Will Parker is an experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the packaging and containers industry across the UK and Europe. Primarily in distressed turnaround, operational improvement and divestiture challenges. As ELF programme leader he will be mainly involved in the business and management tracks. 

Tom Schouten is Operations Project Manager at Geostick B.V., based in the Netherlands. Enthusiastic, passionate and determined operational ‘excellence-er’. Data nerd. Strategic thinker that thrives on solving challenges. Growth & change are both six-letter words that rely on one action; doing.

Thomas Vainio is Area Sales Director at UPM Raflatac, based in Switzerland. 

Prof. Dr. Dirk Burth is responsible for the organization of the semester packaging, plastics and design at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich, Germany, focusing on packaging technology, plastics technology, surface finishing, adhesive technology, and paint and adhesive formulation. 

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

Peter Overbeek is the Managing Director of Eshuis BV since 1993, based in the Netherlands. Eshuis is producing flexible packaging and self-adhesive labels.

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.

Oscar Farinetti, is the founder of Eataly, the largest Italian marketplace in the world, comprising a variety of restaurants, food and beverage counters, bakery, retail items, and a cooking school. Oscar's aim is to make high-quality Italian foods available to everyone, at fair prices and in an environment where people can shop, taste and learn. 

Oscar Farinetti has extensive experience of the retail landscape. In 1967 Oscar’s father founded a small supermarket called UniEuro. A few years later Oscar became actively involved in the business and in 1978 he was appointed board member and then CEO and Chairman until 2003. In that year he decided to sell UniEuro to Dixon Retail for £ 230 million in order to focus on the new enterprise Eataly. Through an extraordinary journey, starting in Turin, Eataly has opened 19 stores in Italy alone, in addition to those present on an international scale in countries like Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Germany and the United States. 

Founder of Cairn Consulting, to guide you towards sustainable packaging solutions, I am currently managing CELAB-Europe, to create a circular economy for self-adhesive label materials. 

Graduated with an executive MBA in Sustainability and CSR, I have led R&D Teams in Mondelez (former Kraft Foods), one of the biggest global food companies, for which I worked on sustainability strategies for European brands.

With an Engineering background in Food Sciences and experience in a multicultural background, I am recognized as strong to identify and deliver practical solutions by using analytical skills especially in situations of complex problems.

I am a strong advocate of integrating sustainable choices into my life, both personal and professional. Since April 2018, I created Cairn Consulting to guide Brand owners and packaging suppliers towards sustainable solutions, from specific advice to detailed strategy mapping. I am also involved in a social project called Eco-Schools, to educate the youngest in sustainable development.

​To do something good for your business and for our children.

As Independent Consultant in the fields of labels, films and packaging at label . film . & pack solutions, Noel is based in Germany. As ELF programme leader he is mainly involved in circularity and recycling topics.

Niklas Olsson is Global Brand Manager at Flint Group and is chairman of the European Label Forum programme committee. 

Marius van Lith is regional Sales Director at MPS Systems B.V., based in the Netherlands. He has experience in strategy development for different types of organisations in diverse industries, skills in long-lasting sales cycles and complex decision structures, and knows about innovation in technically oriented B2B organisations.

Luke Lloyd is the Market Research Manager at the International Post Corporation (IPC), the postal industry’s partner company dedicated to improving service quality, promoting cooperation and interoperability, and providing informed intelligence about the postal and related markets.

Luke is responsible for the project management of IPC market research initiatives, researching the needs and experiences of consumers and e-retailers, to help the postal industry continually improve. His expertise within the sector is in cross-border e-commerce.

Luke has 15 years of experience in market research, with significant agency-side experience of both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. He has a particular focus on conducting multi-country research projects – with previous clients including the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the World Bank.

Lars Ole Nauta is CEO of FlexoPrint and Optimum Group Nordic. 

Keenan Thompson is Global Director of Innovations and Operations with extensive product development experience at PMI, AB Inbev, Colgate Palmolive and Kimberly-Clark. 'Marketing, Innovation, Engineering and Development experience allows me to see business problems from a different perspective. I enjoy deconstructing value chains and connecting the two worlds of Technology and Consumer/Shopper/Retailer Needs to create new ideas and more importantly, bring them to life. Creativity is reverse entropy, it just takes the right team to put the pieces together!'

