2025 Food Marketing Conference Agenda

Stay tuned as information for sessions, events and more are added here leading up to The FMC 2025!

Tuesday, March 25

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. | Lunch

Lunch will be served in the Radisson Plaza Hotel.

12:30 to 12:45 p.m. | Introduction and state of industry address

Speaker: Dr. Russell Zwanka, director of the food marketing program at Western Michigan University

12:45 to 1:15 p.m. | Featured session: Don Sanderson

Speaker: Don Sanderson, chief merchandising and marketing officer at Meijer

1:15 to 2 p.m. | Featured panel: Kristina Cole, Erin Sanchez, Carrie Sander and Leslie Sarasin

Speakers:

Kristina Cole, president and chief customer officer at Danone
Erin Sanchez, vice president of grocery merchandising at Kroger
Carrie Sander, chief customer officer at Kellanova

Moderator: Leslie Sarasin, president and CEO at FMI – The Food Industry Association

2 to 2:30 p.m. | Featured session: Spencer Baird

Speaker: Spencer Baird, CEO at Inmar Intelligence

2:30 to 3 p.m. | Featured session: Derek Steele and Kristen Williams

Speakers:

Derek Steele, group vice president, marketing and customer strategy at Meijer
Kristen Williams, chief technology officer and group vice president at Meijer

3 to 3:30 p.m. | Networking break

Networking break

3:30 to 4 p.m. | Featured session: Amy Bosek

Speaker: Amy Bosek, area vice president at The Kraft Heinz Company

4 to 4:45 p.m. | Featured panel: Meagen Arensdorff, Deepak Jose, Sunny Yurasek and Katie Hotze

Speakers:

Meagen Arensdorff, vice president of C.A. BUILD at C.A. Fortune
Deepak Jose, vice president, head of data sciences and business intelligence at Niagara Bottling
Sunny Yurasek, vice president, client development, North America, at Decision Point Analytics

Moderator: Katie Hotze, founder and CEO at Grocery Shopii

4:45 to 5:15 p.m. | Featured session: Gema Alvarado-Guerrero and Stephanie Postma

Speakers:

Gema Alvarado-Guerrero, workforce wellness facilitator at Hormel Foods
Stephanie Postma, agile transformation lead at Hormel Foods

5:15 to 5:45 p.m. | Featured session: Tammy DeBoer

Speaker: Tammy DeBoer, president at Harris Teeter

5:45 to 7 p.m. | Reception

Reception

Wednesday, March 26

8:30 to 9 a.m. | WMU food marketing program update and awards

Speaker: Dr. Russell Zwanka, director of the food marketing program at Western Michigan University

9 to 9:30 a.m. | Featured session: Elizabeth Buchanan

Speaker: Elizabeth Buchanan, president of North America at NielsenIQ

9:30 to 10:15 a.m. | Featured panel: Jill Blanchard, Amanda Gleason, Jackie LaPointe and Heidi Reale

Speakers:

Jill Blanchard, president, enterprise client solutions at Advantage Solutions
Amanda Gleason, senior vice president, sales at Constellation Brands
Jackie LaPointe, 7-Eleven enterprise director at PepsiCo

Moderator: Heidi Reale, founder and CEO at SparkShoppe

10:15 to 10:45 a.m. | Networking break

Networking break

10:45 to 11:15 a.m. | Featured session: Jim Griffin

Speaker: Jim Griffin, president, North America at Daymon

11:15 a.m. to noon | Featured panel: Michael Doss, Don Fitzgerald, Dr. Brian Harris and Amanda Lai

Speakers:

Michael Doss, president and CEO at Graphic Packaging International
Don Fitzgerald, partner at The Partnering Group
Dr. Brian Harris, global thought leader on retail and category management

Moderator: Amanda Lai, director, food industry practice at MacMillanDoolittle

Noon to 1 p.m. | Lunch

Lunch will be served in the Radisson Plaza Hotel.

1 to 1:30 p.m. | Featured session: Lori Stillman

Speaker: Lori Stillman, vice president of research and education at NACS

1:30 to 2 p.m. | Featured session: Psyche Terry

Speaker: Psyche Terry, co-founder at UI Global Brands

2 to 2:45 p.m. | Featured panel: Sarah Ludmer, LeQuan Page, Jim Seidler, Patricia Wilcox and Lynn Petrak

Speakers:

Sarah Ludmer, chief wellbeing and sustainable business officer at WK Kellogg Co
LeQuan Page, regional president at Sysco
Jim Seidler, grocery sales manager at Jewel-Osco
Patricia Wilcox, co-founder at Awestruck Ciders

Moderator: Lynn Petrak, senior editor at Progressive Grocer

2:45 to 3:15 p.m. | Networking break

Networking break

3:15 to 3:45 p.m. | Featured session: Amy McClellan

Speaker: Amy McClellan, executive vice president, chief customer officer at SpartanNash

3:45 to 4:15 p.m. | Featured session: Anthony Kyles

Speaker: Anthony Kyles, chief customer officer of meals and beverages at Campbell’s