Agenda with Presentations

Renée Goodrich Schneider

Professor, UF/IFAS Food Science and Human Nutrition

Renée Goodrich Schneider is a Professor of Food Science & Technology and a faculty member of the Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN) department at the University of Florida (UF). She joined UF after working in the juice and beverage industry for 11 years in technical and managerial positions. Her research interests are in the area of food safety, processing and quality, particularly in the areas of fruit, vegetable and beverage processing and toxicology. She is the Graduate Coordinator, responsible for department graduate programs, reports and graduate student concerns, and teaches three graduate-level courses, including Food Toxicology and Industrial Food Fermentations. She also teaches Food Product Development, the capstone course of the undergraduate Food Science program. Dr. Goodrich has an active Extension program and is part of the UF FSHN Food Safety Extension Team that has conducted food safety Extension outreach since 2001, starting with GAPs and now including FSPCA and PSA programs. Additionally, she conducts an internationally-recognized Juice HACCP Training program, as well as coordinating the annual UF International Citrus and Beverage Conference.

Susan S. Percival

Chair, UF/IFAS Food Science and Human Nutrition

Dr. Susan S. Percival is a Professor of Nutritional Sciences and Chair of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Florida. Her educational background began with a B.S. degree from the University of Rhode Island, a Master’s of Science degree from the University of California, Davis, and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin. She did postdoctoral research in the department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M University. She was tenure track faculty at the University of Rhode Island prior to an educational leave to pursue her doctorate, which she completed in 1985. During her career at the University of Florida she took an 8-month sabbatical leave at the National Institutes of Health with the Nutritional Sciences Research Group at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Percival is the elected Secretary for the American Society for Nutrition and has served as chair of three research interest groups. She is currently on the Editorial Board for Advances in Nutrition and has served the Journal of Nutrition in the past. Her research explores how dietary components influence human immunity. Experimental models using cell culture, mice and humans reveal that certain dietary components such as bioactive compounds from fruits and vegetables, herbs and spices, red wine, green tea and aged garlic will modify immunity such that it is primed and ready to respond. The clinical relevance of her research is aimed at avoiding common illnesses such as the cold and flu.

Linda Staten

Assistant Officer in Charge, USDA-AMS

Linda Staten currently serves as the Assistant Officer in Charge at the US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Specialty Crops Division in Winter Haven, Florida. She also assists with managing operations in both the Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico Sub Offices. After moving to Florida from Kentucky in 1989, Linda began her citrus industry career shortly thereafter at Florida’s Natural Growers in Lake Wales in the Quality Assurance Department. Later, Linda began working with the USDA, AMS. She also studied Business Administration at Polk State College. Over the past 21 years with USDA, Linda has been assigned to many of the citrus processing facilities throughout the state. She currently resides in Lake Wales, Florida.

Horacio Lomba

General Manager, Consorcio Cítricos Dominicanos

Horacio Lomba is an Industrial Engineer with a Postgraduate Degree in Quality and Productivity from Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo and a Masters degree in Agribusiness from Caixanova Business School in Spain. Has been involved in the food industry for more than 20 years in tropical fruit, grain and dairy processing, working as a consultant, lead engineer, manager and speaker. His expertise includes food safety and food security. Currently is the General Manager of Consorcio Cítricos Dominicanos, a branch of Grupo Rica, the main dairy and juice processing company of the Caribbean. Actually is member of the board of Business Alliance for Safe Commerce (BASC), a private sector led and controlled coalition created to promote secure international trade in cooperation with governments and international organizations; and of Junta Agroempresarial Dominicana, the largest agribusiness organization in the region.

Fred Gmitter, Jr.

Professor, UF/IFAS Citrus Research & Education Center

Fred Gmitter, a Professor at the UF/IFAS CREC, earned his Ph.D. from UF in 1985. He released more than 40 citrus scion and rootstock cultivars in the last 10 years. He led the International Citrus Genome Consortium effort and produced the first publicly available citrus genome sequences. He has published more than 150 manuscripts in scientific journals, including one this year on the origins and evolution of citrus in NATURE. He has traveled to many of the world’s citrus production regions to understand aspects of citrus production and marketing, in addition to local citrus breeding and genetics programs. Current research includes developing selectable markers for important traits, consumer-driven breeding, and developing HLB-resistant cultivars.

