8th European Foodservice Summit

David Bosshart
Zurich, Switzerland, www.gdi.ch

Dr. David Bosshart is CEO of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute for
economic and social studies, one of Europe’s leading think tanks.
He is the author of various publications including ‘Kultmarketing’ (Cult
Marketing), ‘Die Zukunft des Konsums’ (The Future of Consumption)
and ‘Billig’ (Cheap), and a frequent speaker at events in Europe, USA
and Asia. His work focuses primarily on trade and retailing, management
and social change. He studied philosophy and political theory.

Paul Bringmann
Utrecht, Netherlands, www.laplace.nl

Paul Bringmann is Managing Director Les Halles, the foodservice
department of Vroom & Dreesmann and member of the board of
V & D. Les Halles has more than 60 La Place in-store and 19 standalone
restaurants, 35 cafés and bakeries and 41 Panini take-away shops, as well as 6 La Place Mangeries and about 35 big events in public catering. 5,500 employees rang up sales of € 160 m in 2006. Last year, La Place was nominated for the World Retail Award in the category ‘Innovative Format of the Year’. Paul is an outstanding operator and a great conceptual brain.

Franco Costa
Riccò del Golfo, Italy, www.costagroup.net

Franco Costa is the Co-owner of Costa Group Society, one of Europe’s
leading companies in the shop-fitting field. In 1980, the company was
born to create furniture for bakeries. Today the whole HoReCa sector
is Costa's field of business. Fittings developed from an accurate craftmade process that embraces style, arts and functionality. Each creation is a unique product (a mix of design, lights, colours, shapes, decorations etc.). 100 employees. Franco is also giving lessons in ‘Food Experience Design’ and ‘New Entertainment Design’.

Alain Coumont
Brussels, Belgium, www.lepainquotidien.com

Alain Coumont is the Founder of Le Pain Quotidien (LPQ). The Belgian
bakery-café concept, launched in Brussels in 1990, now has 70 outlets
in Europe, the Middle East and North America – 25 of them in Belgium
and 22 in the US. A chef with experience of stared kitchens, the 46 year
old is a proponent of the fair-trade idea and an advocate of ecological
responsibility. For many years, LPQ’s bakery cafés have been places of
pilgrimage for experts. Alain has unbounded passion for the product.

Doug Doran
Orlando, USA, www.seasons52.com

Doug Doran is Senior Director Operations for Seasons 52, a fresh grill
and wine bar from industry leading Darden Restaurants (2005/06: Sales
of $ 5.7 bn, more than 1,400 restaurants. Main brands: Red Lobster,
Olive Garden). Doug oversees the culinary, service and management
teams and was responsible for introducing Seasons 52 in the 3 markets
where they currently operate. Having worked with Darden Restaurants
since 1996, Doug has established many performance records. He is a
passionate leader who strongly believes in the power of learning, living
and teaching the art of hospitality.

Andreas Karlsson
London, UK, www.wagamama.com

Andreas Karlsson is International Development Executive of wagamama ltd, the world’s leading noodle restaurant brand. wagamama has over 50 company owned restaurants in the UK and USA, and over 25 franchised restaurants in 8 countries. He started his career with wagamama in 1995 after ‘falling in love’ with the concept as a customer. In these 12 years, he has opened and managed some of wagamama’s earlier restaurants in the UK and in more recent years has focused primarily on wagamama’s international franchise expansion.

Peter Kruse
Bremen, Germany, www.nextpractice.de

Peter Kruse is Managing Partner of nextpractice GmbH in Bremen and Professor for general and organization psychology at the University
of Bremen. He studied psychology, biology and human medicine. Peter
worked for over 15 years at several universities in the field of brain
research. His main topics have been the processing of complexity and
the autonomous order formation in intelligent networks. A very busy
man, co-founder and partner in several service and production
companies, author of over 200 scientific and popular publications.

Louis Le Duff
Paris, France, www.groupeleduff.com

Louis Le Duff is the Founder and Chairman of Groupe Le Duff, one of
the leading foodservice companies in France. Launched 31 years ago,
the empire for bakery product concepts noted total revenues of € 630 m
in 2006 and can boast almost 600 restaurants and boulangeries
(70 percent in France, 30 percent international). Main brands: Brioche
Dorée, Pizza Del Arte and La Madeleine. Louis has a Ph.D. in Management Science. He is an authentic pioneer with great drive and expansion orientation.

Jon L. Luther
Canton, USA, www.dunkinbrands.com

Jon L. Luther is Chairman and CEO of Dunkin' Brands, the parent
company of Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and Togo's. In 2006,
Dunkin' Brands had more than 13,000 stores in 50 countries worldwide,
and systemwide sales of $ 6.4 bn. He is a veteran of the foodservice
industry and a proven leader in creative brand development. With him
at the helm (1997 - 2002), Popeye’s won industry awards for menu
strategy, store re-design and customer satisfaction. Jon Luther holds
a degree in hotel and restaurant management from Paul Smith’s
College, and two honorary doctorates.

Andrew Lynch
Weybridge, Surrey, UK, www.ssp-intl.com

Andrew Lynch is CEO of SSP. He was also a Group Board Director of
Compass Group plc, for 9 years (1997 - 2005). Andrew has led SSP
through the sale process from Compass and now heads the company
under its new private equity owner, EQT. SSP operates in the travel
concession market primarily in airports and railway stations and has
some 2,000 outlets across 28 countries. SSP trades through a range
of owned and franchised brands including Upper Crust, Café Ritazza,
Bonne Journee, Marks and Spencer Simply Food and Burger King.

Henry McGovern
Warsaw, Poland, www.amrest.eu

Henry McGovern is Co-founder of American Restaurants (AmRest)
and has been its CEO since the 90s - a 13-year veteran of doing
business in Poland. He has started and run multiple companies in the
West and the East. Henry developed AmRest from one restaurant to
its current level of 200 units in 3 countries. AmRest’s business
includes Pizza Hut, KFC (franchised), Rodeo Drive and Fresh Point
(new brands). Background: London School of Economics. Currently
serving on the International Advisory Board of YUM Inc.

Christopher C. Muller
Orlando, USA, www.hospitality.ucf.edu

Christopher C. Muller, Ph.D., is a leading academic expert. He is
currently a Professor in the Rosen College of Hospitality Management
at the University of Central Florida where he is Director of the Center
for Multi-Unit Restaurant Management. His research has focused on
chain-restaurant organization, development and growth and the
training of multi-unit managers. Christopher has lectured on these
topics throughout the world.

G. Clotaire Rapaille
New York, USA, www.rapailleinstitute.com

Dr. G. Clotaire Rapaille is an internationally renowned expert in
Archetype Discoveries and Creativity. He has written more than 10
books on these topics. Rapaille’s technique for market research has
grown out of his work in the areas of psychiatry, psychology, and
cultural anthropology. Most interesting for foodservice: the Logic of
Emotion, which is the code of each Cultural Archetype in the collective
unconscious of a given culture. He has taught at many famous
universities around the world including the Sorbonne.

Gretel Weiss
Frankfurt, Germany, www.cafe-future.net

Gretel Weiss is the Co-founder and Editor-in-chief of the two leading
trade magazines - food-service (since 1982) and FoodService Europe &
Middle East (since 1998). She is a recognised expert with insider
knowledge of the chain-restaurant industry (market analyses,
conceptual case studies and trends). Background: farming, university
degrees in nutritional science and economics.