The Future of Food and Beverage Forum USA

27th - 28th May 2026

Minneapolis, USA

Menu Close
Download brochure Register to attend
Home Speakers

John O’Connell

Director

Plug and Play Tech Center

John's sessionsView full agenda

Day 0

Tuesday 26th May 2026

Time
Session title
Session type
14:00 - 17:00
Pre-event UMN Forever Green Research Field Tour 
Workshop
17:00 - 18:00
Pre-conference Networking Drinks
Day 1

Wednesday 27th May 2026

Time
Session title
Session type
08:30 - 08:55
Risk, resilience and return: How can we place farmer priorities at the heart of the food system? 
CMB Farms | Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative
Plenary
08:55 - 09:25
Scaling innovation beyond pilots: How to build sustainability into R&D for long-term strategic advantage 
PepsiCo North America | Walmart
Plenary
09:25 - 10:10
Food security at 2+ degrees: How can leading brands make their supply chains more resilient through adaptation? 
Starbucks | Sam's Club, Walmart | Mars | Ceres
Plenary
10:10 - 10:55
Speed Networking and Break
10:55 - 11:45
Opportunity in crisis: How to reframe sustainability as resilience, risk mitigation and commercial advantage 
Sprouts Farmers Market | The Hershey Company | Rabobank | McDonald's
Plenary
11:45 - 12:15
The future of US food policy: What does it all mean for food production? 
USDA-NRCS
Plenary
12:15 - 13:15
Lunch break
13:15 - 14:00
Breakout track 1 
14:00 - 14:45
Breakout track 2 
14:45 - 15:30
Networking Break
15:30 - 16:15
Breakout track 3 
16:15 - 17:00
A market for regen: Who’s actually going to buy it? 
Meijer | SIMPLi
Plenary
17:00 - 18:00
Networking drinks 
Networking
Day 2

Thursday 28th May 2026

Time
Session title
Session type
09:00 - 09:45
The say-do gap: Are young consumers buying more 'sustainable' ? 
Dole Food Company | McCain Foods | The Center for Food Integrity | Fairtrade America
Plenary
09:45 - 10:30
Unlocking the commercial opportunity in innovation: How to align R&D, agriculture and nutrition 
Post Holdings, Inc. | The J.M. Smucker Co.
Plenary
10:30 - 11:00
Networking Break
11:00 - 11:45
Investing in resilience: How blended capital, venture funding and partnerships can work together to scale resilience? 
Transformational Investing in Food Systems | SVG Ventures | Danone | Sand County Foundation | The Rockefeller Foundation
Plenary
11:45 - 12:30
From talk to traction: We keep talking about collaboration, what do we actually need to see this in action? 
Lamb Weston | ADM | General Mills | Future500 | JBS
Plenary
12:30 - 13:30
Lunch break
13:30 - 15:00
Roundtable sessions 
15:00 - 15:15
Wrap-up and closing remarks 
Plenary

Previous speaker:

Erik Petrovskis

Meijer

Next speaker:

Wyatt Maysey

Taylor Farms

Contact

For any questions on this event, please contact:

Hannah Oborne

Senior Project Manager

Contact Hannah 

Anita Thomson

Chief Partnerships Officer

Contact Anita 

Keep up to date with event news

Receive regular updates and stay connected with new announcements.

    See how we use your personal data by viewing our privacy statement.