Program
The Hort Connections 2024 Program is now finalised!
The Hort Connections 2024 Program is now finalised! We are excited to bring you what should be the largest and diverse group of speakers and events to date.
Farm and Retail Tours
Farm Tours, and Retail Tour are not included within the All-Access Pass and is to be booked separately.
Retail Tour: 8:00 – 12:15
Werribee Farm Tour: 6:45 - 16:00
Epping Market & Yarra Valley Farm Tour - Sponsored by Entegra Signature Structures: 5:00 - 15:00
Mornington Peninsula Farm Tour: 6:45 - 14:45
Perfection Fresh Breakfast
08:00 - 08:10:
Welcome to Country
08:20 - 09:00:
Keynote Speaker: Doing Business Differently: Lucy Bloom - Former Chief Executive Officer, Sunrise Cambodia and Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia
Trade Show Speaker Sessions
Cultivation Corner
09:30 - 09:50:
Session 1: Growing Australian Horticulture Exports: Penny Measham - Director of Tropical Fruit and Market Access, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries
09:50 - 10:10:
Session 2: The Future of Agriculture - Microbiomes as Drivers of Soil and Plant Health: Dr Neil Wilson - Director of Research, Metagen Pty Ltd
10:10 - 10:30:
Session 3: Agritech Now: Navigating the Current Landscape Panel
Panellists:
•Eitan Dan - Managing Director, CropX
•Fiona Turner - Co-Founder and CEO, Food Safety & Response, Bitwise Ag
•John Ridley - Managing Director, Converte
Host: Tyson Hackwood - Agritech Ecosystem Partnerships, Pairtree Intelligence
10:30 - 11:10:
Session 4: Securing Consumer Confidence while Assuring Fresh Produce Food Safety Panel
Panellists:
•Andrew Redman - Chief Technical & Sustainability Officer, Perfection Fresh Group
•Nora Galway - Director, Food Safety & Response, Food Standards Australia New Zealand
•Tristan Kitchener - Director, HARPS
Host: Farzana Adams - CEO, FPSC-ANZ
11:10 - 11:50:
Session 5: Brands Influence on Produce Premiums and Consumption Panel
Panellists:
•Belinda Van Schaik - Head of Customer Marketing, Hort Innovation
•Elisa Siliato - National Marketing and Innovation Manager, Costa Group - Mushroom and Tomatoes
•Matthew Palise - Director, Red Rich Fruit (NSW)
•Nick Hotchin - National Marketing Manager, Fresh Markets Australia
Host: Matthew Crouch - Co-Founder/Creative Director, Soto Group
11:50 - 12:10:
Session 6: Cultivating Leadership Excellence in Horticulture: Georgia Stormont - Sales & High Performing Teams Coach, Curious Georgia Coaching
12:10 - 12:30:
Session 7: World Vegetable Map 2024 - Global Trends and Vegetable Trade Flows: Pia Piggott - RaboResearch Associate Analyst, Rabobank
13:30 - 13:50:
Session 8: Levelling Up Vegetable and Onion Business Performance: Paul Omodei - Director and Consultant, Planfarm
13:50 - 14:10:
Session 9: Advanced Gas Phase Food Safety and Shelf-Life Extension, Development and Case Studies: Andrew Inglis - Director, Cellysis Pty Ltd
14:10 - 14:30:
Session 10: Fingerlimes, An Emerging Industry That by Providence, Australia Should Lead: Jade King - Director & Owner, Green Valley Fingerlimes
14:30 - 14:50:
Session 11: Australia's Fresh Produce Markets - The Vital Link: Shane Schnitzler - Chair, Fresh Markets Australia
14:50 - 15:30:
Session 12: How Technology is Changing the Fresh Produce Industry Panel
Panellists:
•Luke Gibson - Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer, Perfection Fresh Group
•Dr Steven Scheding - Co-Founder, Green Atlas
•Sebastian Stoof - Vice President – Head of Customer Value, TOMRA Food
Host: Jesse Reader - Head of Investment Growth and Commercial, Hort Innovation
15:30 - 15:50:
Session 13: Global Sustainable Packaging Case Studies: Paving the Way Forward
Case Studies:
•Campbell Banfield - Divisional Manager - Grape Marketing, Costa Group
•Dean Parsons - Sustainability Programmes Manager, CHEP Australia
Host: Tamara Muruetagoiena - Vice President of Sustainability, International Fresh Produce Association
15:50 - 16:10:
Session 14: How to Control & Handle Potatoes After Harvesting in an Efficient Way: Maarten van Delden - Sales Development, Tolsma Australia
16:10 - 16:30:
Session 15: From Compliance to Value Added - Saving Growers Money to Making Growers Money: Callum McCluskey - Head of Sales, AgriSmart
16:30 - 16:50:
Session 16: The Medical Cannabis Size of Opportunity for New Australian Cannabis Cultivators: Stephen Katz - CEO, Standard Botanic
Trade Show Speaker Sessions
Plant Pavilion
09:30 - 09:50:
Session 1: TBC
09:50 - 10:10:
Session 2: TBC
10:10 - 10:50:
Session 3: Tech and Innovation Showcase, sponsored by UPL:
10:50 - 11:10:
Session 4: Empowering Consumer Capital in Agriculture - Sharing the Risk, Sharing the Reward, Sharing the Stories: Nathan MacPhee - Founder, IIF (Invest Inya Farmer)
11:10 - 11:30:
Session 5: Partnering to Develop a National Strategy and Program to Grow Vegetable Consumption: Justine Coates - Managing Director, Fruit & Vegetable Consortium
11:30 - 12:10:
Session 6: Seeka Marketer of the Year Award, produced by IFPA and Produce Plus: Finalist Showcase
12:10 - 12:30:
