2020 Schedule

Unless otherwise noted, all events will take place at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder, 995 Regent Drive.

Thursday, January 2, 2020:

  • 1:00-5:30 pm: bus tours of food production, farm and retail facilities around Colorado:
    • Tour #1, leaves 1:00pm: Altius Indoor Vertical Farms, Mile High Labs
    • Tour #2, leaves 1:30pm: Full Metal Canning, Honey Bunchies, Kim & Jake’s Bakery, Celestial Seasonings, Whole Foods Market
    • Tour #3, leaves 2:00: Fresca Foods, Danone’s “Greenhouse” research & innovation facility, ePac
  • 6:00-7:00 pm: opening keynote by Hunter Lovins, sustainability pioneer and founder of Natural Capitalism Solutions [room 225]
  • 7:00-9:30 pm: small group dinners around Boulder hosted by CEOs

 

Friday, January 3, 2020:

  • 8:15-9:00 am
    • breakfast, networking [3rd floor open space and rooms 312, 313]
  • 9:00-9:55 am
    • Entrepreneurship 1: From Concept to Reality with Denis Ring, Founder of OCHO Candy and creator of the Whole Foods 365 and Safeway O Organic private label lines [room 323]
    • Purpose in the Food Industry with Dr. Mark Meaney of CU Boulder; Matt Lindsey, Director of CSR at Charlotte’s Web; and Ricardo Perdigao, CFO/COO at Sambazon [room 317]
  • 10:00-10:55 am
    • Food Packaging and Branding Innovations with Dustin Steerman, Managing Partner and VP of Sales, ePac, and Evan Faber, CEO of Moxie Sozo [room 323]
    • A Look Inside the “Shark Tank” – Ka-Pop’s Preparation for a Big TV Moment, with Dustin Finkel, Co-Founder and CEO [room 317]
  • 11:00-11:55 am
    • keynote address by Peter Burns, President and CEO of One Brands [room 225]
  • 12:00-12:45 pm
    • lunch, networking [3rd floor open space and rooms 312, 313]
  • 12:45-1:40 pm
    • Ingenious Food Waste Solutions panel with Jenny Du, Co-Founder and VP Operations at Apeel Sciences, and Kathryn Bernell, Founder and CEO at reBLEND [room 225]
  • 1:45-2:45 pm
    • Finding that Next Great Job in the Food Industry with Leah Haney, CPG Recruiter at Creative Alignments;  Soley Van Lokeren, Director of Human Resources at Zevia; and Danielle Rosenberg, Human Resources Business Partner at Danone North America [room 323]
    • Entrepreneurship Panel 2: The Nitty Gritty of Co-Packers, Brokers and Distributors, with Monika Heinbaugh, Exclusive Brands Business Manager at KeHE Distributors; Dustin Finkel, Co-Founder and CEO of Ka-Pop; and Liz Myslik, CEO of Fresca Brands and CMO of Fresca Foods – moderated by Allie Brimlow, Corporate Development Manager at Fresca Foods [room 317]
  • 3:00-4:30 pm
    • Natural Talent Food Sampling and Career Networking Fair [room 100 and Atrium]
  • 4:30-5:25 pm
    • History and Future of Food with John Grubb, Founder of Summit Venture Management [room 225]
  • 5:30-6:30 pm
    • The Beyond Meat Phenomenon with Amanda Duran, Sales Director (West) of Beyond Meat, and Doug Radi, CEO of Good Karma Foods [room 323]
    • Financing & Investment Panel with Susan Graf, food industry financing expert, and Ricardo Perdigao, CFO/COO at Sambazon [room 317]
  • 6:30-7:30 pm
    • carpool to buffet dinner and networking at WinterSkate (on us), or Pearl Street food crawl (on you)
  • 7:30-9:00 pm
    • optional outdoor ice skating party at WinterSkate Louisville
WinterSkate Louisville (Denver Post)

 

Saturday, January 4, 2020:

  • 8:15-9:00 am
    • breakfast, networking [3rd floor open space and rooms 312, 313]
  • 9:00-9:55 am
    • Trends in the Natural Products Industry with Carlotta Mast, Market Leader at New Hope Network [room 323]
    • Ag Tech Innovations with Sally Herbert, Founder and CEO of Altius Indoor Vertical Farms, and Tyler Huggins, Co-Founder and CEO of Emergy Foods [room 317]
  • 10:00-10:55 am
    • The World of Regenerative Ag with Phil Taylor, Executive Director of Mad Agriculture, and Mark Retzloff [room 225]
  • 11:15-12:15 pm
    • Keynote by Stephen Ritz, Founder of the Green Bronx Machine [room 225]
  • 12:15-1:00 pm
    • lunch, networking [3rd floor open space and rooms 312, 313]
  • 1:00-2:00 pm
    • Sustainability Panel with Sara Axelrod, Sustainability Marketing and Innovation Manager at Land O’Lakes; Nancy Schoemann, Director of Operations at Natural Habitats USA; Kristen Tetrick, Director of Sustainability at Lucky’s Market; and Darcy Shiber-Knowles, Senior Quality, Sustainability & Innovation Manager at Dr. Bronner’s [room 225]
  • 2:00-3:00 pm
    • Retailing and Etailing with Mark Retzloff, industry legend and Founder of Alfalfa’s Market; Ryan Lewis, CEO of EarthHero.com; and Marshall Hayes, Founder of Amplio Digital [room 225]
  • 3:00-3:15 pm
    • Wrap-up [room 225]

For more information on the speakers, go to https://mbark2boulder.com/2020-speakers/.

Here is the schedule from MBArk2Boulder 2019.