Russell Rouseff

Research Professor, Southwest University, Citrus Research Institute

Russell Rouseff is currently a research professor at the Citrus Research Institute of the Southwest University in Chongqing, China specializing in citrus processing chemistry. He is also an Emeritus Professor at the University of Florida’s CREC. After retiring from UF in 2012 he worked as a consultant and expert witness before joining Southwest U. He has written or edited seven books, 55 book chapters and over 200 scientific papers and published abstracts. His areas of interest include citrus metabolic pathways and flavor changes during processing and storage. He is a fellow and winner of the American Chemical Society Advancement of Food and Agricultural Chemistry Award, an IFT Certified Food Scientist, and was selected in the Chinese 10000 Talent Plan for High-Level Experts.

William Messina Jr.

Agricultural Economist, UF/IFAS Food & Resource Economics Department

Bill Messina is an agricultural economist with the UF/IFAS Food and Resource Economics Department. He is the founding Co-Director of the Department’s research initiative studying the agricultural and fisheries sectors in Cuba which began in 1994. This research continues in collaboration with faculty at the University of Havana Center for Research on the International Economy and other Cuban scientific institutions. Bill has traveled to Cuba frequently, published widely on Cuba’s agricultural sector, and has made presentations on the topic throughout the hemisphere, including testimony before Congress and the U.S. International Trade Commission, and staff briefings to the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and State.

Lisa A. House

Director, Florida Agricultural Market Research Center and Professor, UF/IFAS FRE

Dr. Lisa House is Director of the Florida Agricultural Market Research Center and Professor and Interim Chair in the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida. Dr. House holds a teaching and research appointment. Dr. House earned her B.S. in Food and Resource Economics from the University of Florida, followed by M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University. In research, Dr. House works on subjects such as consumer acceptance of biotech foods, demand for seafood products, perception of fruits and vegetables, and the role of social networks in new food product adoption.

Ariel Singerman

Assistant Professor, UF/IFAS Food and Resource Economics Department

Ariel Singerman is an Assistant Professor in the Food and Resource Economics Department and based at the UF/IFAS Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. Dr. Singerman holds a Ph.D. in economics from Iowa State University. His fields of interest include Agricultural Economics and Applied Econometrics. Dr. Singerman’s research interests are currently focused on examining the different economic aspects related to production of specialty crops, particularly citrus, and the adoption of new technologies and strategies that deal with pests and disease.

Yan Heng

Assistant Research Scientist, UF/IFAS FRE

Dr. Yan Heng is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida. She received her Ph.D. degree in Agricultural Economics from Kansas State University. Her primary research interests include food marketing and consumer behavior. She has applied both survey and scanner data to examine consumers’ preferences and perceptions for various food attributes, the influences of advertising and promotions, the effects of multiple labeling and redundant/misleading labeling, and the impact of free-trade agreement. Her current projects focus on marketing Florida fresh fruits and juices.

Stephen Raeker

Global Competence Director Citrus, Symrise

Citrus has been my passion for a long time. Being a consumer marketer by education I wanted to understand what people eat and drink - and why. After a journey into B2C drinks marketing, the flavor industry has proven to be a good home for my curiosity and passion for citrus. My first focus at Symrise was on beverages product management in Europe, before I moved to Singapore and Japan in 2011 where I managed the regional business unit beverages. Since 2015 my job is citrus only, optimizing the holistic citrus value chain for the global Symrise group.

Matthew Southmayd

Senior Director, MarketsandMarkets

Matt Southmayd is the Senior Director at MarketsandMarkets where he works with clients across a cross section of industries including Life Sciences, Food and Beverage and Chemical and Material. Based out of Washington, DC he has over 20 years of experience in working with executives to solve complex business problems. His works focuses on creating and expanding deep relationships with global organizations and helps clients to develop their strategic growth plans, market entry, new product launch strategies, and sustain and grow revenue. Matt graduated from Florida Southern College with a Degree in Marketing Management and a minor in biology and where he currently serves as a member of the alumni board of directors. Prior to MarketsandMarkets, he was Vice President for Cognitio Corp and held various roles throughout a 12 year career at Gartner, a leading technology consulting firm.

