MEET THE SPEAKERS

Speakers

Antony V. E. Chapman

Phytoform Labs (UK)

Dr Antony Chapman leads the tomato genome engineering team at Phytoform Labs in the UK. The team focuses on precision breeding of tomatoes using Crsipr-Cas and has generated several genome-edited tomato varieties, focusing on harvesting and fruit quality traits. Antony received a PhD in molecular plant pathology from Iowa State University.
Ben Pieterse

TTA-ISO (Netherlands)

Ben Pieterse is sales manager food at TTA-ISO, where he applies his expertise to advance automation in plant propagation, grafting technologies and tomato harvesting. Ben helps growers adopt innovative and efficient ways of growing the best tomato seedlings and harvesting tomatoes with TTA-ISO’s groundbreaking HarvAI platform.
Clara Romero

FoodExperts

Clara Romero is product owner at FoodExperts and a specialist in carbon and water footprints in agriculture. She has over 15 years’ experience in sustainability and aquatic ecology, leading LCA tool development for fresh produce, and is skilled in collaborative, international projects, focused on delivering innovative, transparent and sustainable solutions for the agri-food supply chain.
David Abeijón Martínez

Biobest Group

David Abeijón Martínez leads Biobest’s global technical team, advancing sustainable crop protection and pollination solutions. With expertise in integrated pest management, he drives innovation in biological control, helping farmers enhance productivity while promoting environmentally friendly practices worldwide.
David Del Pino

Freshtrategy (Spain)

David Del Pino is managing partner at Freshtrategy in Spain, having been in the produce business his whole life – as the son of a grower, as an academic, as a professional in logistics, quality control, domestic and international trading and, finally, in management. After all these experiences, David says he is now beginning to understand this business.
Freddie Reed

Intelligent Growth Solutions (UK)

Freddie Reed is product manager at Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS). Freddie spent four years working on innovation projects in the horticulture, arable and livestock sectors before moving into Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA). A graduate in mechanical engineering with a farming background, Freddie plays a key role at IGS in driving product strategy and innovation, aligning cutting-edge technology with growers’ needs.
Jan Engelen

Coöperatie Hoogstraten (Belgium)

Jan Engelen is manager sustainability, innovation and branding at Coöperatie Hoogstraten in Belgium. Having completed a Master’s degree in horticultural engineering in 1998, Jan began his career at the editorial board of Proeftuinnieuws, before moving to Syngenta Seeds in 2000. He joined Hoogstraten in 2005 before moving to Bakker Belgium, part of the Greenyard Group, in 2018. In 2022, Jan rejoined the team at Hoogstraten.
Jordi Ballester

Let It Out Food Creativity (Spain)

Jordi Ballester is managing partner at Let It Out Food Creativity. He is an expert in plant biotechnology, plant breeding and the seed business, with a PhD in plant genetics. Jordi has worked as global head biotech services at Nunhems (BASF) and product and business development director at Fito, and is the creator of the Monterosa and Nippo tomato consumer brands.
José Antonio Haro

La Palma

José Antonio Haro has been director of development strategy at Spain’s La Palma cooperative since 2021. Prior to that he held the role of Director of Human Resources. With over ten years of experience at the company, he translates sustainability into operational decisions, and designs and implements policies that improve performance and promote responsible growth.
Lena Maas

Hudson River (Netherlands)

Lena Maas is the Head of R&D at Hudson River, responsible for managing the genetics, Crispr editing and plant regeneration operations of the BioMaas platform. Lena’s background is in molecular plant biotechnology and breeding and she holds a PhD in molecular biology with a focus on transcriptional regulation of plant regeneration.
Manuel Ferrer

HM Clause (EMEA)

Manuel Ferrer is an agricultural engineer leading product innovation across EMEA. At HM Clause, he connects seed value with consumer needs, coordinating European specialists and capturing insights from the tomato value chain. Successful projects include Adora cherry tomatoes and large-caliber varieties.
Max van den Hemel

Delphy Digital

Max van den Hemel is a cultivation engineer at Delphy Digital, bridging technology and cultivation, and empowering growers to make informed and data-driven decisions.
Michał Taraska

Hazera Seeds B.V.

Michał Taraska is the global fresh chain leader at Hazera. With more than 15 years of experience in the seed and vegetable industry, Michał is passionate about making tomatoes both more loved and more sustainable. Michał connects breeders, growers and retailers, driving innovation and smarter communication to inspire more people to enjoy tomatoes.
Nasir Ahmed

BASF Nunhems

Naz Ahmed is a commercially driven innovation leader with over a decade of experience in retail, manufacturing and varietal development. He bridges the gap between technical, commercial and marketing teams to help deliver strategic growth, and is known for his dynamic approach and championing consumer-focused concepts and industry-leading partnerships across global markets.