Thomas Reiner, CEO of the Berndt & Partner Group (D), is one of Europe’s most renowned packaging experts. He has a long track record of consulting the world’s foremost brand owners, retailers and packaging companies on their packaging innovation strategy. Recently he has been focusing on advocating the sustainable packaging mission. In his view, sustainability is much connected to several other topics like agility, supply chain management, digital transformation, etc. The label industry is known for its late-stage customization and agility, but is our supply chain ready for the faster speed to market? Advocating a holistic approach to sustainability, he emphasizes that through the consumers, the global players (brands, converters, key suppliers) are currently in the lead in terms of circularity and carbon footprint, but this is now trickling down to the medium and smaller players. Now is the playing ground that needs to be prepared.

Currently, he serves as adviser to international business leaders, lecturer at various Universities and analyst for television, radio, and other media.   

Ron served as Netherlands Ambassador to Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Turkey and China, as Director-General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as Director at the Ministry of Finance and at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. At the EU he was chairman of the Committee that set-up the Euro currency union. 

Ron holds a Master’s degree in Economic Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. 

Philippe Voet is the current FINAT President and is the General Manager of Etivoet in Belgium.

Paul Jenkins is Managing Director of ThePackHub, a leading packaging innovation consultancy helping brand owners, retailers, and packaging suppliers from around the world deliver a range of packaging innovation challenges. Paul is an internationally renowned expert in packaging trends and runs a members’ packaging innovation platform called The Innovation Zone with over 5,900 initiatives from around the world. ThePackHub also host packaging conferences and webinars, publish packaging reports and offer technical packaging support.

Michael joined Coveris Flexibles Germany GmbH in June 2024 as managing director. After his studies in process engineering at Braunschweig University he served now for more than 25 years in different companies in the packaging industry, covering labelstock, film- and paper solutions as well as injection moulded products. Coveris develops and produces innovative and sustainable flexible packaging solutions that protect and prolong product lifecycles.

Marius Tent is a recognized leader in Packaging Sustainability, passionately driving innovation for People, Planet, and Business. With over 20 years at top companies like Wrigley, Mars Wrigley, and Danone SN, Marius has led transformative packaging strategies and championed groundbreaking innovations.
In 2024, Marius founded ViaPackaging UG, providing tailored solutions in Packaging Innovation and Sustainability. Later that year, he co-founded 360packmastery.com, an essential digital platform simplifying the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), offering compliance solutions and key insights across Europe.
Widely recognized as Packaging Sustainability ambasador, Marius frequently contributes to industry webinars and discussions in partnership with Packaging Europe and 360PackMastery. Additionally, he actively collaborates with CEFLEX, advancing circular economy practices for flexible packaging in Europe & Member states, and with CELAB Europe, promoting circularity for Release liners & Matrix.
Marius remains dedicated to empowering businesses with sustainable packaging solutions that drive compliance, sustainability, and commercial success.
 

Jules Lejeune was appointed as FINAT's Managing Director in 1998. He was closely involved in the launch of the FINAT Radar in 2014. Each year he presents the annual review of trends and developments in the self-adhesive label materials demand in Europe.

Jörg D. Schönwald is President of SCHÖNWALD CONSULTING. As international business consultancy with more than 30 years of experience the firm’s European and worldwide fields of activity are packaging, plastics and environment.

Foci of business are industrial market research, management consulting, cost models on packaging economics, support for company acquisition and recovering and recycling. The main emphasis is put on industrial market research as single-client and multi-client market reports for flexible and rigid plastic packaging, aluminum, steel, glass and paper packaging products.

Jean-Emile joined RecyClass and Plastics Recyclers Europe in 2021, where he is Technical Manager, coordinating the Technical Committees for PO Films and PET packaging as well as managing the RecyClass recyclability testing program to deliver fact-based Design for Recycling Guidelines to support the development of future recyclable packaging. Jean-Emile has a technical background with an Engineer degree in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Strasbourg (France) and PhDs in Polymer Science from the University of Mons (Belgium) and Polymer Mechanics from the University Polytechnique des Hauts-de-France (France).

Gabriela started her career in 2006 as a technical staff in the meat processing industry after completing her studies as a Food & Chemical engineer. Her career path led her to become an R&D expert tasked with standardizing the packaging supplier's database during the merger of major food companies in Brazil.

