Mike Knowles is editor of Eurofruit, the leading magazine for fresh produce buyers in Europe, and editor of Fruitnet.com, the global fresh produce news website. Since joining Market Intelligence as news editor nine years ago after stints with The Times and Haymarket Media Group, Mike has built up an in-depth knowledge of the European fresh produce sector, visiting markets across Europe and the Middle East as well as producers and suppliers in Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region. During the past few years, Mike has spoken at a number of industry conferences including FRESH, Eurofruit Congress Middle East, Eurofruit Congress Southern Hemisphere, Freshconex Congress, ICOP, IFTA Conference and the WUWM Congress.

Lindi Benić is manager for trade and market access affairs at the South African Apple & Pear Producers' Association (SAAPPA) and the South African Stone Fruit Producers' Association (SASPA) - both represented by Hortgro - as well as the South African Table Grape Industry (SATI). With almost three decades' experience in the horticulture industry, she has in-depth knowledge of local and international developments that helps her play a key role assisting small industries, including minor crop fruit sectors and the associations established under Hortgro. Lindi is a supporter of efforts towards the global harmonisation relating to GAP, traceability, MRL and other social and environmental issues.

Stuart Symington is CEO of the Perishable Products Export Control Board. Before joining this public entity, which is responsible for quality assuring all of South Africa's perishable agricultural exports, he was CEO of the Fresh Produce Exporters' Forum, managing the collective interests of around 70 member exporters - from the farm right up to the customers' door overseas. Stuart has sat on a number of boards and is the incumbent chairman of the Post-Harvest Innovation Programme, which strives to make the South African industry more competitive internationally. Much of his time is spent promoting good industry relations at home among producers and exporters, and abroad between South African suppliers and international buyers.

Nazlie du Toit is CEO of the Waitrose Foundation. After graduating from university, Nazlie worked for the social development department of the Western Cape provincial government, becoming a senior manager responsible for funding and capacity building to NGOs to meet the changing needs of the social services and development sector. At Parmalat South Africa she specialised in corporate social investment, joining the Waitrose Foundation at the beginning of August this year.

Parth Karvat is leading Yupaa Group's latest venture, Yupaa Valley, which is a packhouse for Indian fresh fruit. The son of the group's owners, Parth joined the business in 2009 after graduating in commerce, specialising in business management, and completing a post-graduate degree in family business management. He is actively involved in the management of its import arm, Yupaa International, and its growing division, Parth Farms.

Dorcus Molomo is human resources manager for Westfalia Group. She is responsible for co-ordinating the group's socio-economic programmes. Dorcus is also on the board of the Waitrose Foundation in South Africa, working on programmes connected to Waitrose, the Waitrose Foundation and the Albert Heijn Foundation.

Alejandro Lucas is country manager of San Miguel Fruit South Africa, a subsidiary of San Miguel Argentina. Alejandro joined San Miguel Argentina in 2001, becoming country manager of the new operation in South Africa in 2009. San Miguel is a vertically integrated company with citrus plantations in Tucuman province and also in Uruguay and South Africa. Across the three areas, the group has a planted area of 7,800ha. Its fruit is destined for the fresh market and also for processing into juices, oils and other by-products.

Kobus Pienaar heads up the direct farm programme for Walmart-Massmart in Africa. Joining Massmart in November last year, he has established fresh produce within the Massmart divisions and is now focused on providing support for small-scale farmers. His objective is to help small and medium-sized farmers expand their business, get more income for their products and reduce the environmental impact of farming.

Matthew Stych is research director at Planet Retail. Based in London, he is responsible for driving new areas of research in food and non-food retailing. Matthew has spoken at a number of supplier, retailer and trade events - including the National Retail Federation's BIG Show and Reuters' Consumer and Retail Summit - and been featured in print and broadcast media. He has spent ten years researching and analysing retail trends in eveloped and emerging markets.

Charles Hughes is managing director of Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing. Born in Zambia, he worked as a sales representative for various companies between 1972 and 1981, before taking up a series of marketing positions between 1982 and 1989. The following year Charles became group marketing manager of the Two-a-Day Group, rising to managing director in 1995. He moved to Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing in 2001.

