All Speakers

Emma Bermingham, Ph.D., founder and head consultant for Ember Pet Nutrition, is a pet nutrition scientist and strategic advisor with 20 years of experience advancing evidence-based nutrition in the pet food industry. She bridges fundamental research with practical commercial pet food development, translating complex science into manufacturable solutions. A longtime advocate for cats and senior pets, Bermingham is dedicated to closing gaps in aging-related nutrition research and evaluating functional benefits of novel ingredients and sustainable strategies that optimize resource use.

Dana Brooks serves as the president and CEO for the Pet Food Institute. With more than 30 years of experience across the food and agriculture industries, she has become a trusted advisor to the pet food industry. Her resume includes serving as director of government relations for Elanco Animal Health, senior vice president of government relations at the National Milk Producers Federation and director of public policy at the American Farm Bureau Federation. Brooks earned her bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the University of Arkansas-Monticello and a master’s degree in agribusiness from Kansas State University, where she has also served as an industry advisor.

Charlie Connolly holds a degree in microbiology and molecular genetics. With more than a decade of experience in the food safety and pharmaceutical industries, he joined Videka (a Symrise Pet Food company) in 2023 to lead global initiatives in antimicrobial solution development and commercialization. As business development manager, he focuses on advancing natural antioxidant and antimicrobial technologies for pet food protection.

Gregory Daniel serves as strategic industry advisor for Haskell, bringing more than 26 years of experience in the pet food industry. His career spans technical services, new product and process development, and advanced statistical process optimization. Daniel has led numerous initiatives focused on improving product consistency, nutritional integrity and operational efficiency across diverse pet food categories. His deep understanding of processing transformations and facility design helps manufacturers achieve both innovation and certainty of outcome in pet food processing.

Caitlyn Dudas is the founder of Good Company, a consultancy advancing regenerative supply chains in the pet food industry. She has more than a decade of experience leading sustainability initiatives, including co-founding and serving as executive director of the Pet Sustainability Coalition, where she built a 200-plus company member base and spearheaded industry-wide packaging and sourcing programs. Dudas currently advises ranchers, processors and pet food manufacturers on scaling regenerative ingredient markets across the U.S.

Erik Eckhardt earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Utrecht University and spent more than a decade in U.S. academia researching nutrition, the gut microbiome and immune health. In 2012, he transitioned to industry, focusing on microbial and nutritional solutions for digestive and immune health in humans and animals. Since 2021, Eckhardt has been principal scientist at dsm-firmenich, where he leads the development of postbiotics to support health from the gut and beyond.

Ryan Estis is a sales and leadership expert at the forefront of the human-centered growth movement transforming the way we work, lead and live so individuals and organizations can achieve sustainable success. He’s a bestselling author who has spent his career building high-performance teams and a client roster of category-leading brands. As a strategic advisor and former Fortune 500 chief revenue officer, Estis understands that the key to meaningful results lies in elevating people to their highest potential. He empowers individuals and organizations to leverage change as a catalyst for growth and maximize their impact by embracing a human-centered approach to sales, leadership and life. Estis has served as an advisor to companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 giants including Mayo Clinic, Mastercard, the NBA, Pfizer, IBM, Deloitte, McKesson, CVS and State Farm Insurance. His work and writing have been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Inc. and Entrepreneur magazines.

Tiffany Fiore has 15 years of experience working in marketing for food and flavor, with the past three years managing the pet flavors business for McCormick Flavor Solutions. She brings firsthand knowledge of launching new products to market, coupled with a passion for staying on top of trends in pet food and treats.

Iván Franco is the founder of Triplethree International Market Research, a firm specialized in advanced analytics and shopper insights for the pet food industry in Latin America. With more than 24 years of experience, he serves as an independent advisor to several leading pet food companies, guiding strategic decisions in pricing, market entry and category management. Recognized as consultant of the year for innovative market strategies, Franco is an author and frequent speaker.

Susan Gallager offers more than 15 years of regulatory experience across the pesticide and food/flavor industries. She has been with McCormick & Co. for more than four years, providing regulatory support for North American flavor solutions customers, including those in the pet food segment.

Craig Grantham is a former CEO in the consumer packaged goods space, with 30 years of expertise creating, building and managing businesses to success. From startups to multibillion-dollar entities, he has managed and built businesses in multiple geographies and currencies. Specific to pet food, Grantham is the primary trade-facing contact for Pet Food Solutions and has been the architect of building its business since 2019.

Matt Graunke is freeze dry sales executive at Parker Freeze Dry, a Division of ProForm Fabrication. A seasoned veteran of the freeze dry industry, he has experience speaking on various subjects ranging from general education, scaling and process improvements.

