Karen joined FDF in December 2021. Prior to this, she was the Chief Executive of the Scotch Whisky Association for four years, representing the Scotch Whisky sector in the UK and export markets worldwide. 

Before joining the SWA, Karen was a diplomat in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office for 16 years, where she held a variety of posts in London and overseas, including as British Ambassador to Morocco and Counsellor to the British Embassy in Washington.  She was also posted to the UK’s Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels and to the British Embassy in Baghdad.

In London, Karen served in the Cabinet Office and for the Joint Intelligence Committee, as well as in several roles in the Foreign Office. Before joining Government, Karen was a lawyer at Clifford Chance, working in London and Hong Kong. Karen is an Adviser to the UK Government’s Board of Trade.

Andrew has spent 26 years with Bidcorp primarily developing  business in the UK, as well as businesses in Turkey, the Middle East, the Baltics and Spain. He became CEO of Bidfood in 2014, and sits on the global leadership Foodservice Group within Bidcorp, Bidfood’s parent company.

Andrew also has responsibility for Bidcorps other businesses in the UK, Bidfresh (fruit and veg, fresh meat and fresh fish wholesalers), Bidcorp Manufacturing business, Caterfood Buying Group, and Snowden and Bridge Imports business.

Bidcorp employs more than 7,000 people in the UK with a shared focus on service excellence, sustainability, food innovation and delivering great value.

Andrew was also appointed Chairman of the Federation of Wholesale Distributors in January 2017, handing over the role at the end of 2019.  Andrew is also a commissioner on the Food Farming and Countryside Commission, and is involved in other sustainable business initiatives such as Better Business Act coalition.

Prior to joining Bidfood Andrew’s career began at Coca-Cola Enterprises, where he worked his way up from Graduate Trainee to Trading Director of the wholesale division.

Bas has spent nearly a decade as a senior executive in Arla, as part of a 30-year career working with some of the world’s best known consumer brands. His most recent role is as Regional Head for South East Asia, where he manages a team of 300 direct employees and 1500 distributors and representatives, a factory in Bangladesh, and offices right across the region.

As a member of the International Leadership Team (ILT), Bas has been focused on developing an inclusive culture, delivering growth, managing talent and developing skills in his region, and also driving the sustainability agenda.

Bas has a strong track record in leading teams and developing the right culture to deliver growth and financial success, and throughout his career he has led successful programmes of change and business transformation.

Bas is Dutch and prior to joining Arla Bas gained extensive experience in senior leadership roles with global businesses. He also has an International MBA and later joined the international dairy company Friesland Campina as head of a business unit responsible for meat substitutes which led to him joining Arla Foods.

On joining Arla Bas held the position of Vice President and Managing Director of the Netherlands, before being promoted to Senior Vice President and Managing Director for the Netherlands, Belgium and France. He became Regional Head for South East Asia in 2021.

Bas is father of 4 children and married to Margriet. He enjoys family time, travelling, good food, skiing and running. He will move to the UK with his wife and two youngest children, while his two oldest children will continue studying in the Netherlands.

 Minette Batters was the first woman to be elected President of the National Farmers’ Union in 113yrs. She’s represented the interests of over 46,000 farming businesses across England and Wales through unprecedented times, navigating the challenges of Brexit, Covid 19 and the war in Ukraine. During this time, she worked with four Prime Ministers – three of them in one year – and six Defra Secretaries of State. She stood down from the post in February 2024. 

Campaigning about the importance of British food and farming and its ability to achieve Net Zero has been a key driver for Minette. In 2020 she led the NFU on one of the most successful campaigns ever seen, bringing together a coalition of chefs, including Jamie Oliver, farmers, environmentalists, consumer groups and animal welfare experts – resulting in over one million people signing the NFU food standards petition. Minette also co-founded ‘Ladies in Beef’ and the Great British Beef Week. She has regularly engaged with different media, including frequent appearances on the ‘Today’ programme, ‘Question Time’, ‘Any Questions’, ‘Desert Island Discs’, Woman’s Hour and other national print and broadcast media. She is currently writing a monthly piece for Country Life magazine. 

Minette is mother to twins and is a tenant farmer, on the Longford Estate near Salisbury, Wiltshire. She began farming in 1998 having sold her house and negotiated the farm business tenancy, starting with fifteen beef cows but fulfilling a lifetime ambition to farm. Today the farm has a Spring and Autumn calving Aberdeen Angus beef herd, arable crops and a few sheep. The business is widely diversified, with a wedding and events venue in a 17th century tithe barn, holiday cottages, and winter grazing for polo ponies, alongside a recently restored walled garden growing native British flowers. Minette trained as a Cordon Bleu chef, and was a former amateur jockey, riding 30 point to point winners, alongside working for champion National Hunt racehorse trainer David Elsworth. 

She’s an ambassador for Farm Africa and a passionate advocate and fundraiser for the Junior Diabetic Research Foundation. She’s run in four marathons, raising over £100,000 for charity. In 2021 Minette was made a Deputy Lieutenant to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and in July 2024 she was made a Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords. 

Daniel Zeichner was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on Monday 8 July. He was elected as the MP for Cambridge in July 2024.

Daniel was previously shadow minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2020 to 2024. Prior to this, he was shadow minister for Transport.

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.

Daniel Zeichner was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on Monday 8 July. He was elected as the MP for Cambridge in July 2024.

Daniel was previously shadow minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2020 to 2024. Prior to this, he was shadow minister for Transport.

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.

Daniel Zeichner was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on Monday 8 July. He was elected as the MP for Cambridge in July 2024.

Daniel was previously shadow minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2020 to 2024. Prior to this, he was shadow minister for Transport.