Fred van Aken, Managing Partner at Conceptional and based in The Netherlands, is a seasoned foodservice executive, with more than 20 years of international industry experience.

Jess Allerton joined The Moodie Davitt Report in 2022 as our Research Director. For the previous two years she managed a team of data scientists for UK supermarket group Morrisons, providing insight for the Supply Chain department. Allerton has also held research and category management roles with fellow retailers Asda and Marks & Spencer, providing data and insight to drive category strategy.

Bastiaan van Asten is the Senior Vice President Commercial Foodservice for Avolta EMEA, bringing 30 years of food & beverage experience within the airport industry.

Pragma is the leading commercial advisor for investors and operators in mixed-use, airports and travel retail. Pragma creates commercial strategies and practical advice for decision makers based on insightful analytics, robust modelling, global experience and new thinking. The core proposition is turning data-driven strategic insights into successful commercial plans.

Raised by a single mom, Carlos Bernal emigrated to the USA from Cuba at the age of three. He believes diversity and inclusivity enrich a company and are critical to its success.

David Bisset is a New Zealand national with over 20 years’ travel retail experience across the Pacific, Asia and Middle East.

Bisset has worked with Lagardère Travel Retail since 2011, holding multiple roles including Executive General Manager Pacific, Chief Executive Officer Saudi Arabia and Chief Development Officer North America.

Zenola Campbell is the Vice President of Concessions at Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport. In this role, Campbell develops strategies that focus on maximising revenues in passenger-related concessions, advertising, rental cars, sponsorships and related revenues within the airport terminals, including passenger services enhancements and telecommunications.

John Clarke is the Business Development Director for Bob Marley’s One Love, with over 30 years of brand-development experience.

Clarke worked for WPP (Enterprise IG) developing new brands, as well as other brand agencies, before joining The Design Solution in 2012 to work on major airport and retail projects around the world.

Sherree Coker is a seasoned expert in human resources and has a richly diverse background that spans every facet of this complex field.

At SSP America, Coker spearheads the development of a robust talent pipeline crucial to upholding SSP America’s customer service excellence and ambitious growth targets. She also plays a pivotal role in nurturing SSP America’s vibrant culture, fostering a dynamic environment where food travel experts thrive with passion and camaraderie.

Ian Dear is the Founder and current Chairman and CEO of Margaritaville Caribbean Group (MCG). MCG is an industry-leading hospitality company with two subsidiaries publicly traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Under Dear’s leadership the company portfolio has expanded to include a diverse range of hospitality concepts in 53 locations throughout the Caribbean.

Dermot Davitt is one of the most experienced editors and commentators working in the travel retail media. He joined what was then The Moodie Report in April 2006 as Deputy Publisher, becoming a shareholder and President in August 2015.

Gaurav Dewan is a seasoned business leader with over 20 years of expertise in managing large-scale operations, crafting innovative marketing strategies and driving bottom-line growth. With a flair for sales and operational leadership, Dewan has successfully led cross-border teams to explosive growth, leveraging his strong consumer insights to drive revenue and market share.

Atif Elkadi has more than 17 years of extensive senior-level experience in all aspects of airport operations, strategic marketing, social media, brand management, public relations, marketing, advertising and strategic communications.

Laura E. FitzRandolph is Chief People and Culture Officer, North America, of Avolta, a leading global travel experience player. FitzRandolph was promoted to this role in 2023 following the business combination between Dufry and Autogrill, parent companies of Hudson and HMSHost, respectively. In this role, FitzRandolph oversees people and culture for Avolta across the region.

Grant Fleming is the Vice President of Food & Beverage at Qatar Duty Free (QDF), the award-winning retail operator at Qatar’s state-of-the-art Hamad International Airport (DOH) – voted World’s Best Airport and World’s Best Airport Shopping 2024 by SKYTRAX. Fleming spearheads the operations and strategic initiatives to elevate culinary experiences for more than 40 million passengers per year.

Tom Fricke is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience leading transformational change at businesses in the consumer products and retail sectors. He most recently stepped into the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors for OTG, where he’s spearheading the airport hospitality group’s long-term growth and stability initiatives following its acquisition by a private investor consortium led by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. and Centerbridge Partners, L.P.

Elisa Grey has over 24 years of experience in business attraction and retention, and project management of commercial development projects within the Inland Empire as an economic development professional.

Liz Grzechowiak is Senior Director, Brands and Concepts for Delaware North, a global hospitality service company operating in airports and travel hubs around the world. It manages more than 200 brands in over 300 restaurants and retail stores in addition to sports stadiums, national parks, gaming venues as well as the Patina Restaurant Group.

Mélanie Guilldou has been leading Lagardère’s Travel Retail Foodservice business line – one of the Group’s three business lines along with Duty Free and Travel Essentials – since May 2016. Lagardère Travel Retail is a leading global company present in 42 countries, 290 airports and 700 railway/metro stations, achieving sales of €6.6 billion in 2023.