Nicole Hill is the vice president of strategy and innovation at MarketPlace, a specialized strategy and brand firm focusing exclusively on the pet and human nutrition markets. She drives forward-looking strategy and innovation, leading the firm’s proprietary research platform, Nextin Research, which transforms emerging consumer trends and market intelligence into on-demand strategic insights. With deep expertise across the pet industry, Hill uncovers opportunities and translates them into high-growth strategies.

Jessica Jarett, Ph.D., is the principal scientist for pet at Cargill Inc. She has more than 15 years of experience in microbiome research, translational science and product innovation, including seven years dedicated specifically to pet microbiome studies. She received a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of New Hampshire as a National Science Foundation fellow and has conducted postdoctoral studies in microbial genomics and single-cell genomics at the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute.

Sean Jones, MBA, is the sales director at Glacial Freeze Dry, where he supports pet brands in launching and scaling freeze-dried products. Prior to joining the company, he founded Foodynamics, a multimillion-dollar enterprise acquired by Glacial in 2025. As co-founder of What’s In The Bowl Pet Shops and its franchise system, Jones has firsthand experience in building successful pet businesses, having collaborated with more than 150 brands on product strategy, formulation, packaging and go-to-market execution. He also served for over a decade as faculty at the University of Phoenix. Certified in pet nutrition, canine herbalism and raw feeding, Jones blends technical expertise with real-world insights.

Jasmine Kataria, Ph.D., is a senior scientist in research and development at Kerry Ingredients and Flavors. She earned her Ph.D. in food science and technology from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree from Auburn University; her research centered on developing and validating rapid quantification methods for Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry, as well as assessing clean-label interventions for their efficacy against pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms. At Kerry, Kataria leads the development, optimization and validation of clean-label antimicrobial technologies for both human food and pet food applications, with a focus on beverages and high-moisture products.

Shannon Landry is the research director for Packaged Facts Pet, a leading authority on the U.S. pet industry and a division of the Freedonia Group. She has been researching the pet market for more than two decades, covering pet food and treats, non-food supplies, veterinary services and non-medical services. Key areas of research include sales and new product trends, consumer purchase patterns and pet owner sentiments and influences.

Jennifer Lott is the technical development director at SGS North America, where she leads initiatives supporting global food and pet food manufacturers in auditing, compliance and quality assurance system development. With more than 25 years of industry experience, Lott specializes in food and product safety management systems, bringing deep expertise in certification, training and project management. She is known for her commitment to excellence, positive attitude and collaborative approach to problem-solving.

Annette Lundeen is head of product for Datacor Animal Nutrition (formerly Format Solutions), a global provider of formulation and feed ERP software for animal feed and pet food manufacturers. She leads product strategy focused on improving operational efficiency, data-driven decision-making and regulatory-ready formulation and production workflows. With more than 30 years of experience in the feed industry, Lundeen began her career as a formulator and has held roles spanning formulation leadership, process standardization, global training and nutrition technology adoption. She holds a degree in animal science from the University of Minnesota and brings a practitioner’s perspective to building software that works in real feed mill environments.

Jodi McCarthy serves as the president of PFS. She started her career at KPMG’s Chicago audit practice in 1998. She also worked in various accounting roles for several large Chicago-based companies. Beginning in 2010, she joined Sustainable Sourcing where she gained experience in the fats and oils industry. McCarthy has a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in history from DePaul University.

Ana Rita Monforte, Ph.D., leads research and development initiatives at AFB, connecting flavor generation with data-driven modeling to improve speed and reliability of palatant development. She holds a Ph.D. in chemistry and has directed scientific strategy for Maillard-based and hydrolysis-derived palatants. In parallel, Monforte has established internal AI-assisted frameworks that combine palatability outcomes, formulation metadata, analytical descriptors and trial context into predictive models that help rank candidates before live testing. She also drives internal capability building in statistics and machine learning for non-data scientists, advancing the shift from intuition-driven exploration to evidence-assisted design.

Lara Moody is the Institute for Feed Education and Research’s (IFEEDER) executive director, providing leadership to the public charity’s activities including program development, strategic partnerships and collaborative resourcing. Working closely with IFEEDER’s board of trustees and committee members, she develops and supports resources and efforts to advance the institute’s research and education mission. Moody holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering and a master’s degree in biosystems engineering from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Previously, she served as vice president of stewardship and sustainability at the Fertilizer Institute and worked in research and extension programs at Iowa State University and the University of Tennessee.

Claire Obertin is a research associate at Cleveland Research Co., leading the Pet Insights Council, where she communicates and identifies key insights across the pet retail and animal health channels. Prior to joining the company, she worked for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Obertin holds a bachelor’s degree in supply chain and operations management and marketing from Miami University.

