Lecturers

Dr. Gabriel Beltrán is senior researcher at IFAPA in “Venta del Llano” with twenty four years of experience. He is focused in the study of agronomical and technological factors affecting olive oil sensory characteristics and bioactive compounds. He is an expert in optimizing the olive oil milling process. Dr. Beltrán is in charge of olive oil characterization of the World Olive Germplasm Bank (IFAPA-Cordoba) and the releases from the IFAPA’s breeding program.

Jaume Biarnés is the head Chef of Alícia Foundation, responsible food lab. A culinary research centre in which scientists and chefs work together in practical projects to improve people’s life quality, promote quality food products and do R+D for companies and entities. Alícia Foundation works has been in operation since 2003 and was the very first culinary research centre of its kind in the world.

Jaume Biarnés was graduated from culinary school in Barcelona and has worked in different restaurants, catering and pastry at the highest level (El Bulli, Escribà, Vilaplana, Casino de Madrid) but also in humble and traditional places (Club Nàutic de Calafell, Marisqueria Casa Duro, Camping Solsona). As a Chef at Alícia he has collaborated with major food industries in Europe and developed projects for strategic promotion of products and tourism. He has been invited to different Universities to give lectures (Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Yale University) and also has been senior adviser for the European Commission in Brussels.

Dra. Ana Brito Carrilho is researcher at the “Instituto Superior de Agronomia” in the University of Lisboa. She has more than fifteen years of experience on olive oil quality analysis. Panel leader of the “Laboratorio de Estudios Tecnicos” wich is recogniced by IOC.

Based in California, Alexandra Kicenik Devarenne is an international olive oil consultant, writer and educator. She has written on many aspects of olive oil for both popular and scholarly publications and is the author of the reference book Olive Oil: A Field Guide. An official olive oil taste panel member since 2003, she has been involved in organizing and/or teaching olive oil courses at domestic and international venues since 2004. She also serves as a judge and advisor at numerous olive oil competitions at home and abroad.

She is co-founder of Extra Virgin Alliance (EVA) an international non-profit trade association dedicated to olive oil quality. EVA works to inform the trade and consumers about olive oil, to connect consumers and quality extra virgin olive oil producers, and to celebrate the rich culture and culinary use of this extraordinary food.

Dr. Luis Guerrero, PhD in Social Psychology, B.A. in Marketing and Food Engineer. He started his research career at IRTA (Institute for Agri-Food Research and Technology) in 1988, where he is still developing his activity as a senior researcher. Author or co-author of more than 90 publications (Web of Science, h-index 27) and 20 book chapters, he has focused his research in sensory analysis, sensometrics, and measurement of consumer behaviour in food related issues from multidisciplinary approaches. Dr. Guerrero is member of the committee CTN/87 “Sensory Analysis” from AENOR (Spanish Association for Standardization), founding member of the Spanish Association of Sensory Analysis (AEPAS) and professor of statistics and sensory analysis in different Master degrees. He has actively contributed to several national and EU research projects such as TRUEFOOD (FP6), ISAFRUIT (FP6), Q-PORKCHAINS (FP6), HighTech Europe (FP7) or DIVERSIFY (FP7).

Juan Ramón Izquierdo is Civil servant of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment since 1976 and head of the Fats and Oils Analysis Department of the Agri-food Arbitration Laboratory of the Ministry. For more than thirty years he has been the head of the Official Olive Oil tasting panel of the Ministry. Member of the experts working groups of the International Olive Council (IOC) and the Commission of the European Union. Co-writer of the book “Aceite de oliva virgen. Análisis sensorial” (Ed. Agrícola Española, 2997) and several specialist articles. He has been jury of many international olive oil competitions.

Dr. Lamuela-Raventos is the Director of the Institute for Research on Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA-UB), Associate Professor at the Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Gastronomy, at the School of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona, and leader of a CIBEROBN group. She is the IP of the Polyphenol Research Group . She has more than 250 papers with and an h-index of 62. She is currently working in important International and National projects, related to the nutritional interest of food bioactive compounds. Dr. Lamuela-Raventos’ research focuses on bioactive compounds and food. The research group is actively involved in several clinical and epidemiological studies. For example, we have collaborated in the PREDIMED (Prevention with Mediterranean Diet) and the PREDIMES PLUS, in clinical studies in humans and animals to evaluate the effect of consumption of bioactive compounds of different foods in health, and to analyze the effect of the matrix and/or doses of absorption of phenolic compounds.

Paul Miller is an Australian based agricultural scientist with over 35 years working as a researcher, industry leader and farmer.

In January 2012 Paul co-founded the Extra Virgin Alliance (EVA). EVA is a unique not-for-profit group of olive oil producers and experts from 15 countries on 5 continents dedicated to the promotion of and education about extra virgin olive oil. EVA’s mission is to help unlock the value of this unique ancient natural food for consumers, producers and the modern supply chain. Since 2002 Paul; has led work in Australia and internationally in major forums and in new-producer countries to develop olive oil standards that better relate to consumer benefit, both regulatory and trade standards. Paul participates in several national and international expert committees regarding olive oil quality. Paul visits many olive-producing regions around the world, is a regular speaker to industry meetings, consults to businesses and producer groups in several countries and is involved in the development and use of technology to deliver this ancient gift of olive oil in the best condition from the diverse production zones that make up the olive oil industry.