Karina is an international keynote speaker, author, computer programmer and professional athlete.  For over a decade Karina was a professional athlete for Red Bull performing both as a big mountain skier and Base jumper. Karina is a female pioneer, being the first woman in the world to perform a ski base. Karina’s life was turned upside down when she had a near-fatal skydiving accident in 2006 leaving her in a wheelchair with the prediction of never to walk again. She endured 20 surgeries and has had to relearn to walk, but she has returned to skiing and is living life to the fullest today.  Her autobiography ‘The Wonderful Feeling of Fear’ is internationally published and her speech is part of the exclusive group of TedX talks.  Karina’s coaching skills comes from a background in Neuro Linguistic Programming, Active Commitment Therapy and working as a performance consultant since 2012. Her clients range from professional athletes to top business executives.  Her ability to push boundaries, stay focused and power to re-mobilize through hardship, are core qualities she transmits through her coaching and speaking.

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.

Jan De Roeck leads and coordinates from the Gent - Belgium headquarters the segment marketing activities for the Esko Solutions comprising of software, hardware and services for the packaging, labels, signage and display industries.

With a general printing and pre-press education and a specialization in Graphic Design, Jan started back in 1989 with Barco as application specialist for digital image retouching. Over the past years, Jan has held different product management positions developing a particular interest and experience in software solutions and workflows for the packaging Industry. Since early 2006, Jan holds the position of Director Solutions Management.

Hassan Rmaile is Vice President & General Manager for the Label & Graphics materials (LGM) EMEA at Avery Dennison. Approximately, $2.1 Billion P/L with 3300 teammates & 20+ manufacturing, distribution & R&D centers Hanita business is included in the portfolio. Executive sponsor for the global Graphics business

Guido Iannone is Chief Sales Officer at All4Labels, based in Italy. He is an experienced owner with a demonstrated history of working in the packaging industry. Skilled in negotiation, Packaging Design, International Sales, Business-to-Business (B2B), and Account Management. Strong business development professional graduated from SDA Bocconi.

Gian is a technical director and packaging technologist at Procter & Gamble (P&G), one of the largest consumer packaged goods companies in the world.
In his 20+ year career at P&G, Gian has helped drive R&D into sustainable packaging across the company. With experience in upstream technologies, sustainable resins and EU funding projects, Gian has been involved in developing key partnerships across the value chain and managing open innovation through P&G’s Connect & Develop Programme.

To help drive cross-sector collaboration, Gian is a board member of Petcore Europe (the association representing the complete PET value chain in Europe), next to being very active in Plastic Recyclers Europe’s Recyclass platform (chair of advisory board and steering board member). Gian is also active in other cross value chain associations such as Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW), Ceflex, and others. He is also a regular speaker at Packaging Conferences.

Recently, Gian has been initiating and leading the 3-year Pioneer project “HolyGrail” on the standardisation of markers/ watermarks in packaging (barcode for recycling), to increase efficiencies in high-quality sorting and to strive for higher recycling rates, as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative. This project received multiple awards (eg Packaging Europe’s 2019 Sustainability Awards, 2020 Edie Sustainabiliy award, WPO Worldstar Winner 2021, PAC Global Leadership awards 2021, next to some other awards. He also ensured the continuation of this project into establishment of HolyGrail 2.0 (100+ members, Gian chairs the Leadership team), facilitated by AIM (European Brands Association), to proof the viability of digital watermark technologies and business case at scale.

Gian has also been official juror for multiple packaging awards: PackTheFuture 2018, Dow DuPont Packaging Innovation Awards (2018), 2020 Plastics Recycling Awards and Packaging Europe’s Sustainability Awards (2018+2019+2020). He has been elected finalist for the 2018 and 2019 “EU Plastics Recycling Ambassador” (from Plastic Recyclers Europe) and actually received this title in 2019.

Gian is 45 years old and holds a degree in Polymer & Composites Engineering from Leuven University. He was born in Belgium and is married with 2 children. He is a big fan of sports (running/ squash/ padel/ cycling) and travel.

Geoff Martin is CEO of CCL Industries since 2001. 

Geert Van Damme is the Managing Director of CERM, supplier MIS software for Labels & Packaging.

CERM believes in an automated workflow, connecting all elements of your business. Through various partnerships with industry leaders, we offer a complete and scalable end-to-end solution for your entire value chain.

Fernando Giron is Global Marketing Director of the self-adhesive business unit of Fedrigoni Group. He is also member of the steering group of Celab Europe. He is an experienced Marketing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the packaging industry. Skilled in Business Development, Marketing Strategy, Business Process Improvement, Digital Marketing, and IT Service Management. 