Anthony Nogueras

CEO, Alliance Drawback Services

Tony Nogueras' credentials include 25 years of trade compliance experience with an emphasis on the implementation and management of duty drawback recovery programs. During his extensive tenure in the industry, he managed drawback programs for Coca Cola, Boeing Corporation, and Sunsweet Growers to name a few. In 2001, he founded Alliance Drawback Services, one the premier drawback specialty firms in the nation that boasts a number of Fortune 500 companies in a variety of industry sectors. Alliance has retrieved in excess of $100 million in tariff refunds on behalf of its clients. Mr. Nogueras has spoken before a variety of industry associations including the Purchase Management Association, the International Titanium Association, and the International Association of Trade Compliance professionals. Mr. Nogueras graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in International Relations and Economics, and is a licensed Customs Broker.

Carol Freysinger

Executive Director, Juice Products Association

Carol Freysinger serves as the Executive Director for the Juice Products Association, the trade association representing the juice products industry in the US, headquartered in Washington, DC. She has served as JPA’s Executive Director since 2003, when the National Juice Processors Association and the Processed Apples Institute merged to form JPA. Carol holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from Allegheny College, with graduate studies in Economics from George Mason University.

Bryan Banks

Founder, KipTraq

Bryan Banks is the founder and COO of KipTraq. He started with a degree in Marine Biology, and then spent the last twenty-plus years in software, managing teams and building solutions for various industries.

Angela Valadez

Supply Chain Food Safety and Quality Assurance Manager, Publix Super Markets

Angela Valadez started with Publix Super Markets in 2013 as their Produce Food Safety Coordinator. She supported both Publix Manufacturing and the Produce Retail Business Unit to continuously improve and strengthen food safety programs internally and improve the Good Agricultural Practices associated with suppliers. Since 2018, she holds the role as the new Food Safety & Quality Assurance Manager for Supply Chain. In addition to her produce safety responsibilities, she leads the Supply Chain team in supporting corporate purchasing with supplier review and selection of Publix store brand products.

Rosa Walsh

Scientific Research Director, Florida Department of Citrus

The Florida Department of Citrus’s Scientific Research Department is housed on the campus of the Citrus Research and Education Center in Lake Alfred. As director, Dr. Rosa Walsh oversees current FDOC research efforts, focusing on: sponsored health and wellness medical research on the benefits of citrus, chemical analysis of citrus and components, threats to the industry, appropriate analytical and health and wellness research programs, and collaboration to enhance the disease research programs around the state. For more information visit: www.floridacitrus.org

Samantha Lane

Director for Global Marketing, Florida Department of Citrus

Samantha Lane is the Director for Global Marketing at the Florida Department of Citrus. She has nearly 20 years of marketing and communications experience in Florida’s top industries including higher education, tourism, and agriculture. Prior to taking on some of the toughest communications challenges for Florida’s number one agricultural commodity, Florida Citrus, Lane led a multitude of successful PR campaigns serving as the Public Relations Manager for LEGOLAND Florida. Lane started her career by moving through the ranks at the University of South Florida Polytechnic (now Florida Polytechnic University) holding various positions, most recently as the Director of Marketing and Communications.

Jennifer Zhou

Director, Marketing & Consumer Insight, Robertet Flavors

Jen is a creative innovator who is also super-jazzed about data. With a balance of left and right brain tendencies, Jen has spent 15 years in the Flavor industry answering the questions that no one has yet asked. As the Director of Marketing & Consumer Insight at Robertet Flavors, she is leading efforts to understand consumer behavior and trends to inform and inspire disruptive product development for food and beverage categories.

Stewart Watson

Public Affairs Specialist, FDA, Office of Regulatory Affairs/Office of Communications

CDR Watson is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist and has served as a Commissioned Officer in United States Public Health Service since 1991. His first assignment was with the Indian Health Service where he worked with Native Americans in Arizona, Washington State, and then Wisconsin. In March of 2002, CDR Watson moved to the Food and Drug Administration as an Investigator. From December, 2002, until April, 2004, CDR Watson coordinated the Florida District’s Dietary Supplement program. CDR Watson scheduled monitored, assigned, and reviewed Dietary Supplement inspections, sample collections, and field exams. In his current position he serves as a Public Affairs Specialist in FDA’s Division of Communications and is based in the Florida District Office. In his position, he represents FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA) on the communications teams for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and media. Stewart served as the communications lead for the Office of Human and Animal Food Operations’ program alignment efforts.

Emmanuel Onuoha

Senior Food Microbiologist, JBT- Avure Technologies

Emmanuel Onuoha is a Senior Food Microbiologist at JBT-Avure Technologies, where Emmanuel guides customers through HPP process validation, regulatory affairs, product development and improvement, microbiology, and food technology. Prior to joining Avure, Emmanuel worked as a Research and Development Microbiologist at Q labs.

