Global Dairy Congress 2026
Event Programme
The premier industry event devoted to marketing and brands, consumers and innovation, designed for industry leaders, innovators, suppliers, customers and advisers worldwide. The 19th annual Global Dairy Congress will feature two days of conference sessions focusing on the latest market developments, trends and opportunities and extensive time for informal networking and discussion.
Discover this years speakers
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Tuesday
Wednesday
9:00 am
MARKET TRENDS AND OUTLOOK
Consumer responsiveness to dairy, health and functionality
Ananda Roy, Senior Vice President – Thought Leadership Europe for Circana
9:15 am
MARKET TRENDS AND OUTLOOK
Tariffs, pricing and industry structure change
Tom Booijink, Senior Dairy Specialist Europe & Africa for Rabobank, Netherlands
9:30 am
MARKET TRENDS AND OUTLOOK
New growth strategies for a disrupted world
Jose Saiz, European Dairy Lead at Expana, Spain
9:45 am
MARKET TRENDS AND OUTLOOK
Questions and discussion
10:10 am
MARKET TRENDS AND OUTLOOK
Panel discussion joined by
Professor Jeremy Hill, Chief Science and Technology Officer of Fonterra, New
Zealand
10:20 am
SPONSOR
Sponsor presentation: How consumer trends influence texture and nutrition solutions
Sandrine Bouvier, Customer Marketing Leader EMEA and Jiae Kim, Global Market
Manager for Roquette, France
11:00 am
INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP
Creating high value functional product opportunities
Dr Ignatius Man-Yau Szeto, Vice President of Yili Group, China
11:15 am
INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP
Reducing and improving ageing
Peggy Diby, Global Head of Corporate Affairs – Nutrition for Nestlé, Switzerland
11:30 am
INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP
Making snacking nutritious and joyful
Carole Nicaud, Strategic Innovation Director for Bel Group, France
11:45 am
INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP
Questions and discussion
12:10 pm
INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP
Round table
12:40 pm
SPONSOR
Sponsor presentation
Speaker to be announced from Sidel
12:50 pm
Networking lunch
2:00 pm
FOCUS ON FUNCTIONALITY
Supporting active lifestyles
Speaker to be confirmed from Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy Group, China
2:15 pm
FOCUS ON FUNCTIONALITY
Investing in active nutrition
Floor van der Horst, Global Marketing Director – Performance and Active Nutrition
for Royal FrieslandCampina Ingredients, Netherlands
2:30 pm
FOCUS ON FUNCTIONALITY
Targeting blood sugar control
Richard Walton, Senior Adviser – Global Business and Industry Affairs for Meiji Holdings, Japan
2:45 pm
FOCUS ON FUNCTIONALITY
Making snacking nutritious
Carole Nicaud, Strategic Innovation Director for Bel Group, France
3:00 pm
FOCUS ON FUNCTIONALITY
Questions and discussion
3:20 pm
Refreshment and networking break
4:00 pm
BREAKTHROUGH BRANDING
50 years, one purpose: relentless brand transformation
Nguyen Quang Tri, Executive Marketing Director for Vinamilk, Vietnam
4:15 pm
BREAKTHROUGH BRANDING
Potential for organic growth
Speaker to be announced
4:30 pm
BREAKTHROUGH BRANDING
Taking kefir into the mainstream
Speaker to be announced
4:45 pm
BREAKTHROUGH BRANDING
India’s key dairy opportunities
Rajiv Mitra, Senior Adviser – Growth and Transformation for Indapur Dairy & Milk
Products, India
5:00 pm
BREAKTHROUGH BRANDING
Questions and discussion
5:20 pm
WORLD DAIRY INNOVATION AWARDS 2026
Presentation of World Dairy Innovation Awards 2026
5:45 pm
WORLD DAIRY INNOVATION AWARDS 2026
Cocktail and canapé reception
7:30 pm
Close
Thursday
9:00 am
CELL-BASED DAIRY
Developing a full dairy range
Jennifer Côté, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Opalia, Canada
9:10 am
CELL-BASED DAIRY
Pathway to humanised infant formula
Dr Jared Raynes, Chief Scientist for All G, Australia
9:20 am
CELL-BASED DAIRY
Lactoferrin for women’s health
Laura Katz, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Helaina, United States
9:30 am
CELL-BASED DAIRY
Achieving scale for lactoferrin
Simon Penfold, Chief Commercial Officer of Vivici, Netherlands
9:40 am
CELL-BASED DAIRY
Precision fermentation’s potential contribution to global food
Professor Jeremy Hill, Chief Science and Technology Officer for Fonterra, New Zealand
9:50 am
CELL-BASED DAIRY
Questions and discussion
10:15 am
CELL-BASED DAIRY
Refreshment and networking break
11:00 am
INNOVATOR PANEL
Protein, fibre and GLP-1
Laurent Coutant, Head of Nutrition Marketing for Groupe Lactalis, France
11:15 am
INNOVATOR PANEL
Morinaga Milk: mood support postbiotics
Saki Yamashita, Global Marketing Manager, Functional Food Ingredients Division for Morinaga Milk Industry, Japan
11:25 am
INNOVATOR PANEL
SmartMilk: creating a new functional milk category
Vibhah and Vineet Shiriwastow, Founders and Directors of Lullaa, New Zealand
11:45 am
INNOVATOR PANEL
Fruit layered, high protein cottage cheese
Speaker to be announced
11:55 am
INNOVATOR PANEL
PlanetDairy: hybrid milk with plant protein
Jakob Skovgaard, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of PlanetDairy, Denmark
11:35 am
INNOVATOR PANEL
Winning in refrigerated yogurt protein bars
Speaker to be confirmed
12:05 pm
INNOVATOR PANEL
Questions and discussion
12:30 pm
Networking lunch
2:00 pm
Close