Logistics of Food Waste and Loss Management
EVENT CO-CHAIRS
Hani S. Mahmassani - Patterson Transportation Chair / Director, NUTC
Bret Johnson - Senior Associate Director, NUTC / Director, CCITT
One-third of all food produced globally by weight is lost or wasted between the farm and the table. To address this critical issue the Northwestern University Transportation Centerducing and recovering food waste throughout food distribution systems. Our Managing Food Loss and Waste Workshop will include representatives from Alliance for Advanced Sanitation, CJ Logistics, Farmer’s Fridge, The Global Food Banking Network, Markon and Meijer, Inc.
ABOUT NUTC
The Northwestern University Transportation Center (NUTC) is one of the world’s leading interdisciplinary education and research institutions, serving industry, government and the public sectors. Founded in 1954 to generate substantive and enduring contributions for the better movement of materials, people, energy, and information, NUTC stands at the forefront of transportation research and education.
joint open exploration of transportation and supply chain operations. NUTC aims
technological developments with the goal of making transportation and supply chain
2:00 PM
2:10 PM
3:15 PM
3:45 PM
4:30 PM
Workshop Agenda
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2024
The Woman’s Club of Evanston, Evanston, IL
Welcome / Opening Remarks
Hani Mahmassani | Director | NUTC
Bret Johnson | Senior Associate Director | NUTC
Presentations
Nelia Alamo | Vice President of Marketing | Markon
Alex Antonucci | Vice President of Manufacturing | Farmer’s Fridge
Douglas O’Brien | Vice President of Network Programs | The Global FoodBanking Network
Erik A. Petrovskis | Director of Environmental Compliance and Sustainability | Meijer
Verlyn Suderman | Senior Vice President, General Counsel | CJ Logistics America
Priya Sundaram | Sr. Leader-Food Safety, Quality, Regulatory Affairs & Sustainability | Alliance for Advanced Sanitation
Networking Break
Panel Discussion
Moderator
Karen Smilowitz | James N. and Margie M. Krebs Professor in Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences | Northwestern
End of Program
Speaker Bios
Nelia Alamo
Vice President of Marketing Markon
Alex Antonucci
Vice President of Manufacturing Farmer’s Fridge
Bret Johnson
Senior Associate Director, Transportation Center
Northwestern University
Hani S. Mahmassani
William A. Patterson Distinguished Chair in Transportation Director, Transportation Center
Northwestern University
Douglas O’Brien
Vice President of Network Programs
The Global FoodBanking Network
Erik Petrovskis
Director of Environmental Compliance and Sustainability Meijer
Karen Smilowitz
James N. and Margie M. Krebs Professor in Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences
Northwestern University THANK YOU
NELIA ALAMO
Vice President of Marketing Markon
Nelia Alamo, vice president of marketing Markon, is an accomplished sales, marketing, and communications professional with over 25 years of experience in the produce industry. Her career includes 8 years at Renaissance Food Group/Calavo Growers most recently as VP of Communication, as well as 18 years at Gills Onions holding a variety of roles. Nelia is an active industry volunteer, having served on several IFPA (International Fresh Cut Produce Association) committees, as well as served on their board of directors 2004-2006. She was on the United Fresh Board of Directors from 2006 – 2010. A proud member of the PMA Women’s Fresh Perspectives steering committee from 2011-2013, Nelia helped with the ideation and development of the Women’s Fresh Perspective Conference. She has also served on the United Fresh Marketing and Merchandising council, the Center for Growing Talent board of directors and currently serves as co-chair on IFPA Global Show Committee and serves on the LGMA Marketing Committee. A graduate of California Polytechnic State University with a Bachelor of Science in Crop Science, she has served on the Cal Poly Alumni board of directors representing the College of Agriculture Food and Environmental Sciences and is the current chairperson Cal Poly Agribusiness Advisory Council where she has served since 2018.
ALEX ANTONUCCI
Vice President of Manufacturing Farmer’s Fridge
at Farmer’s Fridge. Prior to joining Farmer’s Fridge, he spent nearly eight years at HelloFresh in multiple roles across the supply chain, most recently as the Senior Director of Ingredient Quality. Alex started his career at GE working in their locomotive business in various supply chain functions. He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Youngstown State University and a master’s degree in Supply Chain Management from Penn State University.
BRET JOHNSON
Sr. Associate Director
Northwestern University Transportation Center
Bret Johnson is the senior associate director of the Northwestern University Transportation Center (NUTC), and the director of the Center for the Commercialization of Innovative Transportation Technology at Northwestern. Prior to joining Northwestern, Bret held senior engineering and project management positions at 3COM, Grayhill, Northrop-Grumman, and GE Astrospace. He received an M.A. in Science, Technology and Public Policy
from The George Washington University, an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
HANI MAHMASSANI
William A. Patterson Distinguished Chair in Transportation Director, Northwestern University Transportation Center
Hani S. Mahmassani is Director of the Transportation Center, and the William A. Patterson Distinguished Professor in Transportation at Northwestern University, which he joined on September 1, 2007, with joint appointments in the McCormick School of Engineering and the Kellogg School of Management. He previously served in endowed faculty positions at the University of Maryland and at the University of Texas at Austin. Mahmassani has over 35 years of experience as a researcher, scholar and professional in the transportation and logistics area.
