Welcome to Food Days Seinäjoki!

Entrepreneur, Investor, and Innovation Strategist 

With over 20 years of experience in Silicon Valley, Europe, and Norway, Valeria Temple specializes in corporate strategy, sales, and business development, working with established enterprises and technology startups to drive innovation, market expansion, and business transformation.

Valeria is deeply engaged in global innovation ecosystems and holds memberships in European Female Board Pool, European Business Angel Network (EBAN), and the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs. She has served as a jury member and advisor for prestigious events, including the ICT European Technology Conference in Luxembourg, the Oslo Innovation Conference, and Digital Well Ventures Demo Days.

Vice President of Sustainability and Public Affairs for Leanpath

Leanpath, the global leader in integrated hardware and software solutions for food waste prevention. Steven M. Finn helps Leanpath’s clients take control of their food waste while engaging employees in creating a culture of food waste prevention.  He is a member of Leanpath’s strategic leadership team with extensive experience in food waste reduction and prevention strategies, speaking frequently at industry events and providing education and guidance to client partners and internal teams.  He also manages Leanpath’s 12.3 Initiative.  

Steven teaches graduate courses on innovation for sustainability and the food-water-energy nexus at the University of Pennsylvania and Boston University in the U.S.  He is the author of several articles on food waste and has served as a Director for three non-profit organizations in the food sector.  He is the author of the blog Food For Thoughtful Action.   

State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland

Päivi Nerg assists ministers in political steering and planning. In line with the ministers’ instructions, they also assist and represent the ministers in the drafting of policy outlines, conduct of inter-ministerial coordination, harmonising of policy positions, implementation of the Government Programme in the ministry’s administrative branch, and the handling of EU and other international duties. 

Päivi Nerg has extensive experience from different roles in state governance and national ministry, but also from agriculture and forestry sectors while working for The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK).

Photo: Juha Mustonen / Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland

Director of International Trade, The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK)

Thimjos Ninios has been tirelessly helping the Finnish food sector grow exports at The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), for over 7 years now.

Previously he was leading the export unit of Finnish Food Authority (previously Evira).

Export Manager, Atria Ltd. 

With over 12 years of experience in export, Seppo Pellikka is currently working as Manager of Export actions in Atria Ltd.

He particularly appreciates Atria’s roots and the fact that the company is owned by its producers. That, if anything, makes a man proud. The same applies to how things are done at Atria in general. It’s easy to stand behind it yourself.

Seppo would like to develop further in the world of sales and export, especially in the diversification of exports.

Senior Scientist, PhD, Bioeconomy Policy and Governance, LUKE (FInland)

Claudia Giordano is a Senior Scientist in Policy and Governance for the Bioeconomy at LUKE (Finland). She was formerly an Assistant Professor in Agri-Food Sciences and Technologies at the University of Bologna.

Claudia has worked as a consultant for UNEP, FAO, the European Commission, foundations, and NGOs. From 2019 to 2020, she served as Special Adviser on the 2030 Agenda to the Italian Minister of Research and Education.

Her work focuses on food policy and governance, urban food strategies, food system transformation, living labs and food hubs, and the measurement of food waste. 

Growth Director for Food Exports, Ruokatieto ry

Jukka Vainionpää, M.Sc. (Food Science), is the Growth Director for Food Exports at Ruokatieto ry. He focuses in his role to develop the strategy process for food exports, combine the needs of companies to increase exports and, in particular, represent the food sector and companies’ views in the steering of government resources, research and education needs, and the formation of a food country image.

Jukka Vainionpää is a professional in the food industry and export with strong experience in food exports, the ability to act as a strategic leader and a proven track record of successful project management. He has solid experience in international B2B sales and customer relationship management, as well as extensive networks in the sector.

Agronomic Engineer, Project Coordinator, Fundación Entretantos

Agronomic Engineer with Masters Degree in Organic Agriculture. For 20 years, she has focused her professional activity on the development of initiatives and actions in the framework of agroecology, cultivated biodiversity and food policies, in Spain but also in other countries as Brazil. 

In this sense, it must be highlighted her work as manager in a cooperative of organic farmers in the south of Spain for 6 years, director of the Seed network of Andalucía for 11 years and, since 2005, as coordinator of the Red de Semillas “Resembrando e Intercambiando” (Spanish seed network). 

