Hear from the Leaders Shaping the Future of FMCG in Benelux.

Marlies Mols is a seasoned Marketing and Digital Strategist passionate about driving consumer engagement and brand performance. Her tenure in the field demonstrates a deep understanding of both digital and offline marketing landscapes, complemented by a proven track record of successes with brands across various industries, including spirits, fashion, beauty, and automotive.

In her current role she is responsible for Media, Digital and Culture & Entertainment for Northern Europe at Diageo. Marlies leads the data-driven communication strategies, and digital transformation for Northern Europe including Retail Media, AI and content strategies. In line with sustainability to achieve our business goals.

Natalie James is Head of eCommerce for Europe with over 15 years’ experience driving digital transformation and revenue growth across diverse markets. Having held key roles at Brown-Forman, Kraft Heinz, and Nestlé, she brings deep expertise in developing and executing eCommerce strategies across B2B and B2C channels. A hands-on leader, Natalie builds organizational capability, fosters collaboration, and uses data-driven strategies to deliver impactful results across Europe’s complex retail landscape.

Currently serving as Ice Cream Digital Commerce Director for Europe & Global at The Magnum Ice Cream Company, Aksel Konfino brings over a decade of digital and commercial leadership in consumer goods. Previously, he led B2B Digital Sales as UFS Global Digital Selling Director at Unilever, following extensive in-market experience in Turkey as Digital Commerce Director. With a strong foundation across Customer Development—from Category Management to Key Account Management across multiple business groups—he combines deep market understanding with a passion for technology, driving future-proof business models and omnichannel growth across global and local markets.

Gael has over 20 years of experience in global retail-based data and analytics at NielsenIQ, Circana and Pernod Ricard, and 8 years in global e-commerce at Flywheel and Shalion. As VP Product Strategy at Shalion, he focuses on understanding the future trends of connected commerce, including new forms of visibility and distribution such as Food Service Aggregators and the impact of generative engines on the shopper journey. His work centers on establishing a clear vision to help brands navigate these shifts and translate them into actionable strategies.

Floris Slaghek is a professional in sales, marketing, and business development with over 30 years of experience in the Dutch media and retail landscape. Known for his energetic and relationship-driven approach, he has built long-term partnerships across agencies and brands. Floris has held key roles at PLUS Retail, BOL.com, DPG Media and Sanoma, where he led strategic media initiatives and licensing programs. His extensive network and omnichannel expertise make him a trusted advisor in retail media innovation

Suzanne van Welie is a commercially driven Retail Media Consultant with a strong foundation in category management, account management, and trade marketing. With experience at bol.com, HEINEKEN, and Rituals, she has built a track record of translating consumer insights into strategic growth opportunities. Suzanne combines psychological expertise with a sharp business mindset, enabling her to optimize retail media strategies and drive commercial impact. Her approach is pragmatic, collaborative, and results-oriented, making her a valuable partner in the fast-evolving FMCG and e-commerce landscape.

Han Xiang has been brewing success at Nestlé for over four years. As abrand activation and retail media specialist, she combines a strategic mindsetwith a creative approach to execution, driving growth for the coffee categorywith every campaign. As a passionate coffee drinker, she loves to host her owncoffee shop at home (mostly as an excuse to serve her own home-made bakedgoods). With her love for coffee and her ability to transform concepts intomeaningful results, Han Xiang brings both energy and marketing expertise to theFMCG landscape.

With nearly 20 years of experience in the retail and FMCG industry, Christa de Wal is a creative and passionate marketer with a proven track record in building and transforming brands. Over the past six years at Holland & Barrett, Christa has played a pivotal role in driving the company’s brand awareness from 15% to 93%, firmly establishing it as a household name in the Benelux market. Her passion lies in brand and retail, where she blends strategic insight with creativity to deliver campaigns that resonate with consumers and strengthen brand equity. Christa’s career reflects a deep commitment to innovation, storytelling, and fostering meaningful connections between brands and people.

Thomas is a Senior eCommerce professional responsible for eCommerce key accounts at Arla Foods. He is passionate about digital commerce and retail media, bringing together strategy, customer partnership, and data insights. He thrives at the intersection of strategy and execution, unlocking growth and innovation in the digital commerce space.

