The Future of Food and Beverage Forum USA

27th - 28th May 2026

Minneapolis, USA

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Jon Smieja

Director of Circularity & EPR

SLR Consulting

Jon earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of St. Thomas and his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from UC San Diego. He began his career at Steelcase Inc. as an environmental chemist, later becoming a leader in sustainable design and development. In 2017, Jon joined Andersen Windows & Doors as product sustainability manager, advancing to corporate sustainability manager in 2019. Jon then served as VP of Circularity at GreenBiz/Trellis. Jon is currently the Director of Circularity and EPR at WAP Sustainability, where he guides clients in their efforts to transition to a circular economy. He is a proud “girl dad” and enjoys golf, hiking, camping and travel.

Jon'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
From ambition to scale: How is collaboration accelerating regenerative impact? 
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? 
Sam's Club, Walmart | Mars | Ceres
Plenary
10:10 - 10:50
Speed Networking and Break
10:50 - 11:40
Opportunity in crisis: How to reframe sustainability as resilience, risk mitigation and commercial advantage 
The Hershey Company | Rabobank | McDonald's | SLR Consulting
Plenary
11:40 - 12:00
The future of US food policy: What does it all mean for food production? 
USDA-NRCS
Plenary
12:00 - 13:00
Lunch break
13:00 - 13:50
Breakout track 1 
13:00 - 13:50
Resilient supply: How to link input efficiency and sustainable innovation for more secure supply chains 
CHS Inc. | Bormann Ag and University of Minnesota | SLR Consulting
Breakout
13:50 - 14:40
Breakout track 2 
14:40 - 15:10
Networking Break
15:10 - 15:40
From ambition to ROI with Sustainability Fusion: Measuring the enterprise value of sustainability investments 
Deloitte | ADM
Plenary
15:40 - 16:10
The ‘’wild west” of supply sheds: Upstream vs downstream, where should you invest? 
3Degrees | Therm
Plenary
16:10 - 16:50
A market for regen: Who’s actually going to buy it? 
Meijer | SIMPLi | PepsiCo
Plenary
17:00 - 18:00
Networking drinks 
Networking
Day 2

Thursday 28th May 2026

Time
Session title
Session type
09:00 - 09:30
The say-do gap: Are young consumers buying more 'sustainable' ? 
Dole Food Company | The Center for Food Integrity | Fairtrade America
Plenary
09:30 - 10:15
Unlocking the commercial opportunity in innovation: How to align R&D, agriculture and nutrition 
Post Holdings, Inc. | Plug and Play Tech Center
Plenary
10:15 - 10:45
Networking Break
10:45 - 11:35
Investing in resilience: How blended capital, venture funding and partnerships can work together to scale resilience 
Transformational Investing in Food Systems | ING | Danone | Sand County Foundation
Plenary
10:45 - 11:35
The Debate Room: The truth about biodiversity: Everyone talks about it, but no one knows how to deliver it at scale 
Preferred by Nature
The other room
11:35 - 12:25
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
11:35 - 12:25
The Debate Room: Not all processed food is bad: How do we have a better conversation about health outcomes? 
The Nourishment Economies Coalition
The other room
12:25 - 13:25
Lunch
13:25 - 14:55
Roundtable sessions 
15:00 - 15:15
Wrap-up and closing remarks 
Plenary

Previous speaker:

Cindy Jia

ING

Next speaker:

Jay Watson

General Mills

Contact

For any questions on this event, please contact:

Hannah Oborne

Senior Project Manager

Contact Hannah 

Anita Thomson

Chief Partnerships Officer

Contact Anita 

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