EDUCATION SERIES EVENT:

The Next Green Wave: Market Trends and Legal Developments for CBD Products

Join us for an engaging and candid dialogue with local and national experts who have been actively monitoring the ever-changing CBD/THC landscape, and advising natural product retailers, distributors, and manufacturers on how to best navigate these tumultuous waters!

Guests/Panelists

• PANELISTS:
  • KATIE DAS: Managing Partner, STAND ASSURED CONSULTING
  • ASHISH R. TALATI: Partner, AMIN TALATI UPHADHYE 
  • JACOB FREEPONS: CEO & Founder, LUMEN REGENERATIVE HEMP
• MODERATOR:
  • JIM TASCHETTA: Co-Founder & CEO, AKAI LIFE, LLC

Date/Time

Wednesday, September 25, 2018: 5:30pm – 7:30pm

Location

RocketSpace: 180 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA 94104

Format

Panel format with “meet and greet” networking before and after discussion. Refreshments and light appetizers will be served.

Registration

Members: $25.00; Non-Members: $35.00

Panelist Profiles

KATIE DAS: Managing Partner, STAND ASSURED CONSULTING

Katie Das is a food industry veteran who has worked with startup to Fortune 500 companies developing CPG food products and implementing Food Safety Management Systems. As a Managing Partner of Stand Assured Consulting group, she helps food manufacturers and the cannabis edibles industry create safe, effective, and high-quality CBD/THC products.

Prior to Stand Assured, Katie worked for household brands such as Juicy Fruit, Philadelphia Cream Cheese and DoubleMint gum to start and then grew her own confectionary company, Das Foods. Katie later returned to her technical roots by becoming involved in a complex area of food safety for marquee brands like Starbucks, Accor Hotels, Target, and Walmart.

ASHISH R. TALATI: Partner, AMIN TALATI UPHADHYE

Ashish R. Talati leads Amin Talati & Upadhye’s FDA practice and is one of the industry’s foremost experts on FDA regulatory matters. He has gained an exceptional reputation for his successful results at the cutting edge of FDA and regulatory law, where he has responded nimbly to changes in the regulatory climate and the marketplace, guiding clients through some of our industries’ most complex issues. Ashish primarily counsels clients on matters of regulatory compliance, helping them anticipate and address regulatory issues in their day-to-day business operations and strategic planning. He also advocates on their behalf before the FDA, FTC, Customs, USDA, DEA, and other federal agencies, and in court.

Considered a creative and strategic partner by his clients, Ashish works with companies all over the globe and is a trusted advisor at every step of the product life cycle, including product formulation, safety and efficacy studies, product launch, and ongoing marketing and sales.

JACOB FREEPONS: CEO & Founder, LUMEN REGENERATIVE HEMP

Jacob Freepons is the CEO and Founder of Lumen, a farm-to-bottle producer of functional hemp elixirs which balance and revitalize the body and mind. As a third generation farmer with a depth of experience in both the cannabis and organic farming industries, he is bringing awareness to the many health challenges we face guided by the ethos: food is medicine. Together with the Lumen team, he is using hemp as the economic and social catalyst to inspire and implement real solutions to the systemic health and environmental challenges we all face.

Awaken your spirit, illuminate the world. @DrinkLumen

JIM TASCHETTA: Co-Founder & CEO, AKAI LIFE, LLC

Jim Taschetta is the co-founder and CEO of Akai Life, LLC and a member of the Naturally Bay Area board. He is a 30-year CPG veteran with mix of large company and start-up experience. He started his career in brand management at Procter & Gamble. During his 10 years at P&G, including 7 overseas, Jim built a variety of brands and categories. While at Coca-Cola, Jim led a $2 billion-dollar portfolio of brands, including the Sprite, PowerAde and Minute Maid brands. As an SVP at Visa, Jim led the repositioning of the Visa brand and introduced a brand management system to the marketing function. Over the last several years he has focused on bringing his experience to helping small to medium sized companies scale. He was one of the first executives at the fin-tech start-up Yodlee, which went public in 2015. While at Bare Escentuals, he led product and marketing and helped position the company for a successful sale to cosmetics giant Shiseido. Most recently, he led the expansion of start-up Caveman Foods, helping them to become a leading provider of Paleo snacks. Jim received his MBA from Cornell University and lives with his wife and two children in Burlingame, CA.