Qualification: 

PDE - Management Development Programme at AESE Business School
GAIN - Management of Agribusiness at AESE Business School
Market Driving Strategies at the London Business School
Bachelor of Agriculture at ESACB

Goncalo Santos Andrade has been representing the Portuguese F&V sector in more than 50 countries, in four different continents, during the last eight years. Five years ago, he joined the board of the Portuguese Farmers' Union where he was responsible  for all climate change and environmental issues. Apart from that he has 30 years of experience concerning the soft fruit industry and other fruit and vegetables products. In 2005 he founded Lusomorango, S.A. - the 1^st Berries Producer Organization in Portugal. From 2006 to 2008 he was the vice president of FNOP - Portuguese Federation of Producers Organizations. He is the fourth generation to run the family agricultural business Casa Prudencio.

Philippe Appeltans graduated in 1995 as an agricultural engineer at the Catholic University of Leuven. He started his professional career as a consultant for young farmers. In 1997 he was appointed as president of the Belgian young Farmers and became member of the Executive Board of Boerenbond, the Belgian Farmers' Union. In 2003 he became senior adviser for the horticultural sector in the research department of the Belgian Farmers' Union, and in 2007 Secretary general of VBT - The Association of Belgian Horticultural Cooperatives. From October 2016 until June 2019 he has been strongly involved in the European fresh produce sector and policy as the Chairman of the Copa-Cogeca Fruit and Vegetable Working Party. Since September 2018 he is the CEO of BelOrta, the largest Belgian cooperative in the fruit and vegetable sector with 1200 active growers, 500 employees and a turnover of more than 600 million Euros.

Within the Fresh Produce Centre Nikki is Programme Manager for Sustainability & Certification, covering all sustainability related topics. He is specialized in crop protection impact methods, environmental foot printing, food loss & waste and packaging. 

Nikki will be discussing the result of the Product Environmental Footprint Project Category Rules (PEFCR) method that was being developed within a European consortium for the fresh produce sector. One question was how the sector can contribute to becoming more sustainable.

She graduated in Political Science at the University of Bologna, Italy. She also graduated in Organization and Economic Development and, since 2002 she has been working with Structural Funds and other funding facilitated to businesses, particularly in the agricultural sector. 

Since 2010 she has been working as a project manager and CMO officer for F.IN.A.F., the First International Fruit Association. This APO has been the first trans-national APO in Europe to associate 18 POs and about 9.000 agricultural producers. Since 2022 she has been working as director of F.IN.A.F. and since 2025 she is the vice president of AREFLH (FR).

Luc Vanoirbeek lives in Zepperen (Belgium), in the middle of the Belgian fruit region. He holds a master degree in political and social sciences and worked for the Flemish Farmers' Union from 1986 until 2018. He spent the early years of his career as an educator in the movement for young farmers and rural youth. In 1988 he became the national chairman of those organizations.  In 1996 he switched to the study department of the Boerenbond as an advisor in social legislation. In that position he took part in the European Social Dialogue in the agricultural and horticultural sector. From 2002 to 2007 he was a fruit cultivation advisor and provincial director of the farmers's union in Limburg, after which he returned to the research department as a horticultural advisor. He then became a European and international advisor for farmers' union to conclude his career in the agricultural organization as spokesman. Since 2018 he is the general secretary of the association of Belgian horticultural cooperatives (VBT) and chairman of the working party Fruit and Vegetables of COPA-COGECA.

Cindy van Rijswick is a Global Strategist for Fresh Produce within Rabobank's worldwide Food & Agribusiness Research team. She is responsible of setting and executing the research agenda. During her over two decades long career span, Cindy has published reports on a range of topics, from sustainability in fresh produce to the greenhouse sector to the global berry sector. Moreover, she regularly acts as a keynote speaker at (international) conferences. Her analyses and visions are instrumental for Rabobank's activities and clients in the food & agribusiness.