Now, she is developing her career in Fundación Entretantos where she coordinates different projects working on the promotion and research of agroecological transition of local food systems. It must be highlited her role as responsible of the food, climate and cultivated biodiversity policy program of the City Food Network, Red de Municipios por la Agroecología, where she is leading The Barcelona Challenge for Good Food and several other projects.

Food Systems Lead, Research Fellow, ODI

Maryam is leading the agri-food systems work in ODI’s Climate and Sustainability team. Her work spans sustainable urban food systems, building food systems resilience and climate adaptation in fragile contexts.

She is a seasoned professional with experience across multiple sectors and regions, collaborating with governments, NGOs, and international organizations towards climate proofing livelihood, and improving food security and nutrition for communities.

Before joining ODI, she worked as a food systems advisor at the UN – FAO in Rome and led agri-food value chain and food systems programs in FAO Near East and North Africa region

Project Coordinator, SIXFOLD at SEAMK

Markus Ojala is Project Coordinator of SIXFOLD at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (UAS), specializing in food processing and food systems.

With a strong focus on sustainability, Markus leverages digitalization to enhance and innovate within the food industry.  He is also a member of the board of SS4AF S3 partnership. 

Head of the Finnish National Culinary Team

Katja Tuomainen is the Head of the Finnish National Culinary Team and a seasoned professional in the restaurant and food industry. With a background in leadership, concept development, and international collaboration, she has played a key role in promoting Finnish food culture both at home and abroad.

Under her guidance, the Culinary Team achieved a historic gold medal at the IKA Culinary Olympics, bringing international recognition to Finland’s culinary excellence.

Expert and a project portfolio coordinator, Natural Resources and Bioeconomy Team, SEAMK

Anu Palomäki works as an expert and a project portfolio coordinator in the Natural Resources and Bioeconomy team at SEAMK. She is a co-lead of the Sustainable and Responsible Food Production research group.

Palomäki is also a doctoral student at the University of Helsinki, focusing on climate change adaptation in food systems. Palomäki has developed South Ostrobothnia’s food system climate roadmap and adaptation strategy, and actively works with regional, national, and EU-level projects to promote sustainable and climate-resilient food systems. She has extensive experience in project development, management, and stakeholder collaboration. 

Ecosystem Lead, Valio Food 2.0 program

Veera Virtanen is the Ecosystem Lead for the Valio Food 2.0 program. She is an experienced leader in business development, science and ecosystem building in the fields of bioeconomy and circular economy. Veera’s passion is to promote collaboration and sustainable growth, and support Finnish technology based companies to succeed. 

Food 2.0 is an extensive research, development and innovation project, aiming to create a Finnish nature-smart food system in which growth, profitability and added value are built on the basis of sustainable production.

Valio is the first food company that Business Finland has chosen as a leading company.

CEO, Mysoda Oy

David Solomon is the CEO of Mysoda, a Finnish company on a mission to revolutionize the sparkling water market worldwide.

Mysoda combines cutting-edge craftmanship with world-renowned design to bring a new generation of sparkling water makers to life.

We can see David’s passion towards sustainability and design in Mysoda’s producs and way of doing business.

Director, FitoLab

Joana Costa is a microbiologist and the Director of FitoLab – Laboratory for Phytopathology at Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN), a technology transfer organisation supporting research, innovation, and start-ups in Portugal.

She is also a researcher and lecturer at the University of Coimbra, co-coordinating the One Health research line and contributing to agroecological transition initiatives. Her work focuses on plant and soil microbiomes, nature-based solutions and tools to assess ecosystem health, promoting resilient and sustainable agri-food systems. Joana integrates several national and European projects, bridging science and SMEs. 

R&D Pioneer in Food Technology

Biologist and entrepreneur Maxime Willems is a driving force in food innovation. As the founder of Foodlab Proef, he helps companies and startups develop new products, optimize formulations, and explore alternative ingredients. With expertise in fermentation, plant-based alternatives, and functional ingredients, he is a sought-after expert in the industry. “If you don’t experiment with new ingredients and techniques, you risk falling behind.” 

Foodlab Proef is the strategic Plug & Play R&D Lab where food companies—big or small—can accelerate product development and tackle technical R&D challenges. With a state-of-the-art test kitchen and deep scientific expertise, Proef supports businesses at every stage, from concept to market-ready production.