Ann Marie D. Ocker, Ph.D., is the technical marketing and innovation director at International Ingredient Corp., where she connects scientific insight with strategic market development to advance innovation across pet food markets. With nearly two decades of experience spanning academic research, global R&D and commercial application, she specializes in ingredient functionality, processing technologies, natural product chemistry and formulation strategy. Her work focuses on promoting the value of upcycled and functional ingredients to support sustainability and nutrition. Ocker holds degrees in chemistry, biology, organic chemistry and food science, including her Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee.

Kevin Ryan, Ph.D., is founder and CEO of Malachite Strategy and Research, where he helps consumer product goods, retail and foodservice leaders translate cultural shifts and consumer behavior into smarter innovation strategies. Drawing on 20 years at the intersection of anthropology, food science and corporate strategy, Ryan specializes in mapping emerging demand spaces, uncovering jobs to be done and guiding companies to opportunities they might otherwise miss. Before founding Malachite, he was global strategic senior planner at Amazon, shaping brand and advertising strategy for Prime and non-Prime consumers worldwide. He also led innovation strategy at General Mills, building new platforms and capabilities across its global portfolio. Ryan holds a Ph.D. in food science and a master of science in food anthropology. He is regularly featured as an industry expert in publications like Food Dive, the Food Institute and Food Navigator-USA.

Ravi Sheth, Ph.D., is co-founder and chief scientific officer at Kingdom, a leading supplier of clinically validated postbiotics for pet brands. Kingdom has received US$30 million in venture funding from leading firms including Y-Combinator, as well as competitive research funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency. Sheth received his Ph.D. as an NSF and Hertz fellow at Columbia University, and his work on genomics tools to understand the ecology of microbiomes has been published in top scientific journals. He also spent time at the Gates Foundation advancing new microbiome directed interventions to combat malnutrition.

Jolanta Smulski helps pet food brands break through AI implementation barriers to achieve measurable marketing results. As founder of Pet Pro Media and a recognized AI expert, she specializes in moving companies from planning paralysis to systematic execution. Before entering the pet industry, Smulski spent 10 years in finance and luxury brand marketing across global markets, developing deep knowledge of how premium brands differentiate and win in competitive landscapes. She brings this strategic approach to her work with pet food manufacturers navigating omnichannel distribution, rising customer acquisition costs and competition from major brands. In 2022, she co-founded the Pet Industry Network and produces its annual Growth Summit, attracting 500+ industry professionals.

Lindsay Sumners, Ph.D., brings nearly a decade of pet industry experience providing formulation acumen and leading product innovation. Her expertise spans functional formula development, stability testing, claims substantiation and pet microbiome ingredients. She earned master of science and doctorate degrees in animal and poultry sciences from Virginia Tech, where her research focused on immunology and molecular nutrition. At ADM, she leads the creation, design and development of new products and provides technical guidance and ingredient application expertise.

Lynn Verstrepen is a product leader with more than 13 years of experience creating innovative software for the nutrition industry. With a background in bioengineering and environmental technology, she uses deep industry knowledge and customer insights to develop solutions focused on formulation, quality control, ERP and supplier management. Her mission is to transform complexity into clarity, helping companies operate more efficiently, transparently and resiliently.

Dana Waters is the director of international affairs at the Pet Food Institute (PFI), where she leads initiatives to address global trade and regulatory challenges affecting U.S. pet food exports. She serves as a key liaison between PFI members and the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, supporting export issue resolution and export certificate negotiations. Previously, Waters served as a government relations intern for public relations firm GP3 Partners. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science with a concentration in international affairs from Georgia State University.

Melissa Weber, Ph.D., is director of technical services at Rangen (formerly Wilbur-Ellis), where she oversees innovation, cost-savings and technical service initiatives across pet food, livestock and aqua nutrition. She manages a multimillion-dollar research and development budget and leads a high-performing technical team, driving both new product development and strategic partnerships. Weber holds a Ph.D. in meat science from Kansas State University and has more than a decade of experience spanning technical services, research and development, and regulatory expertise, building a reputation for combining scientific rigor with commercial acumen. Beyond her technical expertise, she is a recognized leader in culture-building and team development.

Kyle Wiley is the supply chain manager for Pet Food Solutions, where he leads all areas of the company’s supply chain from sourcing and procurement to logistics. Previously, he held various roles at US Foods starting in 2017 as a buyer and last held the role of logistics optimization manager. Wiley earned his degree in corporate communications from Dominican University and an MBA with a global supply chain concentration.