Mary Carmen Yamamoto is an independent consultant in agri-business. She is involved in projects relating to asparagus and various fruit, including the training of small banana farmers in good agricultural practices. Mary spent 2011 organising fruit conferences in northern Peru and in 2009-10 was a professor of administration and agri-business at Peru's UPC University. She graduated from Costa Rica's EARTH University with a degree in agricultural science in 2003 and is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese.

Philip Gray is the senior commercial manager of Seatrade Reefer Chartering, and has 25 years' experience in the reefer shipping business, having started on the quayside. He developed the frozen fish trade between Chile, the Falklands and Europe and in 1993 joined Seatrade, soon getting involved in the frozen fish transport in Namibia, South Africa and South America. Philip is the former trade manager for Australia, New Zealand, Alaska and South Africa, where he developed both the fruit and frozen businesses for Seatrade. He also spent one year in Japan. Today, Philip is responsible for Seatrade's business in Chile, Argentina and Peru, as well as for Streamlines, the container shipping arm of the Seatrade Group.

Oleg Ivanov is director of Big Sur. He started his career in the fruit business at Fruit Group in 1993, finding suppliers in western Europe by building relationships with producers and logistics organisations in the Netherlands, France and Italy. During 11 years with the company, he moved from the position of assistant import manager to deputy director general. In 2004, Oleg moved to a new international company, becoming director for Russian operations, building and developing the regional distribution network and supplies to leading Russian retailers. Since 2008 he has provided consultancy services to seven Russian importers to establish supply lines and maintain sourcing programmes.

Peter Li is director and co-founder of major Chinese grower-trader Hengfeng Fresh Produce. He joined the fresh fruit and vegetable industry in 1998 by chance; becoming a member of a joint venture group involved in exporting Chinese produce to the world. Before that, he was an English teacher at Qingdao University. Established in 2005, Hengfeng Fresh is one of the leading agriculture produce suppliers in China, specialising in processing fruit and vegetables. The company also has a rapidly expanding import business, sourcing citrus and table grapes, cherries, apples, berries, kiwifruit, stonefruit and mangoes. Hengfeng Fresh is currently looking to boost both its volume and range of products on offer, and already plans to start importing cherries and table grapes from Chile during China's winter months.

Eduardo Talavera has been the Peruvian agent for major importer Kolla Hamburg in Germany since 2009. He is in charge of the company's fresh produce shipments from Peru to the European market. He is also a partner in the agribusiness consultant company Agriconsult Peru, which puts him in touch with small producers through their commercial and technical services. Previously, Eduardo spent a decade working for the Peruvian government promoting agricultural products, firstly with the export promotion agency of Peru (Prompex) between 1999 and 2008, and then with the ministry of agriculture. Eduardo has a degree in economics from Universidad Agraria La Molina in Lima and has also taken courses in agribusiness, market research and investment projects at the ESAN University in Lima.

Addie Pobst has been the import coordinator for CF Fresh since 1998, working closely with South American producers of all sizes to develop successful organic programmes. Her work has given her an in-depth understanding of the many potential pitfalls in establishing viable organic export programmes, as well as a thorough knowledge of the US organic market. In her role as sustainability and integrity representative, she is also responsible for all aspects of organic certification, food safety verification, product traceability and import regulatory compliance, as well as the company's considerable conservation and sustainability efforts. CF Fresh is the largest marketer of organic apples and pears in North America and the leading importer of fresh organic produce from South America. The company is a highly regarded pioneer in the organic industry.

Paul Nicholls is the commercial director of Total Exotics. He joined the UK marketing department at Unifruco (later Capespan) in 1988. In his subsequent career in fresh produce he has worked within Geest and the Langmead group of companies, before joining Total Produce in his current role in 2010. Throughout his career Paul has worked with major UK and European multiple retailers, seeking to build strong relationships throughout the supply chain in order to deliver sustainable and profitable growth to all stakeholders. Passionate about service, partnership and innovation, Paul believes these fundamentals have never been more important than in today's challenging and competitive market environment.

Adolfo Storni is commercial director for Univeg Expofrut Argentina, a leading grower and exporter of fruit and vegetables from Argentina and a member of the Univeg Group.

Adolfo has 19 years experience in the fresh produce business, having worked for companies such as Arcor, Gatorade, Cargill and San Miguel.  He is also active in several fruit organisations such as Shaffe, Freshfel and the argentine citrus, deciduous and grapes exporters associations.  He has an economics degree and an MBA.

Alison Clafin is the chief commercial officer of Damco Latin America, the logistics arm of the AP Moller Maersk Group. Based in Panama, she has been leading the firm's commercial activities throughout the region since July 2009. Alison has been working for AP Moller Maersk since 2000 and in Latin America since 2008. She has held various management positions, including country manager of Argentina and Uruguay for Damco and line management roles within Maersk Line and Safmarine, covering the Far East, Middle East and Oceania trades for the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula and France.

Rodrigo Aliaga Silva is the commercial manager for PakSense South America. Rodrigo has more than two decades of experience in the produce industry and is based in Santiago, Chile. Most recently he has focused on cold chain management solutions for perishables. Prior to joining PakSense, Rodrigo worked as the general manager for Sensitech South America as well as European business development manager for David Del Curto. He has just received his MBA in international business from Harvard School of Business.