John Haen

President, CEO and Board Member of Fiberstar, Inc.

Prior to joining the Company in May, 2014, Mr. Haen was Senior Vice President Food Products at Richardson International, Canada's largest Agribusiness Company and a global leader in agriculture and food processing. Prior to working @ Richardson International, Mr. Haen was Vice President/General Manager for Richardson's Nutrition Foods subsidiary with overall manufacturing, finance, supply chain, R&D and sales & marketing responsibility. He also served on the Advisory Board of the Richardson Center for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals at the University of Manitoba. Previously, he was Vice President Global Sales for Paramount Farms, the largest US vertically integrated grower, manufacturer and marketer of pistachios and almonds. He began his career with Procter & Gamble where he earned management responsibility followed by progressive management roles at Cadbury Schweppes Limited and Keebler Corporation. He received his BA in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas.

Jose-Antonio García

Director, AILIMPO

Master degree in Economic and Business Administration by ICADE University in Madrid (Spain). Expert economist in agri-food, specifically in the citrus sector. Interested in the food chain, innovation, sustainability, food quality and internal cooperation. Director of AILIMPO, the Spanish Lemon and Grapefruit Association, since 1999. Representing the industry, lobbying with the National and European public administrations and committed to promote to the maximum everything related with our industry, working together with the producers, traders and processors. I believe in teamwork, effort and consensus building. Married with four kids. www.ailimpo.com; https://www.linkedin.com/in/josegarcia1971/

Elizabeth Webb

Engineering Manager, Vincent Corporation

Elizabeth Webb is Vincent Corporation’s Engineering Manager. In this role, she is responsible for coordinating sales initiatives with factory production capacities and capabilities, quality improvement, field and sales engineering, and planning and executing capital improvement projects.

Elizabeth is a professional engineer, having earned her PE in chemical engineering in 2005. Her alma maters include the University of Florida, University of South Florida, North Carolina State University, and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.

Her family has been in Florida a long time. Although she’s a seventh or ninth-generation Floridian (depending on which side of the family you gossip about), her family took to citrus relatively late. She was a fifth generation Marion county grower, and has both hands-on citrus production knowledge and also citrus processing experience from her prior work in Technical Service with Brown International.

Tim Eyrich

VP Research and Commercialization, Southern Gardens Citrus

Tim Eyrich has been involved in production agriculture for over 38 years, with a majority of this time involved at the grower level in one capacity or the other. During his career he has had the pleasure of working across a number crops and in multiple countries. Tim took his systematic approach to crop production into the Research and Product Development sector and with strong teamwork developed and commercialized unique and novel crop growth enhancing products. Tim is currently VP of Research and Commercialization with Southern Garden Citrus, where their team is working on solutions to the citrus greening diseases. Their work is focused on new innovation focused specifically on HLB as well as sustaining and rebuilding SGC’s grooves.

Nian Wang

Professor, UF/IFAS CREC

Dr. Nian Wang is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Science at the Citrus Research and Education Center, University of Florida (UF). He is a UF Research Foundation Professor. He received his Ph.D. degree in Plant Pathology and Microbiology at Texas A&M University. Dr. Wang then conducted postdoctoral research at University of California, Berkeley. His research interests include molecular genetics and functional genomics of plant pathogenic bacteria, molecular plant-microbe interactions, and management of plant bacterial diseases. He has published more than sixty refereed papers including recent papers in Annual Review of Phytopathology, PLoS Pathogens, ISME, MPMI, Plant Biotechnology, and PNAS. He has served as Chair of the Bacteriology Committee of American Phytopathological Society, Chair of Pierce's Disease Research Scientific Advisory Panel, Senior Editor for Plant Disease, Senior Editor for Phytopathology, Senior Editor for Phytopathology Research, and Guest Editor for PLOS Pathogens. He has served on multiple domestic and international grant panels including USDA NIFA, French National Research Agency (ANR), BARD (Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund US-Israel) and German Research Foundation. He has received the Hewitt Award from the American Phytopathological Society in 2010.