Fabrizio Di Gregorio is Technical Director at Plastics Recyclers Europe (RecyClass) and has a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Master Scientist in Environmental Science and Technology. He is able to assess and develop strategies in the field of packaging in the circular economy perspective (design for recycling, end-of-life treatment, recycling targets), assess and develop waste management and recycling strategies, develop Life Cycle Assessment for waste technologies and waste management scenario, develop mass and energy balances and material and substance flow analyses, and he is also an expert in chemical recycling (plastic waste gasification - in particular in fluidized bed technologies- and pyrolysis) and syngas purification.

Fabrizio is an author of several papers published in international scientific journals and he is a Referee for peer-reviewed scientific journals in the field of waste management, plastics, resources and sustainability, recycling, LCA, energy and fuels. He has presented several webinars on recycling for the FINAT community in the past years. 

Since January 2021, Dr. Guido Spachtholz is Managing Director of HERMA Group and Head of the self-adhesive materials division.

Domenico Tessera Chiesa is owner of Sales Spa and Green Packaging Specialist, helping companies dress their products sustainably, developing alternative paper ideas, self-adhesive labels, and more.

Dana Kilarka is Managing Director of Purgina since 2016. 'Leading a family business in the printing industry as 2nd generation. The hand in of the business was in poor condition and in last 3,5 years, the business developed and got healthy again as it was never in 28 years of history. This is not just about me, it's about every single colleague of mine wanting to climb the mountain with me. It's about to be better than yesterday. It's easy to improve the financial situation of a company but the challenge is to keep humble and goal-oriented in the best times of the company.'

Corey is President and CEO of AWA. He will be moderating the panel discussion on Thursday during ELF.

Chris Parnham is Managing Director of PKG Partners. Chris has over 15 years of international recruitment experience, delivering recruitment assignments for a wide range of domestic and global customers across the print and packaging industries. 

Past President of FINAT and Managing Director of UK-based converter OPM (Labels & Packaging) Group Limited, a company established over 40 years ago and today serving more than 600 clients in both domestic and export markets.

OPM are a multi-award winning printers of high quality self-adhesive labels, laminates, sachets, medical and pharmaceutical packaging.

Passionate for product innovation, investors in the development of its people and early adopters of total process automation, the company’s vision is to remain one of Europe’s top performing self-adhesive label and flexible packaging providers.

Since a young age, Bram Desmet has had a fascination for figures, numbers and structures. Over the years this has grown into a mission to help companies create sustainable change and value through S&OP. His foundation is the Supply Chain Triangle, which captures the balancing act between service, cost and cash that companies are facing today.

As a professor (Vlerick Business School, Ghent University and Peking University) and keynote speaker, Bram connects supply chain, strategy and finance through financial metrics, to show how supply chain has become the centerpiece of your business.

As CEO of Solventure, he grabs every opportunity to bridge the gap between academic concepts and industry practice. Solventure helps companies to understand the dynamics of the Supply Chain Triangle and how that is impacting their business. With a unique approach centered around people, process, tools and analytics, the team turns your Supply Chain into a competitive edge.

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

Benjamin Punchard is currently Global Packaging Insight Director at Mintel. A results-driven Packaging Professional with 8 years of extensive international experience. Working with leading multinational packaging companies to deliver strategic market recommendations. With a PhD research background, significant experience in conceiving, conducting and delivering quantitative and qualitative research. An accomplished public speaker, presenting at conferences and trade shows worldwide.

Specialties: Benjamin’s personal strengths include identifying commercial opportunities, conceptualising and delivering world-class research, enabling multinational clients to turn industry data into actionable recommendations and acting as the facilitator between business and research stakeholders.

Andy is Strategic Director at Tarsus Labels, Packaging & Brand Print Group and will moderate the Friday morning panel session together with Bert van Loon.

Alon Bar-Shany is the ex-CEO of HP Indigo who now is active as executive chairman to different startups, such as Redefine Meat. He is also chairman of the board of Twine Solutions Lts and Highcon. During his tenure at HP Indigo as general manager, Bar-Shany was recognized for having grown the company by over USD 1 billion in revenues. Before that, he ran the HP Indigo business in EMEA, led the worldwide Indigo channel business, and was CFO of Indigo at the time of its acquisition by HP. Bar-Shany was also a member of the global DSCOOP board, working with customers to create a community focused on sharing and growth.

Adrian Tippenhauer is CEO of the All4Labels Group and Vice Chairman of the Advisory Board of 1KOMMAS.