SPEAKERS

Ambassador Douglas (Doug) McKalip is a globally recognized leader in trade, commerce, supply chain and national security issues. He served in the U.S. government for more than 30 years in senior food and agricultural trade and national security positions. From January 2023 to January 2025, Doug served as the Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). He was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and was in charge of all global trade negotiations involving food and agriculture, representing a $1 billion sector of the U.S. economy. Prior to this position, Doug served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture, handling all trade and national security matters. He also served as the Senior Advisor to the President of the United States for Agriculture and Rural Affairs at the White House Domestic Policy Council. Doug was an Executive Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) and holds both a Masters and Bachelors Degree in Public Policy.

Alexander H. Schaefer is a partner in the International Trade Group at the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Alex represents clients contending with U.S. import regulations, including the customs and trade remedies laws. He assists clients with a broad range of Customs issues, including tariff classification, import valuation, focused assessment audits, penalty proceedings, prior disclosures, reconciliation, special duty programs, and free trade agreements. In addition, Alex has represented both petitioners and respondents in a variety of trade remedy cases, including antidumping, countervailing duty, and Section 201 proceedings before the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Ambassador Douglas (Doug) McKalip is a globally recognized leader in trade, commerce, supply chain and national security issues. He served in the U.S. government for more than 30 years in senior food and agricultural trade and national security positions. From January 2023 to January 2025, Doug served as the Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). He was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate and was in charge of all global trade negotiations involving food and agriculture, representing a $1 billion sector of the U.S. economy. Prior to this position, Doug served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture, handling all trade and national security matters. He also served as the Senior Advisor to the President of the United States for Agriculture and Rural Affairs at the White House Domestic Policy Council. Doug was an Executive Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) and holds both a Masters and Bachelors Degree in Public Policy.

Anthony (Tony) Pavel is a globally recognized expert in food law, and a Partner at Keller and Heckman LLP, an international law firm with a broad practice in the areas of regulatory law, public policy, and litigation. Mr. Pavel is a trusted advisor and team-oriented leader, with decades of experience managing multi-disciplinary projects, balancing the diverse regulatory interests of numerous industry groups, and providing regulatory compliance and strategic counseling to a broad range of food, feed and biotechnology companies.

John Hewitt is senior vice president of state affairs at the Consumer Brands Association. Hewitt leads the packaging sustainability efforts on behalf of the CPG industry and oversees all state advocacy strategy and engagement. He brings extensive knowledge of sustainability initiatives, including the recycling system, and years of state and federal policy experience.

With a combination of association, political and agency experience, Hewitt has worked on many successful ballot initiatives, legislative and regulatory measures. In addition to his professional experience, he has sat on several non-profit boards and was an elected school board member for nearly 12 years.

Hewitt joined the Consumer Brands Association from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), where he served as both special counsel to the secretary and as the agency’s general counsel. At the department, Hewitt was responsible for complex litigation and regulatory matters as well as represented the department on interagency initiatives, such as the governor’s drought task force and international climate change program.

Prior to CDFA Hewitt worked at the California Farm Bureau, where he played a key role in developing strategic water quality initiatives, including managing activities with local and state regulators as well as litigation development.

A native of Northern California, Hewitt graduated from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business and a minor in water science. Hewitt also holds a juris doctor from the University of Pacific McGeorge School of Law and is admitted to practice law by the California Bar as well as the United States Supreme Court. He lives in Pleasant Grove, California, and enjoys cooking family meals using his favorite CPG products — especially hot sauce.

As American Beverage Association’s Executive Vice President of Government and Public Affairs, Christine Burgeson leads the non-alcoholic beverage industry’s government affairs, public affairs and public policy portfolio. In this role, she oversees the team responsible for all aspects of advocacy and communications, as well as the organization’s environmental and health initiatives. Prior to joining American Beverage Association, she served as Senior Vice President of Global Government Affairs for Airlines for America, the national trade association representing the largest U.S. passenger and cargo airlines. Prior to her work for the airlines, Christine was Vice President for Federal Government Affairs at Citi and served as the lead Senate lobbyist in the D.C. office. A significant part of her career has been spent in government, having served in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs and the Office of Management and Budget for President George W. Bush. Christine also worked in the Senate for former Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.).