Mayda Sotomayor-Kirk is the CEO of Seald Sweet International. Originally from Havana, Cuba, her family moved to the US when she was just three years old. While studying law in college, Mayda took an entry-level sales position with a Florida-based importer and discovered her passion for the international fresh produce trade, working her way up to director of imports. In 2000 Mayda accepted the same position at Seald Sweet and was instrumental in developing the company's import programmes. She was Seald's first female senior vice-president in 2004 and three years later became the first female CEO in the company's 100-year history.

Natasha Solano is the global business development manager of perishables logistics at Kuehne + Nagel. Natasha started in the perishables industry at Martinair Cargo, with responsibility for developing perishables flows from Colombia, Ecuador and Central America. Subsequently she was international business development manager at Hellmann Perishables Logistics, focusing on the warehousing and distribution of seafreighted fruit in the Netherlands. After years in perishables logistics Natasha took up a new challenge, becoming a business development manager and researcher at NEA Research, working mainly on agro-logistics projects for the EU and the Dutch government. Prior to joining K+N, Natasha was managing the airfreight and seafreight sales teams in the Netherlands for the Japanese freight forwarder Yusen Logistics.

Nic Jooste is Cool Fresh International's marketing director. Originally from South Africa, Nic relocated to Europe in 1993. His involvement in the fresh produce industry has seen him successfully launch a number of fresh produce brands and concepts. He is also the creator of the Stars in their Eyes Foundation, a CSR project which is active in more than 100 disadvantaged communities. In keeping with Cool Fresh International's CSR Performance Ladder certification, Nic has lately been focusing on implementing CSR control systems at grower level in production countries. Cool Fresh International and its Peruvian joint venture partner Agrovictoria are currently constructing Alta Grazia, a packing and export facility which focuses strongly on the sustainability of emerging farmers in Ica, southern Peru.

Gabriel Burunat is the founder of Commercial Fruits, an importer of fruit and vegetables for sale in France and Europe. The company opened a 2,200m2 fridge last year and its most recent turnover was €25m. It specialises in avocados and a range of counter-seasonal fruit and vegetables including asparagus, cherries, dates, fresh figs and mangoes. Most of Commercial Fruits' produce comes from Peru, through which it delivers 300 containers a season. The company philosophy is to offer produce year-round and it imports from 14 countries in total. Gabriel has previously participated in many avocado-related international congresses.

Mark Linder is the US agriculture liaison for the Culinary Institute of America. Mark has dedicated more than 30 years to serving agriculture in the US. He was the first president of Agriculture in the Classroom, which he co-founded while with the California Farm Bureau, and provided leadership to the USDA in establishing the programme across the US. He is the co-founder of Food, Land & People, also serving as president. Mark is a co-founder and consultant to the America's Heartland television show which is aired weekly on more than 230 public television stations in the US. Mark has spent his career promoting rural-urban connections and forming strategic partnerships between the agricultural, culinary, educational, environmental and non-profit communities.

John Valentine is managing director of RED Communications. He has 25 years of retail and food marketing experience, including 12 years in senior marketing and buying roles at Tesco, five of which were in fresh produce. Founded in 1996, RED Communications works on behalf of trade associations, embassies, importers and retailers. It is a UK leader in the creation and implementation of marketing and PR campaigns for the fresh produce industry.

Lisset Graterol Caldera is head of biological control and biodiversity at Camposol. She is a food engineer who graduated from the Simon Rodriguez Experimental University of Venezuela. She has wide experience in the large-scale breeding of beneficial insects and integrated management programmes of plagues in agricultural crops. Lisset worked for ten years as head of production of the Biological Service in Venezuela, a company considered a pioneer in the mass production and trade of beneficial insects. She has also carried out research work in prestigious educational and private enterprises. For the past seven years she has been with Camposol,implementing and consolidating their programmes of integral management of plagues, with an emphasis on environmentally friendly alternatives.

José Antonio Gómez is the chief commercial officer of Camposol. He has over 15 years of experience in sales, marketing and distribution, with demonstrated results in areas such as P&L leadership, strategic new business development and supply chain management. José has broad international experience developing new markets and new products in countries such as Costa Rica, Germany, the Netherlands, Peru and the US, among others. Since 2002 he has held various important positions with Chiquita, most recently as general manager in Florida. He has a degree in business administration from Universidad de Lima and a master's from INCAE Business School in Costa Rica.

Fernando Cillóniz grew up on his parents' farm in Chincha, Peru, so his agricultural vocation is a family trademark. He became active in the Peruvian agricultural sector in 1993 when he was appointed general manager of Fundación Perú - a public-private institution involved in the promotion of the Peruvian agribusiness. In 1998, Fernando established Inform@cción where he developed an Internet-based information tool that records graphically the state of the agricultural sector in Peru. In addition to his work at Inform@cción, Fernando is head of the board of directors of Comisa, a sugar cane-ethanol project in northern Peru, and director of Agrícola Tambo Colorado, a table grape producer-exporter located in Ica.

Campbell Skinner is the carbon footprint manager at Footprints 4 Food. He has worked with fresh produce growers and suppliers from around the world, providing novel insight and advice on carbon emissions. His focus is to translate science into practical advice that growers and managers can use in their greenhouse gas reduction planning. Footprints 4 Food was formed to draw upon the world-class research of Bangor University in the field of environmental sustainability in food production. The company also has expertise in the emerging field of water footprinting, using the global standard methodology developed by the Water Footprint Network.