How to deal with New GMOs in Non-GMO feed and food chains

Tina Andres: Chairwoman of the Executive Board, BÖLW (German umbrella organisation of organic farmer

Biologist Tina Andres began her organic career in the late 1990s – initially with the Bioland South Tyrol growers' association. She co-founded the producer-consumer cooperative Landwege eG in Lübeck in 2006. From 2017 to 2021, Tina Andres served on the board of the German Federation of Organic Food and Natural Products (BNN). Since November 2021, she has been the chairwoman of the German organic association BÖLW, the leading organic food industry association in Germany.

Martine Boon: Managing Director, GMP+ International, The Netherlands

Martine has been Managing Director of GMP+ International since 2024. Before that, Martine built a career at Rabobank, the world’s leading Food & Agri bank and worked as Director of Food & Agri Transition and Sector Management. A key milestone during her time at Rabobank was the creation of a financing package to accelerate the transition to sustainable agriculture and food production. She holds a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics from Wageningen University & Research.

Holger Buxel: Professor, FH Münster University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Prof Dr Holger Buxel is a professor for marketing in the food and packaging business at FH Münster University of Applied Sciences. He has over 25 years of market research and product management experience in the food and packaging sector and has conducted several studies on customer and market trends in the business.

Barbara Endraß: Organic farmer, Co-owner Biohof Endraß, Germany

Margret Engelhard: Head of Department GMO Regulation, Federal Agency for Nature conservation Germany

Marie-Alice Fraiture: Senior scientist, Sciensano, Belgium

Dr Marie-Alice Fraiture has a Bachelor’s in Biology and a Master’s in Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology. She completed her PhD through a collaboration between Ghent University, ILVO and Sciensano, with a dissertation entitled Strategies to Detect Unauthorized GMOs in the Food and Feed Chain. Her current work includes the improvement of GMO detection. She is the author of 48 peer-reviewed publications.

Susanne Fromwald: Director Strategic Partnership, Donau Soja, Austria

Susanne Fromwald has worked for Donau Soja since 2012. She started as an expert on standard development and sustainability issues, followed by different positions as Director for Standard and Value Chain Development, Executive Director and Regional Director for Western Europe. After an interim position as Secretary General, today she is part of the Senior Management and working as Director Strategic Partnerships which includes the lead of the international Protein Partnership Programme.

Kerstin Geißler: Head Quality Assurance, Association Food without Genetic Engineering (VLOG) Germany

Eva Gelinsky: Freelance scientist, semnar, Switzerland

Dr Eva Gelinsky is a freelance scientist based in Switzerland. Her clients include Bio Suisse and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment. As political coordinator of the Initiative for Non-GMO seeds and breeding (with Lena Hüttmann), she focuses on genetic engineering and patents from a seed and breeding perspective.

Andreas Heissenberger: Unit Head, Team Landuse & Biosafety, Environment Agency Austria

Dr Andreas Heissenberger, MA, is Head of the Team Landuse & Biosafety at the Environment Agency Austria. He has worked for more than 25 years on regulatory and scientific aspects of genetic engineering at national and international level, including labelling and traceability. He has co-authored several studies in this field. He is a member of the Austrian delegation to the EU council working group on new genomic techniques.

Yvonne Profanter

Head of Global Communication, Loacker AG, S.p.A., Italy Yvonne Profanter is Head of Communication at Loacker, leading the global communication strategy since 2015. A native of South Tyrol, she is passionate about the role authenticity, transparent sourcing, and sustainable innovation play in shaping consumer trust. Prior to Loacker, Yvonne built 15 years of international experience in marketing and brand strategy across FMCG and luxury, with leadership roles at P&G and Wella.

Emese van Maanen

Managing Director, ProTerra Foundation, The Netherlands Emese van Maanen is the Managing Director of the ProTerra Foundation. She has a strong background in the international agricultural sector, having developed and led raw material procurement, CSR and sustainability for large agricultural cooperatives. Emese is an agricultural engineer with additional university degrees in science, international trade and economics.