Claire is an experienced public affairs, policy and communications professional, working as the Head of Campaigns, Policy and Research for The Vegan Society in the United Kingdom in order to accelerate the vegan movement and achieve its strategic goals. She has been in this role for two and a half year, prior to this role she worked in a political and comms consultancy for nearly five years where she provided strategic advice, stakeholder engagement, project management and analysis of politics and media to a number of corporate clients, specialising in the health, FMCG, charity and tech sectors.

Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro is a Reader at Imperial College London, where he leads a research group working on Engineering Biology and sustainability. His research focuses on the use of microorganisms to convert renewable feedstocks into valuable products (such as food ingredients). He has published over 150 articles, most on topics related to microbial bioproduction (precision, biomass and traditional fermentation). He is the director of the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein and the UKRI Micorbial Food Hub.

Rodrigo obtained his PhD at the University of Salamanca (Spain). Before joining Imperial, he carried out his postdoctoral research at the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE, France). He has been a visiting researcher at Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden) and AIST (Japan).

Simon was appointed as Chief Executive on 1 June 2020, having joined Sainsbury’s and the Operating Board in July 2017 as Retail & Operations Director, with responsibility for Stores, Central Operations and Logistics. He is a member of the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Committee. Simon has worked in retail for over 35 years, having started at Marks and Spencer and joined Sainsbury’s from Boots where he was Executive Vice President of Walgreens Boots Alliance and President of Boots UK and Ireland. Simon is President of IGD, a Member of the Government’s Retail Sector Council and an Advisory Board Member of Diversity in Retail.

Simon is leading Sainsbury’s plan to become First choice for food. Under Simon’s stewardship, Sainsbury’s has launched its Plan for Better, which is integrated into our strategy and includes a bold commitment to become net zero across our own operations by 2035. Simon has led significant investments into colleague pay, most recently leading the industry in paying the Living Wage across the whole country. Simon is the Operating Board Sponsor for Inclusion and is a dedicated, determined and enthusiastic champion for our customers and colleagues and for inclusion and diversity across our company.

Appointed in 2023 as Chief Sustainability Officer for PepsiCo Europe, Archana oversees the development and acceleration of PepsiCo’s sustainability strategy (known as PepsiCo Positive) in Europe.

In her previous role as Vice President Climate, Water & Sustainable Ops at PepsiCo Europe and Chief Sustainability Officer for PepsiCo, UK & Ireland, Archana led PepsiCo Europe’s drive to be a Net Zero and a Net Water Positive company, trialling and scaling several industry leading technologies within the value chain. Prior to that, she also led PepsiCo’s packaging sustainability agenda and drove the company’s effort towards reducing, recycling and reinventing beverage and snacks packaging.

Archana brings a strong commercial and strategic background as well as geographically diverse experience to this agenda. She has a strong track record of driving business growth, both at GlaxoSmithKline where she led multiple brands and categories across the globe (Europe, Africa and Asia) and at The Bountiful Company where she led marketing and business development for the international region (all ex-US).

Before she moved to the industry, Archana was an Associate Partner at global consulting firm, McKinsey & Co. across India, Brussels and London, serving clients in the consumer and healthcare verticals. She advised clients on topics ranging from corporate strategy to marketing plans to operational effectiveness.

Archana currently co-chairs the Towards Net Zero coalition at The Consumer Goods Forum, a coalition of 20+ companies aiming to make progress towards decarbonising our industry.

Lorna joined Hilton Foods in September 2017. She has extensive experience in the food industry, working in both retail and food manufacturing. Previously, she spent 15 years at Tesco in senior quality roles. Lorna has worked across many food product areas and has worked closely with the Food Standards Agency and the Global Food Safety Initiative. She was previously the Chair of the Campden BRI Scientific & Technical Committee, a co-opted member of the Campden BRI board and held roles on the International Advisory Board for BRC Global Standards and the British Retail Consortium Food Strategy Group

Simon was appointed as Chief Executive on 1 June 2020, having joined Sainsbury’s and the Operating Board in July 2017 as Retail & Operations Director, with responsibility for Stores, Central Operations and Logistics. He is a member of the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Committee. Simon has worked in retail for over 35 years, having started at Marks and Spencer and joined Sainsbury’s from Boots where he was Executive Vice President of Walgreens Boots Alliance and President of Boots UK and Ireland. Simon is President of IGD, a Member of the Government’s Retail Sector Council and an Advisory Board Member of Diversity in Retail.

Simon is leading Sainsbury’s plan to become First choice for food. Under Simon’s stewardship, Sainsbury’s has launched its Plan for Better, which is integrated into our strategy and includes a bold commitment to become net zero across our own operations by 2035. Simon has led significant investments into colleague pay, most recently leading the industry in paying the Living Wage across the whole country. Simon is the Operating Board Sponsor for Inclusion and is a dedicated, determined and enthusiastic champion for our customers and colleagues and for inclusion and diversity across our company.

Appointed in 2023 as Chief Sustainability Officer for PepsiCo Europe, Archana oversees the development and acceleration of PepsiCo’s sustainability strategy (known as PepsiCo Positive) in Europe.

In her previous role as Vice President Climate, Water & Sustainable Ops at PepsiCo Europe and Chief Sustainability Officer for PepsiCo, UK & Ireland, Archana led PepsiCo Europe’s drive to be a Net Zero and a Net Water Positive company, trialling and scaling several industry leading technologies within the value chain. Prior to that, she also led PepsiCo’s packaging sustainability agenda and drove the company’s effort towards reducing, recycling and reinventing beverage and snacks packaging.

Archana brings a strong commercial and strategic background as well as geographically diverse experience to this agenda. She has a strong track record of driving business growth, both at GlaxoSmithKline where she led multiple brands and categories across the globe (Europe, Africa and Asia) and at The Bountiful Company where she led marketing and business development for the international region (all ex-US).

Before she moved to the industry, Archana was an Associate Partner at global consulting firm, McKinsey & Co. across India, Brussels and London, serving clients in the consumer and healthcare verticals. She advised clients on topics ranging from corporate strategy to marketing plans to operational effectiveness.

Archana currently co-chairs the Towards Net Zero coalition at The Consumer Goods Forum, a coalition of 20+ companies aiming to make progress towards decarbonising our industry.

Simon was appointed as Chief Executive on 1 June 2020, having joined Sainsbury’s and the Operating Board in July 2017 as Retail & Operations Director, with responsibility for Stores, Central Operations and Logistics. He is a member of the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Committee. Simon has worked in retail for over 35 years, having started at Marks and Spencer and joined Sainsbury’s from Boots where he was Executive Vice President of Walgreens Boots Alliance and President of Boots UK and Ireland. Simon is President of IGD, a Member of the Government’s Retail Sector Council and an Advisory Board Member of Diversity in Retail.

Simon is leading Sainsbury’s plan to become First choice for food. Under Simon’s stewardship, Sainsbury’s has launched its Plan for Better, which is integrated into our strategy and includes a bold commitment to become net zero across our own operations by 2035. Simon has led significant investments into colleague pay, most recently leading the industry in paying the Living Wage across the whole country. Simon is the Operating Board Sponsor for Inclusion and is a dedicated, determined and enthusiastic champion for our customers and colleagues and for inclusion and diversity across our company.