Don Wilcox
Chair
Don Wilcox is the Vice-President of Technical Services at the Canada Bread Company, Limited. His responsibilities in this role include quality assurance and food safety, regulatory affairs and process development for Canada Bread Fresh, Maple Leaf Baking and Fresh Prepared Foods.
Prior to joining Canada Bread in 2002, Don worked for multinational food companies in both Canada and the United States. His primary responsibilities have been in the areas of product development and quality assurance and food safety, with some overlap in operations and purchasing. Don graduated from the University of Guelph with a B.Sc (Agr) majoring in microbiology.
Travis Bell
Travis Bell founded Arthur’s Fresh Smoothies in 1997. Under his leadership Arthur’s grew to become the number two brand in the refrigerated section of the premium fresh juice and smoothies segment and has won numerous awards for innovation and product excellence. Heinz Canada purchased 100% of Arthur’s in 2009 and Travis continued to consult with Heinz Canada until recently. Prior to reinvigorating the family business Travis was the Vice President of Sales for Acosta (previously Thomas Large & Singer) and contributed 8 years to Nabisco Brands through a progression of sales and marketing positions. In October 2011 Travis assumed ownership of Bagel O’s and is actively managing this snack company to strengthen and grow its market share. Travis graduated from the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business with an Honours in Business Administration.
Michael Collette
Michael Collette is a 20-year veteran of the flavour industry. He is currently the Functional Beverages Manager at Tempo Canada in Toronto. Michael joined Tempo in 2003 to implement a functional food and beverage capability and has put together a wide and innovative group of supplier companies.
Michael is also an expert product formulator, he has worked with IIB on the flavor system for 0-Calorie Canadian Exposure Flavored Water, which were acknowledged by Hidell-Eyster to be among the best tasting in the category. Prior to Tempo, Michael worked for AFI Flavors and subsequently Meterom (now Kerry Mastertaste) as a product developer and formulator for over 15 years.
Derek Jamieson
After receiving his B.A. in Economics from York University, Derek Jamieson has gone on to a lengthy career in the milling industry. From 1973 to 1993, Derek performed multiple functions for Robin Hood Flour including positions in procurement, distribution, production management and consumer and commercial product marketing.
Derek moved onto New-Life Mills Limited in 1993 where he acts as General Manager of both the flour division in Hanover and Hayhoe Mills Ltd. in Woodbridge. New-Life’s parent, Parrish & Heimbecker, Limited, amalgamated its flour milling assets in 2010 as P&H Milling Group, Canada’s second largest flour miller. Derek currently serves as Executive Vice-President.
David Jennison
As Vice-President, Research and Product Development, David Jennison oversees all research, product and process development for four Gay Lea Foods manufacturing facilities. Gay Lea Foods is a $350M co-operative owned by Ontario Dairy Farmers with a head office in Mississauga.
David’s prior experience includes product development and quality control with retail food product and foodservice companies Canada Packers and W. T. Lynch Foods. He also worked with flavour companies including Givaudan, Quest, Universal Flavors (now Sensient) and IFF.
Len Kahn
Len Kahn’s varied career experiences have allowed him to accrue a wealth of knowledge in research and development, product management, marketing communications, and business development, particularly in the areas of agriculture and life sciences. In addition, Len has developed a solid network of connections throughout North America. His numerous relationships span private and public sectors as well as academic circles.
Len currently runs his own marketing communications firm, Marketing911, based in Guelph, Ontario. He holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Guelph.
Willian E. (Ted) McKechnie
Ted McKechnie has been the president and CEO of William Davies Consulting Inc. since 1998. Prior to that, he gained extensive marketing management experience in the consumer goods, resource and service industries. In the food industry specifically, he has provided leadership at Humpty Dumpty Snack Food Ltd., Maple Leaf Foods and Hostess Frito Lay.
Ted has a proven track record for overachieving corporate financial and growth objectives and is an expert in turning around troubled businesses. He is a disciplined strategic thinker with the ability to lead marketing organizations successfully through change. Ted was recently awarded the Philip Morris Chairman’s Award for “recognition of extraordinary contributions having a significant and lasting impact on the Corporation.”
Richard David Moccia
Rich Moccia currently holds both research and senior administrative cross-appointments at the University of Guelph. He is the Associate Vice-President of Research for the Agri-Food and Partnerships portfolio. Rich is also a Professor in the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences.
He currently oversees the provincial Agrifood Partnership agreement which includes research programming, contract administration and infrastructure management of 14 provincial research facilities and three regional campuses, and is also the managing head of the Laboratory Services Division encompassing both the Agriculture and Food Labs and the Animal Health Laboratories. His faculty career activities have always had a strong focus in research, education and extension service, and he is the holder of several national and regional awards of excellence in all three disciplines.
Harold Schooley
Harold Schooley represents the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association where he is Chair of the Research Section and ex-officio board member. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies and Norfolk Fruit Growers Association.
He serves on the National Science Advisory Committee for Canadian Horticultural Council, the Stakeholders Advisory Committee for the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, the Research Committee for Ontario Apple Growers and the Theme Advisory Group for the Ontario Research Advisory Network. He is a certified On-Farm Food Safety Auditor and a third-generation apple grower from Simcoe, Ontario in Norfolk County.
Bonnie Winchester
Bonnie Winchester joined the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food in September
2003. She was initially responsible for the food safety and environment portfolios and
is currently the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Economic Development Division.
Prior to joining OMAFRA, Bonnie was President and CEO of Ontario Exports Inc. and Assistant Deputy Minister of the Trade Development Division at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. Bonnie joined the Ontario Public Service in 1998, after having extensive experience in business development and marketing in the private sector. She has held senior positions at multinational companies such as McCain Foods, Philip Morris and Best Foods. Bonnie holds an Honours Degree in Sociology from McMaster University.