Mahmassani is recognized nationally and internationally for a broad array of transportation research achievements; his applications span both passenger and freight, and he has been especially effective at connecting advanced models to emerging policy issues. He has pioneered the use of novel data sources and real-time data streams in transportation modeling and decision-making, including sensor data from intelligent transportation systems deployments, probe data from GPS and smartphones, transaction records from payment systems, and vehicle-based tracking systems. His current research is focused on autonomous vehicle deployment, including
DOUGLAS O’BRIEN
Vice President of Network Programs
The Global FoodBanking Network
Doug O’Brien is a recognized leader in global hunger and food banking and has more than 30 years of experience in hunger relief and food assistance policy. As Vice President of Network Programs, he leads GFN’s programmatic work that provides the tools and expertise to help food banks grow and operate at scale. Doug served on the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, and held senior leadership positions at Feeding America, Feed the Children, and the Vermont Foodbank. Before guiding corporations, foundations, food banks, and other NGOs in humanitarian assistance and global food assistance strategies.
ERIK PETROVSKIS
Director of Environmental Compliance and Sustainability
Meijer
Erik Petrovskis is Director of Environmental Compliance and Sustainability
at Meijer. Erik has more than 20 years of experience as an environmental consultant. At Meijer, Erik is responsible for due diligence, remediation, compliance, and environmental sustainability, focused on reducing carbon emissions, food waste, and plastic waste. He leads construction and post-construction stormwater compliance and implementation of green infrastructure. Erik is also a member of the Erb Michigan Business Sustainability Roundtable. He holds a PhD in environmental engineering from The University of Michigan and is a licensed Professional Engineer.
KAREN SMILOWITZ
James N. and Margie M. Krebs Professor in Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences Northwestern University
Dr. Karen Smilowitz is the James N. and Margie M. Krebs Professor in Industrial Engineering and Management Science at Northwestern University and a professor of Operations at the Kellogg School of Management. Dr. Smilowitz is an expert in modeling and solution approaches for logistics
She has been instrumental in promoting the use of operations research
Wilson International Center for Scholars, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Engineering, as well as various media outlets. Dr. Smilowitz is the Editor-in-Chief of Transportation Science and a Fellow of the INFORMS society.
VERLYN SUDERMAN
CJ Logistics America, LLC
Verlyn Suderman is Senior Vice President, General Counsel. Verlyn leads the Legal function, providing senior leadership with guidance in corporate governance, litigation, real estate, employee relations, customer partnership, and regulatory compliance. He is directly involved in negotiating and executing key customer contracts and agreements and manages the work of outside counsel and internal staff. Verlyn serves as a key member of the Executive Team and acts as Corporate Secretary. In addition to these responsibilities, he helps lead the continued advancement of our participation in the cold chain logistics space.
Verlyn joined the company in 1997 as Staff Counsel, and over the years, was promoted to Senior Counsel, Director & Assistant General Counsel,
General Counsel in 2007. Verlyn has been a key leader in formative years of growth, overseeing negotiations of major new contracts and strategic contract renewals. Leaving the company in 2016 to pursue other opportunities, he returned in 2020 in a Strategic Partnerships role, directly leading major customer relationships and our exploration and entry into cold
chain logistics.
Before his return to CJ Logistics America, Verlyn held the position Of Counsel at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, with a general corpo-
has a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School, a Juris Doctorate (JD) from DePaul University College of Law, and an MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management.
PRIYA SUNDARAM
Sr. Leader-Food Safety, Quality, Regulatory Affairs & Sustainability Alliance for Advanced Sanitation
Dr. Priya Sundaram is an unapologetic science geek and food enthusiast passionate about mentoring the next generation of industry professionals. She has over 25 years’ experience working in quality, food safety, regulatory compliance and sustainability small roles in the food industry spanning a range of organizations including Kraft, Aryzta, Danone, and Richelieu Foods. She has worked with a wide range of product categories including Meat, Dairy, Ingredients, RTE salads, Meals, etc.
Priya specializes in bringing innovative science-based solutions to support decision making food safety and quality systems. She obtained her Ph.D. in Microbiology and human nutrition at the Iowa state university, and master’s degree in biotechnology from university of Hyderabad in India.
A lifelong student of the human experience- Priya brings us her learnings from working with small to medium companies in the intersecting areas of food safety, food quality, and food waste.
