Speakers & Moderator ⇽ [28 OCT | DAY 3] THE FUTURE OF FOOD | German Chamber of Commerce in China

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Dr. Christine Althauser (Opening Remarks)

Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany

Welcome and Opening Remarks

In August 2017, Dr Althauser was appointed Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Shanghai. She grew up in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. After studying Political Science, Slavic Languages and Literature and Sinology in Heidelberg, Taiwan, Moscow and Luxembourg, she joined the Federal Foreign Office in 1985. She was posted to the German Embassy in Beijing from 1987 to 1990. From 1990 until 1993, she worked at the USSR/Russia desk at Federal Foreign Office headquarters in Bonn. She was subsequently posted to the German Embassies in The Hague and in Moscow. She has been seconded to the Policy Planning Staff at the Federal Ministry of Defence in Berlin, has been posted to the Permanent Representations of the Federal Republic of Germany to the European Union in Brussels and to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, and has served as Head of the Crisis Prevention Division at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. Ms Althauser received her doctoral degree from Heidelberg University and has lectured in Political Science at Freiburg University while working at the Federal Foreign Office’s Economic Affairs Directorate-General. Prior to her assignment in Shanghai, Dr Althauser was Head of the Press Section at the German Embassy in Moscow and also served as Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Skopje (Macedonia) for three years.

Axel Wildner

Counselor for Food and Agriculture at Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Beijing, P.R. China

German Food Experiences beyond Pork Knuckles and Beer

Active in global trade and export promotion for more than 30 years, Axel joined German Ministry for Food and Agriculture in 2009 to bring German SME closer to the emerging markets by participating at the International Food Exhibitions. Based on his experiences for carrying out export promotion programmes for German International Cooperation (GIZ) and the German Food Promotion Agency (CMA) in all 5 continents, he always focused on the quality of German agricultural and food products.
After his consignment as Counselor for Food and Agriculture at the German Embassy in Bangkok he joined German Embassy Beijing in August 2017, facing the challenging times of African Swine fever outbreak, COVID 19 – and its implications on German Food trade with China.

Shirley Lu

Managing Director Asia of ProVeg International

Shirley serves as Managing Director – Asia of ProVeg International, the largest European non-profit organization for food awareness and plant-based innovations. Shirley joined ProVeg as Executive Director – Greater China. She launched the first ever plant-based innovation campaign with major universities and leading food companies to introduce planted-based foods that appeal to the Chinese taste buds. She was recently promoted to Managing Director – Asia, and is rolling out the campaign in Southeast Asia and developing new partnerships in China. To accelerate plant-based innovations, Shirley has spoken at and launched food forums that bring together officials, academics, senior executives as well as startup entrepreneurs to provide insights and shed light on opportunities and challenges. She is also a coordinating lead author for an upcoming report of the United Nations Environment Programme about the food system.

Shirley has extensive background in both retail foods and foodservice in Asia. She started her career with P&G Taiwan, and has since worked for Mars Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Korea, Unilever China, and Rich’s Foods APAC. Before joining ProVeg, Shirley led regional marketing at Tate & Lyle APAC in specialty food ingredients based in Singapore. Her expertise includes go-to-market strategy, innovation, brand & product portfolio management, insights, brand communication, and customer acquisition. Shirley’s footprint goes beyond Asia. She has frequented major international food shows to scout for new ideas and innovations driving the green food economy.

From 2010 to 2019, Shirley also served as Vice Chair at AmCham Shanghai’s Food, Agriculture & Beverage Committee, and founded the Foodservice sub-committee.

She holds a BA degree from National Taiwan University in Taipei and an MBA from Columbia University in New York.