Saurabh Vijayvergia is a partner and managing director and a senior AI strategy & engineering leader in Deloitte Consulting’s Retail and Consumer Products (RCP) practice. He leads US Retail AI strategy and engineering intersection for Deloitte. In this role, he partners with and advises CXOs and executive leaders of retail clients on top-line growth, customer acquisition and retention, and bottom-line optimization, by adopting AI-first mindset for business models and operations. With more than 19 years of global consulting experience in the Consumer industry, he focuses on solving his clients' heart of business issues across the retail value chain – including supply chain, merchandizing, store & digital operations, customer service, and enterprise functions. He has delivered several large-scale digital transformation and AI strategy and engineering engagements across North America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. He has published several industry leading publications at the intersection of RCP and AI.

Xiao Postell is a Research Scientist at Givaudan, where over the past three years she has focused on applying advanced analytical techniques to support flavor research and development. Prior to joining Givaudan, she gained extensive expertise in analytical technologies and applications through more than 10 years of experience working with OEM vendors of LC and MS instrumentation.

Dr. Imre Blank is the Founder of IBK Food & Beverage Consulting, providing scientific and strategic advice to food and flavor companies worldwide. He studied Food Chemistry in Germany and received his PhD in Flavor Chemistry from the Technical University of Munich. Dr. Blank has worked in Nestlé Research for 28 years leading food and flavor science and technology. In 2015, he was appointed the first Nestlé Fellow, in recognition of his expertise in food chemistry and flavor generation. He retired in 2019 as Head of Nestlé’s Global R&D Networks. Afterwards, he held Chief Scientific Officer positions in Europe and Asia while providing consulting services to food and flavor companies worldwide.

Over his dual industrial and academic career, Dr. Blank has made important contributions to flavor chemistry and food science, particularly in aroma and taste, molecule-triggered perception, Maillard reactions, lipid oxidation, flavor-generation mechanisms, and the formation and mitigation of food-process contaminants. His work has been applied across numerous product categories. He has authored more than 200 scientific publications and patents. Since 2010, Dr. Blank has been teaching as a visiting professor at universities in Europe and Asia and currently serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. His career reflects a longstanding commitment to connecting industrial and academic flavor research.

Christie Harman currently serves as FEMA’s Scientific Director as well as Policy Advisor to the FEMA Expert Panel.  Christie has over 20 years of experience overseeing FEMA’s various science programs and ensuring the successful operation of the FEMA GRAS program.  She has authored or co-authored numerous scientific publications on subjects including the proper use and labeling of flavorings, sensory testing guidance on flavorings with modifying properties, and the safety assessment of flavoring ingredients. Christie received her B.S. in Biochemistry from Virginia Tech and a Masters of Public Health from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

Anthony (Tony) Pavel is a globally recognized expert in food law, and a Partner at Keller and Heckman LLP, an international law firm with a broad practice in the areas of regulatory law, public policy, and litigation. Mr. Pavel is a trusted advisor and team-oriented leader, with decades of experience managing multi-disciplinary projects, balancing the diverse regulatory interests of numerous industry groups, and providing regulatory compliance and strategic counseling to a broad range of food, feed and biotechnology companies.

John Hallagan serves as FEMA’s General Counsel and Senior Advisor and Legal Advisor to the FEMA Expert Panel. In his current roles, he provides legal, regulatory, and scientific services to the association and its members. John has served FEMA in a variety of capacities during his forty-five years of service, including as a Staff Scientist, an Associate Attorney, and as Scientific Director for FEMA during which time the flavor industry initiated several major scientific programs to work towards a global open positive list of flavoring substances. He has published extensively on the topics of flavor safety and regulation, the FEMA GRAS program, and flavor and food labeling.