Master of Ceremonies

Allison Ball – CEO/Founder of Retail Ready® & Host of Food Biz Wiz® 

Alli is a former Grocery Buyer turned Wholesale Consultant, and the creator of Retail Ready®, an online course for producers of packaged product in the food industry. Alli has helped hundreds of emerging brands understand what it takes to get their products on the retail shelf—and keep them there—by sharing the behind-the-scenes secrets and thought process of Wholesale Buyers as they assess new products for their stores or online marketplace. Find her on AlliBall.com, weekly on Food Biz Wiz®, her podcast about wholesale strategy, or use her advice daily with her physical planner, specifically made for the packaged food industry.

Keynote Speakers

Kate Williams – CEO of 1% for the Planet

Kate Williams is CEO of 1% for the Planet, a global movement that exists to ensure our planet and future generations thrive by inspiring businesses and individuals to support environmental nonprofit solutions through membership and everyday actions. Started in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, founder of Blue Ribbon Flies, 1% for the Planet’s global network of thousands of businesses and individuals have given more than $280 million to environmental partners to date. Kate has led significant growth in network scale and impact, as well as deep work on best practices for implementing high impact giving strategies, growing a network brand, and operating a highly effective and innovative enterprise.

Robyn O’Brien – Co-Founder of rePlant Capital 

Robyn O’Brien is the co-founder of rePlant Capital. With a twenty-year career in food and finance, Robyn has been called “food’s Erin Brockovich” by the New York Times and Bloomberg. She triggered an allergic reaction in the food industry when she asked: “Are we allergic to food or what’s been done to it?” and helped trigger an awakening to the skyrocketing price of EpiPens when she coined the term #epigate.

The early years of her work are documented in her bestseller The Unhealthy Truth. She became recognized around the world after her TEDx talk in 2011 which was viewed by millions and translated into multiple languages. She is a trusted and sought-after food industry advisor, strategist and public speaker. She is also an adjunct professor at Rice University’s business school.