David Portalatin
Vice President, Food Industry Advisor, Food Sector
The NPD Group
David is a national advisor on all aspects of food and beverage consumption, both in-home and away from home. In his role as Vice President, Industry Advisor, David provides information, insights, and analysis on how U.S. consumers eat and drink, their attitudes and motivations, diet and nutrition, snacking, personal characteristics, and their usage of restaurants and other foodservice outlets.
Susan Schwallie
Executive Director, Client Development
The NPD Group
Susan brings 20 years of research experience to her position of Executive Director of The NPD Group. In her 15 years at NPD, she has worked across a variety of North American CPG clients and categories. With this breadth of experience, Susan is able to translate insights into clear implications and actions across organizations, including marketing, sales, category management, and corporate strategy.
Sean Tan
Specialist, Client Development
The NPD Group
Sean Tan is a Client Development Specialist who has made key contributions to SupplyTrack® success in recent years. Sean was a key contributor to NPD’s 2018 Foodservice Summit and its 33rd Annual Report on Eating Patterns in America. He is a trusted analyst and communicator, and he also co-founded Lokal Cold Brew, an Ohio-based coffee venture that was one of the early movers to bottled cold brew offerings. Sean’s diverse experience has enabled him to see the food industry from a very fluid viewpoint, which helps many clients who are interested in “Winning the Moment.”
Darren Seifer
Executive Director, Food and Beverage Industry Analyst
The NPD Group
Darren Seifer has more than 20 years of experience analyzing POS and consumer information to drive business decisions. As NPD’s food & beverage industry analyst, Darren provides insights to organizations and companies across the country. He has authored a number of NPD food and beverage research reports that cover topics such as consumer dynamics surrounding meal delivery kits, concerns and strategies related to genetically modified foods, and the unique consumption behaviors of Hispanics in the U.S.
Wendy Davidson
President, U.S. Specialty
Kellogg Company
Wendy Davidson is a global executive with over 25 years of experience in the branded CPG, retail, and food away from home industries, with a record of accomplishment in innovation, turnaround, and profitable growth of mature businesses. As the President of U.S. Specialty Channels, Wendy is responsible for leading a $1.5B business in growth channels from small retail formats including convenience and vending to foodservice business-to-business operations such as schools, restaurants, lodging and healthcare, as well as specialty ventures such as direct-to-consumer and Girl Scouts. She is a member of the Kellogg Global Leadership Team, the North American Leadership Team, the Kellogg Political Action Committee and Board of Trustees for the Kellogg Company Fund, eighteen94 Venture Capital Fund Investment Committee, the K Pride & Allies (KPA) and Women of Kellogg (WOK) networks and Executive Sponsor for the company’s Young Professionals (YP) business/employee resource group.
A graduate of Luther College, Wendy serves as the Chair of the Board of Regents. She is a non-Executive Director on the Board of First Horizon National Corporation (NYSE: FHN) and a Trustee on the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Global Board. She is past board chair of Women’s Foodservice Forum, and a member of The Network of Executive Women, the International Women’s Forum, The Chicago Network and serves on the Advisory Board of BRAVA Investments, a venture capital fund.
Ms. Davidson was awarded the National Diversity Council’s Top 15 Business Women in Illinois in 2017 and received the Luminary Award in 2016 from Girl Scouts of Chicago & NW Indiana.
Carmen Brace
Founder
Aclara Research
Carmen Brace founded Aclara Research in 2016 to bring real-time access to cannabis consumer insights that inform business strategy for the cannabis and consumer goods industries. Aclara Research has developed cannabis and hemp research panels to measure consumer usage and purchase behavior of cannabis and hemp products.
Her experience spans consumer research and retail insights, enterprise strategy, sales leadership, and category management across the leading manufacturers in the U.S. food and beverage industry — including Conagra Brands, the Mars — Wrigley Company, and the Campbell Soup Company. She has worked and studied in six countries across Europe and the Americas, and consulted internationally across confectionary companies, advertising agencies, and community organizations. She was repeatedly named to ‘Who’s Who List of Shopper Insights Professionals’ by Shopper Marketing Magazine, and named a ‘Rising Star’ by Progressive Grocer Magazine. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Chicago NORML (National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws) chapter, is an expert witness for the Illinois legislature, and is a featured speaker at the Marijuana Business Conference, the Marijuana for Medical Professionals Conference, and multiple CPG conferences on cannabis and health.
She earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Agricultural Economics from The University of Illinois, Urbana — Champaign and The Ohio State University. She leads the Aclara Research team based in Illinois and Florida.
Tom Johnson
Consumer Insights
Del Taco
Tom Johnson is a market research expert and consultant with 10 years of experience at a leading research consulting firm and 10 years of experience developing the consumer insights function at Del Taco. He is diversely experienced in both research method designs and advanced analytical techniques. His team at Del Taco is charged with provoking thought and enabling more confident decisions. Tom believes the role of consumer insights is expanding beyond traditional market research to data and insights from all sources. As E.O. Wilson said, "We are drowning in information and starving for wisdom.”
Peter Ray
Account Manger
The NPD Group
Peter Ray is an experienced manager of market research with a passion for understanding and interpreting data that helps influence and drive intelligent, sound business decisions. With over 11 years of experience with The NPD Group, Peter has provided consumer insights on the foodservice industry to a wide variety of clients, including manufacturers, distributors, and operators. Over the course of his career, Peter has worked with syndicated and proprietary data sources in roles ranging from project manager to industry analyst. Peter earned his Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and his M.B.A. in Marketing from The University of New Mexico.
Melissa Ferguson
Director — Client Development
The NPD Group
Melissa Ferguson has spent the past decade at NPD, combining consumer-based data assets and industry expertise into business solutions. As Director, Foodservice Client Development, Melissa partners with leading foodservice operators and manufacturers to interpret industry trends, produce detailed, consumer-based analyses, and anticipate what comes next. She relishes the opportunity at NPD to combine two of her favorite passions: data and food! Melissa completed her undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College and received her MBA from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.
Ciarán Duffy
Vice President, Corporate Executive Chef
Moe’s Southwest Grill®
Ciarán Duffy joined Moe’s Southwest Grill, a brand within the FOCUS Brands portfolio, as Vice President and Corporate Executive Chef. He previously held the position of Director of Research & Development for FOCUS Brands Channels Group, developing licensed products for the consumer packaged goods and foodservice divisions, for each of the Focus Brands snack and restaurant brands.
Chef Ciarán brings more than 20 years of professional culinary experience to the table and is extremely passionate about providing a holistic dining experience for guests. Born in Dublin, Ireland to a European pastry chef, Ciarán got his start at just eight years old helping his father in their family restaurant. He comes to Moe’s with a diverse culinary background. Cooking all over the world, his roots are well grounded in French-classic cuisine, and he has restaurant ownership experience with previously opening an Asian-fusion street food restaurant in Atlanta, GA. Ciarán’s energy and passion for food, along with his dedication to providing a great dining experience, allows him to bring a fresh perspective to the Southwestern cuisine Moe’s serves.
In his role, Ciarán works with the Moe’s leadership team and franchise community on menu innovation to create new platforms, flavor profiles, and ingredients to continue the bold and unique dining experience at Moe’s.
Sarah Wittenborn
Executive Director
The NPD Group
Sarah Wittenborn drives client engagement, insights, and analysis across a range of Checkout industries. She has been with The NPD Group for 15 years, supporting food industry clients before joining its Checkout team. Sarah works closely with a wide range of Checkout clients, supporting their customer growth strategies through creative and innovative longitudinal buyer insights powered by Checkout. Sarah graduated from Purdue University with a BA degree in Communication.
Joe Derochowski
Vice President, Industry Advisor
The NPD Group
Joe Derochowski is Vice President and Home Industry Advisor for The NPD Group. Joe has been following behavioral trends on a wide variety of categories, developing a unique perspective on what consumers do and why they do it. Driven by this insight and his own passion, Joe has helped manufacturers and retailers identify opportunities for growth for the past 30 years, from product innovation to new marketing and merchandising opportunities. Joe’s background in all facets of business gives him the ability to connect the dots between the consumer and the marketplace and help companies understand today’s trends while anticipating future demands.
