Consumer Products & Chemical
October 18-21, 2021 | Virtual
4 TRACKS | 4 DAYS
| 1000+ ATTENDEES
There is no cost to attend this event.
OCTOBER 10-11, 2023 CHICAGO, IL
Confirm My AttendanceJoin your quality, regulatory, legal, marketing, and IT peers from the consumer goods, food and beverage, cosmetics, speciality chemical, and crop science industries at this virtual event designed especially for you.
Former Senior Vice President, R&D, Petcare
Mars
Michel Oostwal recently retired after making tremendous contributions to Mars Petcare during his 12 years in senior R&D leadership positions. His tenure included the launch of the company's first Global Innovation Center in the United States, and leading product transformation and innovation across the pet food portfolio.
In his role at Mars Petcare, Michel provided strategic and operational leadership to R&D across quality and food safety, product, process and packaging innovation, renovation and productivity, sustainability, and regulatory and scientific affairs. As a member of the global Mars Petcare R&D leadership team, he also helped create and drive global R&D strategies, participated in the development of the innovation pipeline for the company's pet nutrition brands and oversaw the deployment of breakthrough science and technology in the region.
Prior to joining Mars, Michel served in senior R&D leadership roles at Unilever. He earned his PhD in physical chemistry from Leiden University and holds a masters degree from VU Amsterdam.
Chief R&D Officer Panel 9:30am - 10:30am
Rethinking R&D: Navigating the New Landscape of Consumer Product Innovation
Simultaneous forces are putting unprecedented pressure on today’s consumer products R&D organizations. From lingering impacts from the pandemic, to nimble, disruptive new market entrants, to talent and sustainability challenges, it’s clear R&D needs to evolve fast. R&D leaders need a renewed approach to consumer product innovation that will drive sustained competitive advantage. Join our panel of consumer product innovation leaders as they reveal how they are reconfiguring the R&D function to reestablish its position as a central pillar of their organization's business strategy. Engage with these experts as they delve into topics like talent strategies, ways of working, the role of AI, and how innovation should involve the end-to-end value chain.