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With over a decade of experience in consumer branding and key account development, Jelmer currently leads Starbucks RTD marketing efforts at Arla Foods, overseeing operations across multiple European markets. His passion for experiential marketing and building purpose-driven brands aligns seamlessly with Arla’s mission to deliver high-quality and innovative solutions to consumers. He thrives in collaborative environments, bringing diverse perspectives to foster growth and elevate brand presence.

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Emily Dubnicka is Director of Professional Services at Stackline, leading advertising & analytics across Europe and APAC. With over a decade of experience in advertising and marketing, she specialises in Amazon Media and Market Analysis helping brands simplify complex media ecosystems and unlock growth through data, automation, and AI-driven solutions.

A dynamic and sales-oriented entrepreneur, Mario has 30+ years of expertise in building and leading business operations, partners and marketing strategies across Europe and the US as Country Manager, Sales Director and VP of BU for international Companies.  

Mario has a deep experience in SaaS sales promoting solutions for Customer Loyalty Management and Engagement across EMEA. His favorite verticals are FMCG, Retail, Travel, Hospitality and Sports Teams.  

Mario enjoys building enterprise software companies and supporting client’s path to success. During his free time, Mario loves spending time with his family and climbing outdoors or in his Indoor Climbing Gym in Milano.  

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Sebastiaan Berkvens brings a practitioner’s perspective to what’s proven, promising, and next in retail media. With hands-on experience building strategic customer and retail media partnerships with Tesco, Carrefour, and others, he drives HEINEKEN’s brand growth and commercial impact across markets. As a key contributor to HEINEKEN’s Global Retail Media Learning Agenda, he helps scale data-driven media and creative effectiveness worldwide. Sebastiaan bridges insight and execution, enabling brands to navigate complexity, leverage partnerships, and unlock performance across diverse retail media ecosystems.

Tom Zegers began his career in sales roles at P&G and FrieslandCampina before joining Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, where he has worked for nearly five years. Starting as Head of E-commerce in 2020, he built and led the e-commerce team and now oversees Digital Commerce & Activation. His responsibilities span global e-commerce, digital activation, Retail Media, Food Service aggregators, and Digital GTM strategy across all markets. Based in The Hague, Tom is a proud father of two who enjoys cooking and spending time with friends and family.

Ufuk Degirmenci was born in Bursa, Turkey, and holds an Industrial Engineering degree from Bosphorus University. He joined Reckitt in 2008 as a Sales Management Trainee, building a diverse career across Traditional Trade, National Accounts, and Modern Trade. In 2017, he founded the company’s first E-commerce channel in Turkey. Now based in Amsterdam, he has spent the past four years as Global Trade Marketing Director for Fabric Care, focused on unlocking growth through deep shopper insight. Outside work, he enjoys running while listening to podcasts.

With over 15 years in the media industry, Armand has held roles at WebAds, Sanoma, and AdAlliance. At Jumbo Retail Media, he builds strategic partnerships with advertisers and agencies. Using diverse channels and deep customer insights, his team reaches millions from awareness to purchase, creating impactful campaigns. Powered by Jumbo’s strong brand and first-party data, Retail Media is an essential part of any modern media mix.

Janneke van Wanrooy is a visionary marketing and sustainability leader with over two decades of experience driving growth and transformation across FMCG and consumer tech. As Global Marketing & Sustainability Director at Cloetta, she led a brand overhaul and omnichannel strategy that delivered strong growth and double-digit e-commerce acceleration. Combining sharp commercial acumen with a coaching leadership style, Janneke builds high-performing teams and inspires stakeholders from shop floor to boardroom. Passionate about purpose-driven business, she has embedded ESG into strategy, governance, and culture.

As Global Category Lead for Grocery at Just Eat Takeaway.com, Laure Mendes drives the global strategy for digital convenience. Her 15+ year career is distinguished by forging partnerships that scale premier brands from top-tier FMCG players and global supermarket chains to e-commerce giants and leading beauty retailers. These high stakes experiences forged her unique partnership philosophy: combining human-centric collaboration with powerful data insights to build trust and drive results. Working closely with local markets, she empowers partners to achieve accelerated category growth, translating shared vision into tangible commercial success.