Expert and senior lecturer in tourism, food tourism, and the experience economy

Opri Laamanen (M. Soc. Sci., BA in Hospitality Management) is an expert and senior lecturer in tourism, food tourism, and the experience economy. With a visionary yet hands-on approach, she actively contributes to the development of Finnish tourism. Laamanen served as the lead author of the updated Finnish Food Tourism Strategy 2024–2028, which has also gained international recognition.

Laamanen is a key contributor to Haaga-Helia’s development unit, the Hungry for Finland Lab, and a highly regarded expert within Finland’s national food tourism development networks.

Professor of Agricultural and Food Policy, Dean

Matteo Vittuari is Professor of Agricultural and Food Economics and Policy at the University of Bologna and Dean of the School of Agricultural and Food Sciences at ADA University. His work advances the transformation of food systems towards greater sustainability, equity, and resilience at a global scale. He brings together research and policy to address key challenges such as food waste, dietary transitions, and systemic change. Drawing on behavioral economics and life-cycle thinking, he contributes to shaping forward-looking solutions across diverse international contexts.

Project Manager / Slow Food

With a background in foreign languages, facilitation and international cooperation, Michela Lenta works with Slow Food International, where she contributes to the design, development, and coordination of international projects focused on sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, and agroecological food systems.

Her work centers on supporting Slow Food networks, food communities, and small-scale producers across different regions (above all from Africa to Europe), with a strong emphasis on participatory approaches, capacity building, and international cooperation. She has extensive experience in managing EU-funded projects, developing project proposals, and coordinating multi-stakeholder initiatives at local, national, and international levels.

Project Specialist

Meri Pöyhönen (BA in Linguistics and Communications) works as a Project Specialist at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences. They have developed Finnish food tourism within Haaga-Helia’s Hungry for Finland Lab in various projects considering food tourism networks, strategies and service development. They are especially interested in communications and storytelling and think that the best food tourism products are detailed, multi-sensory experiences that are developed in a customer-oriented way.

Director of Product Development

Niina Wredfors is Director of Product Development for Fazer Confectionery’s Candy Business Unit. She also leads the Sensory Evaluation and Consumer Insight team, driving sensory profiling and consumer studies to validate new product launches and optimize product quality. With deep confectionery and sensory expertise, she focuses on developing consumer-loved products with a strong emphasis on plant-based and sustainable options.

Transdisciplinary researcher

Jonathan Dolley is a transdisciplinary researcher in sustainability transformations with a focus on food systems and the social and solidarity economy. He worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Sussex from 2016-2024 and is now a visiting researcher at the Mosim and Salim Research Institute, Seoul. He will be presenting his most recent research on Hansalim, a one million member multistakeholder cooperative in South Korea which has created a democratic eco-friendly food system operating through direct sales between producers and consumers.

Project Manager

Satu Hulkkonen (M.Sc., B.A) works as a Project Manager at GS1 Finland, focusing on digitalization, data, and sustainability in the food sector. At the core of her work is network collaboration: Satu brings together companies, experts, and various stakeholders to build shared solutions for developing the food chain. She particularly focuses on how companies of different sizes can leverage data and respond to changing requirements in a practical way. Satu is motivated by making complex matters understandable and by promoting collaboration that drives the entire industry toward a more efficient, sustainable, and transparent future.

Project manager & Doctoral researcher 

Urszula Ala-Karvia is a project manager and doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki Ruralia Institute. She has co-created the Sustainable Public Meal Toolkit via StratKIT project funded by InterregBSR. From 2022 she is one of the four REKO Seinäjoki administrator.

Entrepreneur / CEO

Kapasity Oy

30-year-old family business entrepreneur with already 15 years of entrepreneurship under his belt. Iiro sees waste only as materials and circular economy as a defensive weapon for the Nordics and Europe to secure their position in a new, unstable world. Together with his team they’re solving a humanity level problem; make materials flow like they do in nature.