Session 7: Leveraging Innovation Through a Sustainability Lens for Long-Term Grower Benefit: Andrew Muir - Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Muirs
13:30 - 13:50:
Session 8: Mind the Gap! What's Next in Food Safety Panel
Panellists:
•Jane Siebum - Chief Executive Officer, Freshcare
•Dr Sukhvinder Pal Singh - Senior Research Scientist & Institute Director, NSW Department of Primary Industries
•Terry O’ Leary - Owner, Paramagh Farming
13:50 - 14:10:
Session 9: Ending Food Waste for People, the Planet and Industry Profitability: Melissa Smith – Horticulture Lead and Technical Account Manager, End Food Waste Australia
14:10 - 14:30:
Session 10: Future Drought Fund: Tim Sides – Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
14:30 - 14:50:
Session 11: Facial Recognition in Horticulture - Why It Helps to Know Who's Who on your Farm: Henrietta Child – CEO, Agricultural Picking Technology (AgPick)
14:50 - 15:10:
Session 12: Filling Labour Gaps in Rural and Regional Australia – The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme: Jason Stott – First Assistant Secretary - Pacific Labour Operations, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
15:10 - 15:30:
Session 13: Achieving Sustainable Horticulture in WA: A Food Systems Perspective: Dr Peter Batt – Honorary Research Fellow, UWA
15:30 - 15:50:
Session 14: Harnessing the Power your Produce Provides: Reeanjou Ram – CEO, iTrazo Tracetech
Corteva Young Grower Event
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion / Women in Horticulture Speaker Sessions
12:00 - 12:30:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: TBC: Debbie Lee - National Womens and Action Plan Lead, Australian Football League
12:30 - 13:30: Lunch
13:40 - 14:50:
Women in Horticulture: TBC: Brooke Hanson OLY OAM - Chief Motivation Officer, Lane 6 Australia Pty Ltd
Lunch
Plenary Sessions
Sponsored by
08:40 - 08:50:
Brett Fifield - CEO, Hort Innovation
09:00 - 09:30:
Session 1: TBC: Su McCluskey - Special Representative for Australian Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
09:30 - 10:00:
Session 2: State of the Industry Panel
Panellists:
•Andrew Tout - Head of Agriculture/Chair, Centuria Capital Group/Protected Cropping Australia
•Emma Herd - Partner Climate Change & Sustainability & Co-Leader of the EY Net Zero Centre, Ernst & Young
•John Said - CEO/Executive Chairman, Fresh Select (Aust)/Nutri V
Host: Ben Hoodless - Managing Director A-NZ, International Fresh Produce Association
10:30 - 10:40:
Session 3: Politician Speech - TBC
10:40 - 10:50:
Session 4: Plenary Session Awards
10:50 - 11:20:
Session 5: Rebalancing the Supplier – Retailer Relationship: Dr Craig Emerson - Independent Reviewer, Food and Grocery Code of Conduct
11:20 - 11:50:
Session 6: Business Models for Long Term Commercial Horticulture Viability: David Williams - Chairman - PolyNovo Limited, RMA Global Limited and Inoviq Limited
11:50 - 12:20:
Session 7: Sustainability in Fresh Produce – A Global Perspective: Tamara Muruetagoiena - Vice President of Sustainability, International Fresh Produce Association
Morning Tea
Supply Chain and Consumers Stream
13:20 - 13:40:
Session 1: Improving Consumer Experience Through Orchard and Postharvest Management of Apricots:
Dr Jill Stanley - Science Group Leader - Fruit Crops Physiology, Plant & Food Research
13:40 - 14:00:
Session 2: Cultivating Safety through the Horticulture Food Safety Initiative in Australia and New Zealand:
Susannah Roelofsz - Technical Officer, Fresh Produce Safety Centre
14:00 - 14:20:
Session 3: How Suppliers can Eliminate Waste and Emissions in your Produce Supply Chain:
Dean Parsons - Sustainability Programmes Manager, CHEP Australia
14:20 - 14:40:
Session 4: Safety, The Hardest Thing to Grow: Learnings from the Fresh Produce Safety Network Panel
Panellists:
•Catherine Velisha - Director, Velisha Farms
•James Parry - Technical Manager, Fragapane Farms
•Katelyn Isles - General Manager People and Safety, Bulmer Farms
•Neil Salvador - Director/Lawyer, NS8 Lawyers and Advisors
Host: Dr Sarah Oxford - Senior Researcher, Institute for Safety, Compensation and Recovery Research at Monash University
14:40 - 15:00:
Session 5: Transforming Horticulture - Carbon Management and Reporting:
Francois Visser - Founder/Managing Director, Carbon Friendly
Growing and Farming Stream
13:00 - 13:20:
Session 1: TBC:
13:20 - 13:40:
Session 2: Enabling a Viable Table Grape Industry in Northern Australia by Genetic and Physiology:
Dr Michael Considine - Principal Research Fellow, University of Western Australia
13:40 - 14:00:
Session 3: Has Australia Reached the Crest of its Export Potential:
Wayne Prowse - Principal and Senior Analyst, Fresh Intelligence Consulting
14:00 - 14:20:
Session 4: More Fruits and Veg on the Plate - An Evidence Based Approach:
Dr Cathy Wilkinson - Chief Executive Officer, Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation
14:20 - 14:40:
Session 5: The Evolution of Health-Conscious Eating:
Maya Shehayeb - General Manager - Australasia, Euromonitor International
14:40 - 15:00:
Session 6: Carbon Farming 101:
Clinton Muller - Senior Consultant, RMCG
