and fun – Bira 91 has gone viral amongst urban millennials, without having spent a single dollar on traditional marketing, and has quickly displaced established incumbents to become the leader in the Indian specialty and draft beer segments. In late 2015, B9 Beverages raised a round of investment from the legendary Silicon Valley based venture firm Sequoia Capital; and in 2016, Bira 91 announced its global foray with a launch in New York City and an exclusive partnership with the Tribeca Film Festival. Born in New Delhi, Ankur is a serial entrepreneur who moved to the US in 1998. He completed his Bachelor’s in Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. After a brief stint at Motorola, Ankur co-founded a healthcare revenue management firm in New York City that later sold to a large healthcare provider network in 2007. Soon after, he moved back to his hometown and noticed there weren’t many beers worth drinking in India.Ankur got his start in the beer business in 2009 importing traditional beers from Europe and the US to India. Inspired by the American craft beer revolution, he decided that it was time for a craft beer brand ‘Imagined in India’ for the urban, millennial consumer and launched Bira 91. Ankur has been on the Global 100 Young Social Entrepreneur list of the Global Knowledge Foundation, Malaysia, a Fellow of the Disruptive Innovation Foundation, and was included in Fortune India’s ‘Top 40 Under 40’ as well as GQ India’s ‘50 Most Influential Young Indian Innovators’ in 2016 and 2017. |
2pm: Growing your company
Craft and small brewers often start as small family businesses but struggle to scale up operations. What are the biggest challenges and opportunities as they grow?Issues to explore include: maintaining quality and consistency of brews; building capacity; growing the workforce; choosing the right partnerships; increasing distribution; maintaining authenticity and reputation.
| Ed Kentish Barnes, founder and director of KB Solutions, in collaboration with Renaissance Bioscience Corp |
Ed is the founder of KB Solutions (London) Ltd, a brewing consultancy based in the UK. He is a Master Brewer and Chartered Scientist with 17 years’ experience in multi-national, small and medium brewing companies and FMCG consultancy. Ed supports brewers to deliver solutions in the fields of liquid innovation, new brewing technologies, quality excellence and manufacturing cost improvements. He is brewing consultant to Bright Brewer’s Yeast (Renaissance Bioscience Corp). |
| Benjamin Sutch, Partner, Chudleigh Sutch |
Benjamin Sutch is a Partner in family business, Chudleigh Sutch, an engineering consultancy based in Hong Kong, and presently leads their UK office. Prior to returning to the UK in early 2016 Ben served as President, Sales Asia Pacific, for Florence, Italy based Frigel S.p.A, a global purveyor of process cooling and control systems for the plastics and food and beverage industries.
With Chudleigh Sutch Benjamin works with businesses based in the UK and across Europe focusing on energy and water management and improvement initiatives.
Ben is the third generation of his family to work within the plastics and beverage packaging industries starting with his grandfather, who was an early pioneer in the UK plastics industry in the 1960s and 70s and father who recently spent 10 years as President of Husky Asia Pacific.
Ben holds a Bachelor of Science and Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University, New Hampshire, USA and resides with his family outside Brighton along the south coast of England. |
Thursday 14th September:
10am: Smart packaging
How can packaging add value to the product? What technologies are beer brands already using to engage with consumers? What about secondary packaging or customisable six-packs?
| Paul Foulkes-Arellano – Precipice Design |
Foulkes-Arellano has been working in branding and packaging innovation since 1989, and has worked with companies including SABMiller, InBev, Guinness, Baltika, Carlsberg & European Food. Whether it's strategic brand positioning or embedding an innovation culture, he loves to work across a whole range of business disciplines, particular the export and commercial sides. Foulkes-Arellano is Chairman of the Design and Packaging judges for the International Beer Challenge and International Spirits Challenge; and Cavaleiro da Confraria do Vinho do Porto (Knight of the Port Wine Brotherhood). His 27 years of experience in strategic brand consultancy and innovation consultancy has specialised in beers, wines and spirits. |
| Matt Twiss, Marketing and Business Development Director, Crown Bevcan Europe & Middle East |
Matt is responsible for all marketing and business development activities within CROWN Bevcan Europe & Middle East. Prior to this role, Matt spent nearly 17 years working for Crown’s European Speciality Packaging division in a variety of marketing and commercial roles. Passionate about innovation and development, Matt has a long and distinguished track record in supporting a wide variety of markets and has significant experience working with multi-national FMCG companies, design and marketing agencies as well as retailers. He holds a degree in European politics, languages and economics. |
2pm: Beer styles
A round-up of what styles are popular with today's consumers, and the up-and-coming styles we could see more of in the future. Why are IPAs so popular? How big will nitro beers be? What about the trend towards more sessionable beers? Do non-alcoholic beers have a big future?
We also explore different ways of serving beer – how can beer be paired with food, what are the opportunities for beer cocktails?
| Ben Vinken – Beer sommelier; editor/publisher of Beerpassion Magazine (Dutch, French) |
Ben started his career some 40 years ago as a lawyer and later marketing specialist in several breweries as Lamot, Palm and ABInbev. In 1991 he started his publishing company and published Michael Jackson’s ‘The Great Beers of Belgium’ and Bierpassie/Bièrepassion magazine since 1998. |
| Markus Raupach - Founder and Co-Owner of the German Beer Academy |
Markus Raupach is a beer writer and beer sommelier from Bamberg, Germany. Publishing since 2005 he now has written more than 35 books about German beer culture and other related topics (for example the Berlin Beer Guide and the Bavarian Beer Guide). He also works for several publications including nationwide magazines. In 2013 he founded the German Beer Academy training for professionals, beer sommeliers and gastronomy-employees (www.bierakademie.net). He also is former trainer of the German national team of beer sommeliers and is the inventor of the beer sommelier game (www.biersommelierspiel.de). Raupach is jury-member of the European Beer Star. In 2015 the Bavarian Brewers Association and the Bavarian Hotel and Gastronomy Association honored him with the title of ‘Goldene BierIdee’ for the foundation of the German Beer Academy and his journalistic work. |
Friday 15th September:
10am: China's craft beer scene
China is the world's largest beer market, and as the sector evolves craft beer is growing its market share. What are consumers in China looking for in their craft brews? How is craft expected to develop in China in the future?
| Carl Setzer – founder and brewmaster, Great Leap Brewing, Beijing |
Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Carl first came to China in 2004 and has been fascinated by this country ever since. After a few years in the world of IT and working 17 hour days, Carl decided he wanted to do something that was both creative and challenging as well as rewarding. So, he started to brew beer in his spare time. After a few months of fooling around with different recipes, he finally found a few that he was proud of and invited a few close friends for a tasting party. Word got out and the party ended up having over sixty attendees. After hearing people praise his beer as well as recognizing the endless possibilities for a craft beer business in a city of over 20 million people, Carl and Liu Fang founded Great Leap Brewing in October of 2010. Carl remains Brewmaster and CEO of Great Leap Brewing, which has grown from four taps and one location to sixty taps across three locations. Carl is also a founding member of the Craft Beer Association of China and sits on their board of directors as well as on the technical committee. Carl also sits on the Technical Scientific Committee of the Berlin Institute for Fermentation and Biotechnology (VLB). |