In 2011, Gabriela embarked on a new chapter focused on labels and printing, joining Baumgarten company in Brazil. Over the course of 14 years, she has honed her skills in working with technical development in diverse labelling technologies and several printing systems applying them effectively across various market segments.

Having successfully structured the R&D team at All4Labels in the Latin America region, Gabriela transitioned to the global team in 2021. She assumed leadership of the Global R&D and Sustainability teams, based in Hamburg, Germany.

Gabriela consistently drives force in promoting responsible business practices. With years of experience and extensive knowledge in researching and developing packaging solutions enable her to bring a strong commitment to fostering sustainability and ensuring circularity principles in new packaging developments. Her dedication to ESG values empowers her to make a positive impact on the industry and inspire others to prioritize environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

Erik van Sloten is a technical sales and business development professional who currently serves as the business development director for digital printing at Bobst, a leading company in printing and packaging machinery. He joined Mouvent, Bobst’s inkjet digital printing division, in September 2019 after nearly 20 years with HP Indigo. 

Corey is President and CEO of AWA. 

Bram Verhoef holds a diverse academic background in Statistics, Psychology, and Neuroscience. After earning his PhD from KU Leuven in 2010, he pursued post-doctoral research at Harvard University and The University of Chicago, specializing in Computational Neuroscience.

In 2017, he returned to Belgium to join Imec as a Principal Member of Technical Staff, where he led the algorithm development for a groundbreaking analog compute-in-memory Deep Learning chip. In 2021, he co-founded Axelera AI, initially serving as Head of Machine Learning. He now leads all Customer Solutions and Engineering efforts at the company.

Bonita Norris is a British mountaineer, motivational speaker, and author renowned for her remarkable achievements in high-altitude climbing. In 2010, at the age of 22, she became the youngest British woman to summit Mount Everest, a record she held until 2012. The following year, she skied to the North Pole, making her the youngest person to reach both the summit of Everest and the North Pole by the age of 23.

Her mountaineering accomplishments include summiting multiple 8,000-meter peaks, such as Lhotse and Manaslu, and attempting K2. Beyond her climbing endeavors, Bonita is an award-winning motivational speaker, sharing her experiences to inspire others to overcome challenges and achieve their goals. In 2022, she published her memoir, "The Girl Who Climbed Everest," which became a bestseller, detailing her journey from a novice climber to a record-breaking mountaineer.

Currently, Bonita resides in London with her husband, former competition climber Adrian Baxter, and their two children.

Co-Founder Content Marketing Fast Forward #CMFF (NL). Bert van Loon will be moderating a few of the panel discussions during ELF.

I grew up in the publishing industry where I held positions in sales, marketing and business development. I was given the opportunity to lead multidisciplinary teams, where I was able to ensure that business and creativity joined forces to give birth to client happiness. I often worked in international alliances across Europe. After a few years as the managing director of a publishing group in Belgium, I decided that I preferred concepts, strategy and projects to corporate management.

I launched my independent strategy and concept practice in 1997. Over the years, I experienced the transition from ‘print only’ to digital and cross-media, right from within the heart of the industry. I learned while doing and I saw both success and failure up close. Along the most diversified set of projects from different clients during all those years, I also participated as an entrepreneur in various publishing and media initiatives. Some worked wonders, some didn’t: I learned on the job in a fast-changing environment.

My experience of bringing business and creativity together to realise organisations’ marketing and sales objectives is a valuable asset in today’s content marketing world. My strength lies in projects where I can develop new initiatives or re-engineer existing ones, while teaching new skills to my client’s teams as they earn and learn. I love to work in a multidisciplinary and international environment, bringing my half-Dutch and half-French background to the table with a mixture of Dutch bluntness and French finesse.

André van Straten is a thought leader in creativity, innovation, and concept design. As the author of De Creatieve Revolutie, (‘The Creative Revolution’) he helps professionals and businesses unlock their creative potential to drive growth, solve challenges, and stay ahead in a changing world. With years of experience in strategic innovation and entrepreneurship, André delivers engaging, practical, and inspiring sessions that empower individuals to think differently and act boldly.