Head of Agritech

Nordic Edge

Gunnar Edwin Crawford is Head of Agritech at Nordic Edge, where he leads the development of a new innovation cluster focused on sustainable agriculture, technology adoption, and ecosystem development. He previously served as Head of the Smart City office in Stavanger, driving public-private collaboration and urban technology implementation, and as Head of Digital Services at Desert Control, applying innovation and partnerships to combat desertification. Crawford has extensive experience in business development, R&D project management, and EU-funded initiatives. He is co-author of Creating Disruptive Ecosystems and is based in Stavanger, Norway.

Rasmus Wiinstedt Tscherning, CBN – Creative Business Network supporting creatives in the cultural and creative industries through a global network of entrepreneurs, investors, mentors and partners that all focus on bringing creative solutions to life through access to finance, internationalization and business development. CBN hosts the Creative Business Cup and is engaged in several EU projects related to the cultural and creative industries.

Rasmus has been part of expert groups, recently the Expert Group on the Swedish National CCI Strategy. Founding partner EKIP – European Cultural and Creative Industries Policy Platform that will prepare policy recommendations to the EU institutions, EU member states and associate countries.

Former Chairman European Creative Industries Alliance, appointed by the European Commission. Co-chair of Open Method of Coordination Group on Access to Finance for CCIs, appointed by the EU Member States. Board member Danish Cultural Institute.

Rasmus has a MA in Political Science and a creative DNA: 18-years old, Rasmus won a Scandinavian visual design competition and was in 2009 part of the team winning 1st Prize for the Masterplan for Nordhavnen, a part of Copenhagen for 40.000 citizens.

Conference host

Paul is a language trainer, a business coach, an experienced workshop facilitator and a conference host.

He is originally from London and has been hosting conferences in Finland and the Baltic countries for over 15 years.

Sales Director

YOOK ltd

Ken Koit (MA, Business and Technology management) is Sales Director at YOOK, the first oat drink producer in the Baltics, where he leads export sales and international growth. With over a decade of experience in the FMCG sector — working with both food and household chemistry products — he has built markets and partnerships across Scandinavia, Finland, the Baltics, Germany, Poland, Turkey and others. At Food Days 2026, Ken will share the story behind YOOK’s international journey, including how a young Baltic brand made it into Starbucks cafes in Turkey — the second-largest Starbucks market in Europe after the UK.

Rural Developer, Farmer

Niipalan tila

Mikko Niipala is a rural developer and farmer, who is passionate about finding and facilitating new solutions for rural livelihood and ecological farming. He started his journey 14 years ago by taking over his family farm and has been active on experimenting and conceptualizing various approaches, which are mostly dealing with social innovations such as community supported agriculture, share farming, agrihoods and farm incubators. His interests are increasingly focused on food system dynamics, local value chains and social sustainability. He is one of the founding members of a network for agroecological movement in Finland.

CEO

Fresh Servant Group

Sami Haapasalmi is the CEO of Fresh Servant Group and has led the company since 2009. He has strong business expertise and extensive experience in leadership roles in the food industry. Under Haapasalmi’s leadership, Fresh Servant has grown into a significant player and market leader in consumer packaged salads. The group is particularly known for its Hetki, Fresse and FreshPro brands, as well as its strong ability to develop fresh, convenient and tasty food solutions for a rapidly changing everyday life.

Product Development Manager

Lauri Rantanen works as Product Development Manager at MeEat Food Tech Oy, where he focuses on the development of plant-based meat analogues with particular emphasis on flavour, texture, and end-product usability. His work combines practical product development with a strong passion for novelty plant-based ingredients and creating solutions that help customers transition toward more sustainable, plant-based food choices. Before transitioning into the food industry, Lauri built his background working as a chef, bringing a strong culinary perspective and hands-on understanding of taste and functionality into innovation and product development. 

Founder and CEO

Stocked Dreamery, Anjas Adventures, SPRING Food System

Anja Leissner works at the intersection of food innovation, regional development, and international collaboration. Her work focuses on connecting research, SMEs, public actors, and innovation ecosystems to support sustainable growth in the food sector.

As a series-founder, she has extensive experience in building cross-border collaboration projects and networks across the Nordic and Baltic region, with a particular interest in how research and innovation can create practical value for food companies and regional ecosystems.

