Keynote speakers

Jérôme Pellaud

Opening lecture: 'How consumers are shaping the evolution of beer and beverages'

Jerome Pellaud, Global VP of Adjacencies at ZX Ventures, a global growth and innovation group @ Anheuser-Busch InBev’s, entered the world of beer through flavor and fermentation. A chemist by education and a brewmaster, he received a PhD in Biophysical Chemistry (the science of proteins) from the University of Basel (Switzerland). He moved to Belgium in 1998 to pursue a post-doctoral study on fruity sulfur flavors produced by yeast during fermentation at the Brewing Technology Lab of the University of Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), the same University where Jerome gained certification in Brewing and Malting.

Jerome joined Anheuser-Busch InBev in January 2000 as a Senior Scientist in the Brewing Science Department in Leuven, Belgium, before joining the Global Product Development Team in 2005. He was tasked to build the first Exploratory Product & Process Development team in 2006 where he was responsible for yeast & fermentation, sensory and consumer science as well as product development. In 2008 he became Global Director for Exploratory Product and Packaging Development. He created and led the Global Front End Innovation department in 2010 and in early 2015, Jerome was tasked to build the new Global Craft and Specialty beer division within ZX Ventures, operating teams in 10 markets to offer consumers new beer experiences. with a portfolio of international and domestic specialty beers. Since January 2019, Jerome focus has been to build a new division within ZX Ventures, tasked to seed and launch brands in alcoholic beverage categories beyond beer. He is running agile scrum teams in over 10 markets.
During his 20 years in the brewing industry, Jerome developed over 200 recipes, across beers, flavored beers, RTDs and cider.

Paul Bruijn

Keynote 1: 'Sustainability for Brewers, the bigger picture'

Paul Bruijn (Senior Global Lead Environment) works at HEINEKEN Global Supply Chain, since 1989 and has degrees in mechanical engineering and biology.

He has a seat in the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER), and is coordinating the Beer PEF pilot together with the Brewers of Europe. The PEFCR, “Product Environmental Footprint Category Rule” is a strong methodology to underpin Barley to Bar sustainability programs. 

He contributed to the 2010-2020 sustainability agenda “Brewing a better World”. More recently he has been involved in the development and execution of our next sustainability agenda “Drop the C” ; which aims to reduce carbon emissions “barley to bar” drastically by 2030.  This program covers “Barley to Bar” beer production processes: agriculture, malting and processing, brewing, packaging materials, logistics and market refrigeration.

He is also involved in the recently launched new water strategy “Every Drop” (2020-2030). The Every Drop program has an holistic view on the health of the watershed and gives recognition not only to efficient water use but also on water circularity and water balancing.  

Birgitte Skadhauge

Keynote 2: 'Diversification'

Birgitte Skadhauge completed her studies (M. Sc degree) at the Royal and Veterinary Agricultural University, Copenhagen in 1992. This was followed by a Ph.D. degree in biochemistry and genetics at the Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen (1993-1996). Since 2003 she has been responsible for Carlsberg Raw Material Research, and since 2011 Director for Applied Research activities in Carlsberg, including Raw materials, Yeast, Ingredients and Brewing Technology and sustainability in 2012 she was appointed Adjunct Professor at Århus University. Since 2014 she held the position as Vice President for Carlsberg Research Laboratory and Baltika Research. She is also Founder of Traitomics. In 2020 she was appointed adjunct professor at Copenhagen University.

She is member of several scientific advisory boards and committees, appointed member of e.g. ‘Danish Science and Innovation Political Counsel’ (Ministry for Science and Innovation); Danish Industry, Committee for Research, Innovation and Education; Board Member for Danish Malting Group A/S; DMG (2008-2016), Denmark and DMG Poland (2008-2016), Board member in Sejet Plant Breeding I/S, Board member in “Association for Danish Variety Owners”, Board member in Scandinavian Brewing School, Board member in Carlsberg’s Bequest for Brewer J.C. Jacobsen, advisory board member at DTU, Bioengineering, Board member in Secobra Recherche (France) and member of Carlsberg’s Global Sustainability Board.

2018-09-1

Scott Lafontaine

Keynote 3: 'Characterizing the chemistry, flavor, and American consumer preference towards non-alcoholic beer'

Scott Lafontaine is currently a Humboldt postdoctoral research fellow being hosted by the Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei in Berlin (VLB) e.V. and over the next couple of years will be investigating novel ways to promote flavor stability in beer. More generally his research interests include understanding the important chemical drivers of aroma, taste, and mouthfeel which define food and beverage quality, and how different factors (i.e. raw material quality, production techniques, etc.) may influence the concentrations of these analytes. Particularly focusing on beer, non-alcoholic beer, and wine. In 2019, he served as a postdoctoral scholar in Dr. Hildegarde Heymann’s laboratory at the University of California, Davis primarily working on determining factors that influence the preference of U.S. consumers towards non-alcoholic beer. In December 2018, he defended his Ph.D. in Food Science with Dr. Thomas Shellhammer at Oregon State University which was focused on determining quality metrics for aroma hops as well as ways to promote hop aroma quality in beer. He also holds an M.S in Chemistry from Oregon State University focused on environmental analytical chemistry as well as an M.S. in Biotechnology from Kean University.

Charles Nouwen

Keynote 4: 'Experience is the new black'

Charles Nouwen is a brewmaster from Belgium. He completed a master in brewing science and technology from UCL in 2001 and has been since then growing his Pasion for beer.

After spending his first 10 years based in Belgium, brewing awarded beers and developing new beers,  he moved to UK then to USA. Always looking for opportunities to learn, Charles has travelled all continents to meet experts, provide advice and live his love for beer. As leader of the beer culture program for ABInbev he now brings all of this together in an effort to elevate our industry, the creativity, quality and craftmanship  that goes into it. As he likes to remind people, everything tastes better with a genuine story.