Veiverne Yuen, Rabobank's deputy manager for Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory in South East Asia, joined the company in September 2007. Based in Singapore, Veiverne is responsible for the research, advisory and market intelligence of various agribusiness sectors, including grains and oilseeds, animal protein, clean tech, renewable energy, specialty crops and palm oil. Before joining Rabobank, Veiverne was in charge of conducting capital markets supervision as an associate with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Holding post-graduate degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and Applied Finance, Veiverne continues to offer a distinguished level of expertise to the fresh produce sector.

Siebe van Wijk is one of the owners of Fresh Studio Innovations Asia. Fresh Studio is an international consulting and R&D company focused on the horticulture sectors of Asia, with offices in the Philippines and Vietnam. Siebe is an agriculture economist graduate from Wageningen University and has worked for over 14 years in tropical agriculture in Africa and Asia. In Vietnam, Fresh Studio has three offices, one vegetable R&D farm and manages the first modern fresh produce vegetable distribution centre for one of its clients. Fresh Studio has a team of 100 talents who develop agriculture value chains for a range of products, including bananas, pineapples, citrus, tomatoes, lettuce and avocados. Clients range from large multinationals, such as Metro Cash & Carry and kiwifruit marketer Zespri International, to smaller Asian companies who desire to create unique products which excite consumers.

Andre Loo is the head of marketing of Euro-Atlantic, a leading importer and distributor of specialty fruits, vegetables and seafood in Malaysia. Andre joined Euro-Atlantic in 2001 and has headed up the group's Marketing Department since 2007, overseeing the entire marketing division and playing a key role in product development. Andre is also a director of C-Food Portions, a subsidiary company of Euro-Atlantic specialising in imported chilled and frozen seafood.

Tham Oi Loon, general manager for the fresh division of GCH Retail, has over 14 years' experience in the retail sector. Helping to establish a platform in fresh trading within the organisation, Oi Loon has played a key role in transforming GCH Retail into the leading retail chain in Malaysia. With over 120 Giant and Cold Storage outlets in operation, GCH Retail continues to maintain a significant presence in the fresh produce sector.

A Retna Malar Subramaniam, category manager for imported fruits and vegetables for GCH Retail, has over nine years' experience in retail and the international procurement of fruit and vegetables. Catering for the needs of fruit and vegetable consumers throughout West Malaysia, East Malaysia and Brunei, Retna plays an instrumental role in progressing GCH Retail's goals.

Eddie Saw is the Washington Apple Commission's representative for the Malaysian and Singaporean markets, boasting many years of experience in handling the promotion of Washington apples as well as a number of other US agricultural products in Malaysia. He has also enjoyed numerous successes in conducting various consumer and trade activities with major Malaysian retailers, helping to increase demand for Washington apples in the country.

Norma Othman is the director of the Crop Quality Control Division at the Department of Agriculture in Malaysia, responsible for the development and implementation of farm certification systems that ensure the quality and safety of the country's produce. Norma joined the department in 1979 and has been involved in the planning and development of fruit industries in Malaysia, as well as taking part in a number of working group meetings both locally and internationally to develop quality and safety standards.

Sathianathan Menon is currently the director of QA Plus Asia-Pacific, a consultancy company specialising in providing advisory, training and technical services to the plantation and agri-crop sector. Sathia boasts over 25 years of experience in technical management and related operations in the plantation commodity and agro-crop sectors. He holds an MBA in Total Quality Management and is a registered GlobalGAP and a qualified HACCP trainer. He has conducted various training programmes on GlobalGAP, HACCP and RSPO and its implementation in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Speaker profile coming soon.

Sekar Shanmugam is the director of sales and marketing at Malaysian Agrifood Corporation (MAFC), responsible for leading a business unit with full P&L and overseeing the brand development and management of MAFC's Paiola and Lushious fruit lines. Sekar has previously held roles at Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Hewlett Packard in Malaysia, where he worked for 14 years in a series of senior leadership positions in business and operations management.

Dr Chan Ying Kwok is the senior vice-president of crop science and production technology at Malaysian Agrifood Corporation (MAFC), where he has helped to develop the iconic Paiola papaya variety and is currently cultivating the Frangi papaya variety. Dr Chan began his career as a plant breeder at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute in 1972, and has been credited with success in developing the Eksotika and Eksotika II papaya varieties, as well as the Josapine and Maspine pineapple varieties.

Jan Doldersum is currently operating at Rijk Zwaan's Chinese subsidiary, based in Qingdao, developing the company's relationships with major retail chains, trading companies and foodservice players across Asia and initiating new business development across the fresh supply chain. Jan has occupied a number of different roles at the group, including marketing project manager at the group's De Lier headquarters and chairman of the Marketing Innovation Group, where he was responsible for Rijk Zwaan's innovation strategy. Prior to this, Jan studied plant breeding at Wageningen University, before moving to Berlin to initiate projects with German traders and retailers.

Tracy King is the regional marketing manager for Asia at Sinclair International (USA), the global leader in machine labelling on fresh fruits and vegetables with food contact compliant PE film labels. Tracy has over 30 years of experience in Asia, and holds a BA in International Studies from American University and an MA in Chinese Regional Studies from the University of Washington. Chinese language skills acquired during a year-long spell at Peking University have served him in a variety of positions in the Washington apple industry, at both Oneonta Trading and the Washington Apple Commission.

Peter Anderson is currently a consultant for Malaysian Agrifood Corporation (MAFC), as well as being a leading grower of capsicums, lettuce and tomatoes in the Cameron Highlands region of the country. Peter has held a number of roles in a career spanning over 30 years, including greenhouse construction supervision, marketing and promotions, and equipment installation.

Captain Mohammed Deeb Esbetah is the owner and managing director of Misrpan Transport Co. He has 27 years' experience in the shipping and logistics business across the Middle East, covering Kuwait, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. He managed a number of different companies across the region before settling in Egypt and establishing his own company, Misrpan Transport Co, in December 1986. Since 2002, Captain Mohammed has been charged with managing all the logistics requirements for leading Egyptian citrus exporter Elgebaly Fruit Co. He has also been a logistics consultant and commercial adviser to various companies over the last 10 years, with 70 per cent of his activities focused on the movement of fruit exported out of Egypt to various destinations.

Nelson Woo is the regional director of new business development for Kantar Worldpanel Asia and oversees commercial business for Kantar Worldpanel in Malaysia. Nelson worked for Kantar's customised research brand, TNS, where he helped service a range of industry clients from automotive, government, telecoms, alcohol and tobacco industries. With over 10 years' experience in market research, Nelson now plies his trade specialising in the FMCG research industry.

Rod Johnson, sales manager for Australia and New Zealand at Sensitech, the world's leading provider of cold chain visibility solutions, has over nine years' experience providing market leaders with quality assurance solutions in the Australasian food, life science and environmental space. Helping food and pharmaceutical companies to better track and monitor assets across supply chains, Rod's work protecting the integrity of temperature-sensitive products has made him an important asset to global leaders everywhere.