Martin Berg is one of the early proponents of the new Nordic food movement and sustainable cooking.
Martin has a background as former head chef at Michelin restaurants, co-founder of a traditional sourdough rye bakery and organic café in Stockholm.
And most recently creator and head chef of the global concept ARKET café.
With over 15 years of experience in the banking industry, Robert transitioned to Inter IKEA in 2015, where he has actively engaged in advancing the innovation agenda through various assignments.
Currently, he leads the corporate venture capital arm of Inter IKEA, with a strong focus on driving strategic partnerships and equity investments to accelerate development, innovation, and transformation within IKEA and beyond. Robert is dedicated to making sustainability affordable and accessible, and possesses a genuine passion for empowering entrepreneurs to scale their businesses throughout the value chain.
Zeynep Cetecioglu Gurol is an Associate Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, where she leads the Bioconversion Group in the Department of Industrial Biotechnology.
Her research bridges process engineering and microbial ecology to develop sustainable bioprocesses that transform waste and wastewater into value-added products and energy.
She is the co-leader of the Technology Work Package in PLENTY – the Centre for a Symbiotic and Circular Food Provisioning, where she focuses on converting food waste into valuable resources. She also serves as the Circularity Leader at the KTH Water Centre, strengthening cross-disciplinary efforts toward sustainable water and resource management.
Beyond these roles, she has coordinated and contributed to numerous national and European projects, including Horizon 2020, HE Sustainable Blue Economy, NordForsk, Formas, and Vinnova.
Dr. Cetecioglu Gurol has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed publications. She is internationally recognized for advancing both the scientific understanding and practical applications of microbial community dynamics in sustainable bioprocesses.
Line Gordon is a professor in Sustainability Science and the Director of Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University.
Her research focuses the role of food in building resilient futures. She has been leading the working group on transformation in the EAT-Lancet 2025 Commission to be published 3 October 2025.
Line is the founder of PLATE – a new research centre on resilient meals, based at Stockholm University. She is a board member of EAT Foundation and on the jury of the Food Planet Prize.
Johan Jörgensen is one of the founders of Sweden Foodtech and as such he coaches nations, cities, big corps and entrepreneurs regarding strategic business-building in the transforming food sector.
Sweden Foodtech is the leading think tank for the future of food in the Nordics and is focused on building and developing new insights around the ongoing transformation of the global food sector. Besides insights, Sweden Foodtech engages in concrete projects in order to enhance knowledge and build value.
With a Ph.D. in Food Studies from New York University, Mitchell Davis is founder of the consultancy Kitchen Sense, LLC, a laboratory for creative food content and innovative food-system solutions at the intersection of gastronomy, culture, and politics. He serves as Chief Picnic Officer of the Jewish Food Society, where in 2025 he successfully launched The Great Nosh, a new food and culture festival in New York City to help bridge diverse communities.
Davis is an advisor to the Florence University of the Arts in Italy, the cultural center Asif: Culinary Institute of Israel, the Nanro Foundation in Seoul, Korea, and the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands in Palm Springs, California. Davis spent nearly three decades at the prestigious James Beard Foundation in NYC, leaving in the role of Chief Strategy Officer, and is a former Academy Chair for the London-based World’s 50 Best Restaurants. He is also an IACP award-winning author of five cookbooks and a James Beard Award-nominated food journalist.
He writes a weekly newsletter on Substack called Kitchen Sense and was host of the two popular food podcasts: What’s Burningand Taste Matters. You can follow him on Instagram @kitchensense.
Karen Mapusua is Director of the Land Resources Division of the Pacific Community which provides technical and scientific support to 22 Pacific Island countries & territories on all aspects of agriculture and forestry.
She has worked in rural development in the Pacific region for close to 26 years including co-founding the Pacific Organic & Ethical Trade Community (POETCom) leading in implementing the Pacific Organic Standard and Guarantee Scheme, building tools to support organic policy development, and establishing alternative forms of certification that empower farmers.
Karen has driven the development of the Pacific Community Flagship on Food Systems for improved health, nutrition and resilience outcomes and has actively promoted economic
empowerment of women through agricultural value chains.
Karen has recently completed a residency on food system transformation at the Bellagio Centre and is President of IFOAM-Organics International, the global umbrella body for the organic agriculture movement. She has previously served on the Board of Directors of Fairtrade Australia New Zealand. She is a national of Samoa and Australia.
Alpha Sennon is the Founder and CEO of WHYFARM, an award-winning NGO based in Trinidad and Tobago that pioneers agricultural educational entertainment, also known as
agri-edutainment. With more than 15 years of experience at the intersection of agriculture, education, and entertainment, Alpha has transformed the way young people view farming:
shifting agriculture from something overlooked into a field of imagination, innovation, and opportunity.
A Ph.D. candidate in Agricultural Education, Leadership, and Communication at Auburn University, Alpha combines academic rigor with creative storytelling to inspire the next
generation of food and nutrition leaders. His groundbreaking work has earned him numerous international awards and recognition as a global thought leader in agri-innovation and youth empowerment.
An accomplished international keynote speaker, Alpha has captivated audiences across the globe; including at TEDxAmsterdam, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome. Known for infusing his presentations with performance and entertainment, he energizes crowds while delivering profound lessons on sustainability, food security, and youth leadership. Alpha Sennon brings more than knowledge; he brings a movement. His talks ignite creativity,
challenge assumptions, and leave participants equipped and inspired to drive change in their
communities.
Saba is a Canadian farmer, educator, and a sustainable food advocate whose passion for cooking with seasonal produce and curiosity about what happens in the kitchen drives him to grow exclusively for gastronomic experiences.
Saba inspires chefs and food lovers to partake in the local food movement by directly engaging with small-scale growers, like himself. He believes that not only this brings us the joy of cooking with the season’s freshest, most fragrant and flavourful produce but also will strengthen our relationship with the source of our food. By embracing his approach and appreciating the love and care that he puts in his work, chefs and food lovers can create a sense of a community that thinks local and acts local, while contributing to a more sustainable and resilient food system.
Paul Svensson is a chef and cookbook author, today working as culinary leader at Rosendals Trädgård.
He is passionate about improving restaurant operations and creating creative gastronomic experiences with a heavier focus on the relationship to soil, raw materials and how food is created. Paul works to be part of a change in the food system by inspiring a more sustainable food philosophy.