In his role as Senior Vice President of Global Business Development at Airport Dimensions, Chris Gwilliam is responsible for continually strengthening the company’s competitive position and identifying strategic partnerships that support revenue growth and network expansion.

Belinda Jain is responsible for generating and managing JFKIAT’s Terminal 4 non-aviation revenues, working with her team and business partners to develop world-class retail, food & beverage and passenger service concepts featuring a distinctive “New York sense of place”. Jain is also responsible for developing brand and CX strategies, building marketing initiatives and fostering a culture of innovation.

In his role as London Luton Airport (LLA) Head of Retail & Surface Access, Mark Jennings leads on strategy development to maximise passenger experience and revenue across the airport’s evolving range of retail concessions. He also leads the development of LLA’s ambitious sustainable surface access strategy.

Liberatha Kallat, Founder of DreamFolks, has been instrumental in driving the company from its inception to its current position as a leading player in the Indian airport services aggregation industry.

Bram Kreté is Business Manager Food & Beverage at Royal Schiphol Group. Based in the Netherlands, Kreté is responsible for F&B Portfolio Strategy and Innovation, Concession Management and thus Passenger F&B Experience.

Fi Logan-Wyeth is SSP’s Marketing Director for the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands as well as Managing Director for Ireland.

Christopher McNamee leads the charge to grow the airport food & beverage division of New Jersey-based Villa Restaurant Group. Acting as Director of Business Development, McNamee has inked deals for more than three dozen airport restaurants over the past eight years, adding nine times worth of sales to the division.

Bringing over three decades of expertise in the food & beverage industry, Suzanne Merrell joined Toronto Pearson International Airport in 2011 with a vision to revolutionise the airport dining scene. Her leadership aims to mirror Toronto’s rich culinary diversity and excellence within the airport’s restaurant offerings by examining industry trends and future innovations.

Martin Moodie created The Moodie Davitt Report (then called The Moodie Report) in 2002, driving it to prominence from a start-up to the leading provider of business intelligence for the travel retail and airport commercial revenue sectors. He also conceived The Trinity Forum and the Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference & Awards.

Reoewein Niesten is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Conceptional. He learned his trade at renowned international food & beverage companies and gradually developed his own view on branding and concept development.

Pravat Paikray is Vice President, Commercial at Bangalore International Airport, serves as a Board of Director at Dufry Retail India and is Head of Bengaluru Airport Services.

Gregg Paradies is President and CEO of Paradies Lagardère, a leading airport travel retailer and restaurateur in North America with more than 700 stores and restaurants in over 90 airports.

Sammy Patel is Vice President of Commercial for Vantage Airport Group and Chief Executive Officer of Midway Partnership. He is also a member of the company’s executive team.

A life-long food & beverage enthusiast, Greg Plummer spent over 12 years working for CMS Hospitality, a premier ACDBE concessionaire. Here, Plummer honed his skills and developed the acumen and experience that would lay the foundation of the work he does today.

Donata Russell Ross serves as the CEO of Concessions International, LLC, a national food & beverage operator. Founded in 1979, Concessions International specialises in airport food & beverage concession operations and currently operates and manages concession facilities in eight major airports across the nation.

Mark J. Schwartz founded Palladin to acquire and actively manage corporations in the consumer products sector. He has taken on various roles in the companies in which he has invested or advised, including CEO, Chairman and active board member.

David Mackay has 31 years of development and operational experience, working for various leading international food & beverage and retail organisations, mostly in travel retail at international airports across the globe. Mackay leads the Southeast Asia business unit within the APAC region at Avolta.

With more than 20 years’ experience in strategic planning, brand management, product management and consumer marketing across luxury, B2B and FMCG, Sossina Shenkute’s career has taken her from North America to Europe and Asia. Through these experiences, together with her African heritage, she has garnered a passion for understanding consumers and has learned to see them through a kaleidoscope of market dynamics, value systems and cultures.

As Plaza Premium Group’s Director of Global Brand and Transformation, Mei Mei Song has been instrumental in driving strategic direction and transforming experiences for the company, which was founded by her father Song Hoi-see in 1998. Her focus has been on creating innovative guest experiences, while establishing key brand partnerships and initiatives addressing traveller pain points. She lives and breathes the Group mission of ‘making travel better, together’, and crafts the brand portfolio to uphold its core value above all else.

Elena Sorlini has over 20 years of aviation industry experience and currently holds the position of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports.

Michael Svagdis has been a CEO for 21 years, leading three successful organisational transformations. Svagdis credits his success as a transformational leader to linear, long-term, big-picture thinking and passion for the details

Andrew Weddig is an airport concessions industry thought leader with more than 25 years’ experience planning, developing and managing airport dining and shopping programmes at more than 40 North American airports.

Deanna Zachrisson, C.M. currently serves as Director, Revenue Generation & Partnership Development at San Diego International Airport (SAN). This year marks her 24th year in the aviation commercial business arena.