Danie Schoeman is managing director of FPT Group. With extensive experience in supply chain logistics, he has developed and implemented supply chain strategies and solutions for blue-chip companies in the automotive, consumer goods, healthcare, industrial and retail sectors, working in Africa, the Middle East and Western Europe, and holding positions including business manager at DNA Jumpoint, business development manager at Tibbett & Britten and supply chain management executive at Barloworld Logistics. Before joining FPT Group, Danie was Crossroads Distribution's customer solutions and client acquisitions executive. He has also completed the Executive Programme in Competition and Strategy at Harvard Business School.

Johan Dique is group managing director of Capespan. The fruit division comprises subsidiaries strategically placed in the markets with a global footprint, servicing the fresh fruit needs of retailers, wholesalers and foodservice companies mainly in the Northern Hemisphere. Capespan procures fruit from 40 countries and services markets in more than 30 countries all year round. Johan made his reputation turning around distressed companies, particularly in the agri-business sector. Before joining Capespan, he spent nine years at Senwes Ltd.

Andre Jooste is senior manager of the Markets and Economic Research Center at South Africa's National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC). He has extensive experience in conducting market, policy, rural and industry analysis, including implementing management information systems, identifying and using applicable market research methodologies, compiling industry wide strategies, and conducting surveys and value chain analysis.  He also specialises in international trade issues and their implications from country and firm points of view. A graduate of - and then lecturer at - the University of Pretoria, Andre completed his PhD at the University of the Free State in 2001, becoming an associate professor in 2003. He chaired the institution's Department of Agricultural Economics from 2004 to 2006, joining the NAMC the following year.

Speaker profile coming soon.

Shelly Fuller is project manager of Confronting Climate Change, a South African fruit and wine industry initiative. Coming from a conservation ecology and horticulture background, she is passionate about finding the most sustainable manner of living off the land while protecting it for future generations. Shelly is an independent consultant whose work includes land restoration, sustainable farming practices, carbon footprint assessments and climate change strategy developments for private-sector clients and industry-funded initiatives. She spends the majority of her time on Confronting Climate Change at technical and managerial levels.

Colleen Chennells is the national ethical trade co-ordinator for Fruit South Africa. She was appointed in 2008 to steer its programme towards internationally recognised South African labour and social standards and audit processes which allow suppliers of fruit to all markets to provide buyers with the necessary assurances of ethical practices by means of a single audit. Colleen is currently helping develop an umbrella body, the Sustainability Initiative of South Africa (SIZA), under the auspices of Fruit South Africa, which will be responsible for driving the ethical programme. SIZA aims to support sustainable improvement on all farms to the benefit of employees, businesses and the industry as a whole. As national co-ordinator, Colleen liaises with stakeholders across the supply chain to ensure there is national and international buy-in to the programme.

Matthew Bates is export manager for Delica Global (South Africa), which is Delica's newest business. He joined the company in Melbourne, Australia, early in 2009 after a decade working in the specialised area of perishable airfreight and logistics, with Delica as one of his clients. Matthew moved to South Africa in late 2011 to establish and develop Delica's South African operation. Back in 2007, Turners & Growers purchased a 70 per cent shareholding in Delica, which opened up the supply lines to progress and market items like Enza apples with key branded varieties such as Jazz and Envy, as well as Enza kiwifruit (Gold, Green and Red). Delica's core focus is on Asian markets, around which the business has been built since 1994.

Bert Wilschut is product manager for topfruit at The Greenery. Bert joined The Greenery in 2002 as open-field product manager, joining the topfruit team in 2007. He is responsible for the worldwide roll-out of club varieties of pears and various local projects. He is worldwide project manager for Sweet Sensation, with responsibility for the collaboration between licensees and other involved parties. Bert is also a member of the Global Food Platform Foundation and a regular speaker at topfruit conferences around the world.

Michael Roos is founder of Roos, a complete service provider for the fresh produce industry. The Germany-based business has national and international clients from all the way along the supply chain. Working in co-operation with Rewe Dortmund, this year he published German's first fruit and vegetable consumer magazine. Between 1995 and 2010 Michael was a partner at Böhr & Roos, a communication agency specialising in the food sector.

Jacques Du Preez is Hortgro's product manager for South African pome and stonefruit. Hortgro is a horticultural knowledge group providing an umbrella communication platform for a number of South African horticultural sectors. It co-ordinates many activities to ensure a unified focus on markets, production and a range of cross-cutting industry functions, such as land reform, training and communication.