Yu Wang

UF/IFAS CREC

Dr. Yu Wang is an Assistant Professor of Food Chemistry at UF/CREC. Her research has focused on flavor chemistry and natural products chemistry, emphasizing the flavor (aroma and taste) of fruits, herbs and other agricultural commodities, as well as flavor modulators. She earned her Ph.D. at Rutgers University. She received postdoctoral training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, focusing on “Omics” techniques (proteomics, lipidomics and metabolomics). Dr. Wang received the Humboldt Fellowship to work on the taste modulators at the Technical University of Munich. Dr. Wang was a Flavor Chemistry Manager at Mars Chocolate Inc., directing flavor application and modulation.

Jinhe Bai

Research Chemist, ARS USDA

Jinhe Bai, a Research Chemist, has focused on volatile and non-volatile flavor chemistry of citrus and other fruits affected by genomic background, growing conditions, agricultural practices, harvest maturity, postharvest handling and storage regimes, and processing methods. He is one of the earliest scientists who has worked on postharvest fruit, juice and peel oil quality affected by huanglongbing (HLB) disease.

Tim R. Gottwald

Research Leader, USDA, ARS, US Horticultural Research Laboratory

Dr. Tim R. Gottwald received his B.S in Botany in 1975 and Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Oregon State University in 1979. He joined the USDA in 1979 and has served as the Research Leader of Plant Pathology since 2000. Dr. Gottwald is continually consulted on epidemiology and sampling designs on a wide range of pathogens and pests by state, national and international regulatory agencies and institutions with collaborations spaning over 39 countries. His findings have both driven and significantly changed eradication programs in the U.S. and abroad. He is a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society, and his more than 20 awards include: the USDA Secretary of Agriculture’s Honor Awards in 2002 and 2004.

Keith Schneider

Professor, UF/IFAS Food Science & Human Nutrition

Keith Schneider received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida. He received his Master’s from the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health where he worked in the area of food safety microbiology. He returned to the University of Florida to pursue his doctoral studies in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, studying the food chemistry. He returned to the University of Florida in the fall of 2000, taking a position in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition specializing in food safety microbiology. His current research focuses on produce safety, examining pathogen survival and intervention strategies for Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7 and other foodborne pathogens. His extension outreach activities include conducting food safety training in Florida and around the country.

Nick Shields

Food Scientist, The Coca-Cola Company

Nick Shields is part of the Coca-Cola’s Citrus Science and Technology group out of Apopka, Florida. Previously he worked as a product developer for ConAgra Foods where he worked on canned goods such as Chef Boyardee and Wolf Chili. He also worked as a product developer for PepsiCo and Tropicana. He has a BS from Purdue in Food Science and a certificate of Enology from UC Davis.

Savy DiBenedetto

Consultant, Savy Quality Review, Inc.

With emphasis in the beverage industry, Savy specializes in Quality Systems and Programs, Processing and Problem Solving with lead instructor training in four of the FDA FSMA rules and the Juice HACCP Regulation. Recently joined IceGen™ in a customer service role. Retired in 2015 after 35 years with Coca-Cola Corporate with his last position being: Global Liquid Foods Supplier Developer for Global Quality. Savy graduated with a master’s degree from LIU in microbiology. He lives in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Doug Van Strijp

Technical Services Facility Leader, Southern Gardens Citrus

Doug currently works at Southern Gardens Citrus in the role as Technical Services Facility Leader. Previous to this Doug worked at Tropicana in various management roles. Doug has been in the citrus industry for thirty eight years and on the International Citrus and Beverage Conference committee for twenty five years. Doug also serves on several industry committees collaborating with others to address current industry concerns. Doug has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Chemistry from the State University College at Buffalo New York.

Savy DiBenedetto

Consultant, Savy Quality Review, Inc.

With emphasis in the beverage industry, Savy specializes in Quality Systems and Programs, Processing and Problem Solving with lead instructor training in four of the FDA FSMA rules and the Juice HACCP Regulation. Recently joined IceGen™ in a customer service role. Retired in 2015 after 35 years with Coca-Cola Corporate with his last position being: Global Liquid Foods Supplier Developer for Global Quality. Savy graduated with a master’s degree from LIU in microbiology. He lives in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Greg Schrader

Director of Integration and Technology Advancement, JBT Corporation

Greg Schrader is Director of Integration and Technology Advancement for John Bean Technologies Corporation (JBT). JBT is a leading global supplier of mission critical machinery for the food processing and air transporation industries.

Greg received his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Food Engineering from the University of Illinois.

Greg has been with John Bean Technologies Corporation for 25 years. In his current position, he explores and evaluates technologies and companies for potential acquisition, leads the due diligence process and is responsible for integrating newly acquired companies into JBT.