Sebastian Joy

Founder and CEO of ProVeg International

Online Interview: Plant based Movement: A key to solve multiple problems

Sebastian Joy, M.A., teaches NGO-management at the Berlin School and Economics and Law and is the founder and CEO of ProVeg International - a pro-vegan food awareness organisation with the mission to reduce global animal consumption by 50% by the year 2040. The United Nations awarded ProVeg the Momentum for Change Award for their exemplary contribution towards climate protection and public health alike. Sebastian initiated Europe’s largest conference on plant-based nutrition “VegMed” as well as “VeggieWorld”, the world’s largest vegan fair with currently 18 locations in 10 countries. He invented the first B12-toothpaste and launched the world’s first business incubator focusing on plant-based and cell-based meat, eggs and dairy. He is also Vice President of the European Vegetarian Union (EVU) and has received numerous international creativity, PR and marketing awards for his campaigns promoting veganism. While traveling the world frequently, Sebastian’s home-base is in Berlin where he lives and works with his wife, Dr. Melanie Joy.

Jenny Gui

Head of Global Real Estate & Facilities at SAP Greater China

Jenny joined SAP in Jan 2019 as the Head of Global Real Estate & Facilities , Greater China, in this role, she is responsible for mainland China, Hongkong and Taiwan’s office portfolios and facilities management.
Before joining SAP, Jenny worked for RBS as Head of Corporate Services China for several years and previous to that she worked for ABN AMRO China as Head of Property Services.
Jenny brings rich knowledge in corporate real estate and facilities management with more than 15 years of working experience at multi-national companies.

Astrid Prajago

Founder of Haofoods

Astrid is a foodie and mindfulness practitioner at the same time. For her, food is one great source of happiness. She truly understands, that behind marvellous pleasure of good tasting food that we eat, the story of whole cosmos is actually there too. Coming from this understanding, she believes only by changing the way we eat today, then we can sustain our happiness from food tomorrow and in the future. With more than 17 years of professional experience in nutrition, healthcare and gastronomy industry, she is aspired to make a greater impact through making a truly good food available for everyone.

Hong Zhao

APAC plant-based BU Head at Doehler

Zhao Hong is a seasoned business leader and expert for plant-based ingredients in dairy and meat alternative applications. He has more than 25 years’ experience in this arena in DuPont, Bunge and Doehler. He is now the APAC plant-based BU head for Doehler, a natural plant based ingredient, ingredient system and integrated solution provider from Germany.

Juergen Ziegler

Catering-Coordinator at SAP SE

Working as Facility Expert and Catering Coordinator within the Global Real Estate & Facilites Organization, Juergen is responsible for all catering related topics within SAP Germany. The focus of this position is to orchestrate all related partners and stakeholders, drive innovations and ensure high quality and customer satisfaction. Juergen holds a diploma in civil engineering and worked 10+ years within SAPs Global Procurement Organization. In this role he was responsible for all catering related contracts and the development of the global catering strategy.

Daniela Vogler

Fellow Global Real Estate & Facilities at SAP SE

Daniela is currently working as a Fellow at SAP’s German Real Estate & Facilities organization. Her main focus as Fellow is on communication and change management and on supporting projects related to sustainability in catering. One of these projects has been the implementation of a plant-based menu line at SAP’s headquarters in Walldorf, Germany. After obtaining a PhD in languages and applied linguistics, Daniela joined SAP in 2010 and has worked in the fields of user assistance and technical communication.

Dr. Sigrid Winkler

Executive Chamber Manager at German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai

In October 2016, Dr. Sigrid Winkler was appointed Executive Chamber Manager at the German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai and is in charge of the membership organization at the Chamber. Dr. Winkler joined the German Chamber earlier in spring 2016, initially as Project Manager Social Responsibility where she was responsible for the More than a Market initiative. Dr. Winkler holds a PhD in Political Science from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium and a bachelor’s degree in Chinese Studies from Vienna University. Before joining the German Chamber, she was Head of Office of the Austrian Academic Exchange Agency (OeAD) in Shanghai. Previously, Dr. Winkler managed international business development projects in China and Eastern Europe for Business Upper Austria, the economic agency of the regional government of Upper Austria. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on EU-China relations, and since 2002, she has been regularly coming back to China for shorter and longer-term stays.