At Food Days 2026, she will share perspectives on collaboration-driven innovation and the role of SMEs in shaping the future of food.

Senior Researcher

University of Helsinki Ruralia Institute

Silvia is a senior researcher at Ruralia Institute, University of Helsinki. She is currently leading a long-term research project on food innovation and entrepreneurship toward a sustainable transition. In addition, she is also involved in many different projects (at EU, national and regional level) that analyse different aspects of the food systems.  Before joining Ruralia Institute, she has worked for different UN agencies, including FAO and WMO, as well as for the Italian Research Council.

Project Manager

Into Seinäjoki

Hanna Holtinkoski works as a project manager for eRural resilience project in Into Seinäjoki. Hanna has long expertise from Finnish agri-food chain. In this project she has been both developing the business support services of Into Seinäjoki and sparring local bio-business SMEs in growth and digitalization.

Research and Development Manager

SEAMK

Karri Kallio works as a Research and Development Manager at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SEAMK), focusing on food technology, food industry development, and sustainable food solutions. His expertise covers food processing, product development, pilot-scale experimentation, and industry-oriented RDI projects. He is especially interested in strengthening collaboration between research, education, and companies to support innovation, competitiveness, and resilience in the food sector.

Specialist at SEAMK

Elina Huhta (BBA) works as a specialist at SEAMK, focusing on supporting small food companies through the sustainability and packaging transition. At the core of her work is network collaboration: Elina brings together companies, experts, and development actors to strengthen the local food sector in South Ostrobothnia. She also serves as the region’s local food coordinator, helping companies find new sales channels, increase their visibility, and build collaboration opportunities. Elina is particularly motivated by making changing packaging and sustainability requirements easier to understand and turning them into practical solutions that fit the everyday realities of small businesses.

PhD in Food Sciences,

Collaboration and Partnership Coordinator / Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki

Sulo Roukka serves as the Collaboration and Partnership Coordinator for a development project focused on creating a new Master’s Programme in International Food Business and Gastronomy, which is also part of Finland’s governmental Food Sector Growth Programme. Sulo is dedicated to building bridges between academia and industry through education, while also aiming to establish an international partnership network for the Master’s Programme.

Additionally, Sulo is a member of the Senses and Food Research team in Finland and has a strong passion for studying human behavior and multisensory experiences, as well as for applying creative scientific communication.

Project Manager

SEAMK

Markus Ojala is a Project Manager at Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK), working at the intersection of food, technology, and European collaboration. He coordinates the SIXFOLD project, manages InAFQual at SeAMK, and serves as a Board Member of the SS4AF network.

His work focuses on bringing AI, smart sensors, and data-driven solutions into the food industry—essentially trying to make food systems a bit smarter (and maybe himself along the way). When he’s not connecting researchers, companies, and living labs across Europe, he can usually be found explaining why you need to start kendo, the art of japanese sword! 

Specialist

Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

Hanna Heiskanen works as a country image and public diplomacy specialist at the Finnish Foreign Ministry, advising Finland’s global network of missions and collaborating with a wide range of local and international stakeholders. She has over a decade of experience in communications in international contexts from public and private sectors, including Finland’s Mission to the United Nations, Finland’s Consulate General in New York, and the British Embassy in Helsinki.

Project Manager

Oulu Culture Foundation

Pasi Ruuskanen (M.Sc., HHJ) works as a Project Manager of Arctic Food Lab food programme at Oulu Culture Foundation, a lead organisation of European Capital of Culture, Oulu2026.

Arctic Food Lab is part of Oulu2026 culture programme, a northern food brand, a trademark, food events and a network of 180 local food entrepreneurs covering farmers, food producers and processors, restaurants, cafeterias, catering, event and experience service providers plus 35 K Group food stores and 50 food sector developers around Oulu2026 region.

Pasi is an experienced marketing and communication professional in Finnish food sector with work experience in FMCG food industry (Leaf, Hartwall and Valio) and northern S Group cooperative (Osuuskauppa Arina). Currently he is a board member at northern startup (Viazi).