Erminio Monteleone is Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Systems Management (GESAAF) at the University of Florence (Italy). He is chairman of the Italian Sensory Science Society (SISS) since 2011 and chairman of the European Sensory Science Society (E3S) since 2011 to 2013, now Treasurer. His research activity focusses in collection, analysis and interpretation of human sensory and hedonic responses to food and the relationship between sensory and chemical characteristics of food. He was co-editor of the book “Olive oil sensory science” (Ed. Willey, 2014).

David Neuman is a food industry veteran with over 30 years’ experience. He holds a second-level professional olive oil taster certification from ONAOO (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Olio di Oliva). David was the Nature’s Path EVP Global Sales and Marketing (1996-2006), growing the business from a niche brand to an industry leader in organic cereals and snacks. He then moved on to President of Lucini Italia (2006-2015), where he leveraged his true passion for olive oil in spearheading all brand efforts, ultimately quadrupling the business’ revenue and widely extending the product assortment. Lucini Italia sold to California Olive Ranch January 2015. In 2015, David started Gaea North America (CEO) with the support of Aris Kefalogiannis and Gaea Greece. Today, David Neuman embraces the personal mission of increasing the consumer’s understanding of high-quality extra-virgin olive oil. He has shared his knowledge with over 1000 industry professionals and consumers through his “Olive Oil 101” training classes.

A 39 year Specialty Food industry veteran, Maria Reyes, immigrated to the United States with her family in 1969. Specialty Foods is not only a career but a passion. She moved up the ranks in the industry with a background in purchasing/supply chain. Twelve years ago, Maria changed direction and focused on another side of the business, category product management and found a passion for helping suppliers grow their brands. Six years ago she discovered the wonders of olive oil. Over the last six years, Maria has invested many hours reading, learning, seeking out mentors and building a worldwide network of experts in the olive oil industry which has helped train many of the national retailers serviced by KeHE Distributors. In 2015, Maria was a guest speaker at the New York International Olive Oil Competition as well as other industry events and has had several articles published in both industry and KeHE Distributors internal publications. In 2015, Maria was nominated as a Progressive Grocer Woman of Influence in the industry. Maria is fluent in both English and Spanish, has been married for 33 years, and has three children and three grandchildren.

Dr. Agustí J. ROMERO, PhD in Food Science and Technology. Thirty years of experience as researcher at the IRTA Plant Science Program. His work focuses on virgin olive oil quality improvement and cultivar evaluation. He is co-author of one book about olive cultivars in Catalonia, the chapter about olive oils from Spain in “Olive Oil Sensory Science Book” (Ed. Willey, 2014) and several parts of technical books on olive oil, food sensorial analysis, etc. Co-author of more than 60 scientific reports and more than 80 articles of divulgation. In addition, he is an expert assistant for the International Olive Council (IOC) regarding olive germplasm repository banks and professor in several master courses: “experto en cata de aceites” University of Jaen; “gestión e innovación de la industria alimentaria” University of Lleida. He collaborates regularly with “Escuela Universitaria de Hotelería y Turismo” (University of Barcelona) and “Escuela Superior de Hostalería de Barcelona”. Member of the official olive oil taste panel of Catalonia (Spain), he contributed to its formation and currently is responsible for its continuous training under ISO-17025 rules. He has designed special training strategies for many tasting panels in several countries (Argentina, Chile, Germany, Japan, Morocco, Spain, Turkey and USA). He has been jury of several international olive oil competitions (Tokyo, London, Los Angeles, Argentina and Shanghai)

Emmanuel Salivaras is panel leader and expert on olive oil analysis, since he owns a commercial laboratory (Multichrom Lab). He has done research on olive oil authenticity and currently he is chairman of the London International Olive Oil Competition.

Rosa Vañó has extensive experience in management acquired in well-recognized multinational companies in different sectors. After holding several positions of responsibility—the last nine years in The Coca-Cola Company as a Business Unit Manager—in 2003 she founded Castillo de Canena Olive Juice, positioning the brand as a reference of innovation and quality within the Premium olive oil market worldwide in short time. During these years running Castillo de Canena, Rosa María Vañó has managed to consolidate the international expansion of the company, already available in more than 50 countries; a brilliant growth based on the high quality and prestige of its oils, validated with many national and international awards.

Since 2011, Rosa is member of the Florentina Georgofilli Academy, the oldest Agricultural Academy in Europe; Vice-President of the Andalusian Academy of Gastronomy; Councilor of the Caja Sur Foundation; member of the Agri-Food Council of IESE Barcelona; Advisor of the editorial board of Diario de Jaen; member of the board of Extra Virgin Alliance (USA); Advisor of the Interprofessional Olive Oil Council, and member of the Olive Council of Junta de Andalucía. In 2008, she received the Entrepreneur Woman of the Year Award.

Dr. Stefania Vichi, PhD in Food Science and Technology, Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona. Dr. Vichi leads a research line on olive oil in which she has worked successfully during 20 years. Co-author of nearly 60 scientific articles and book chapters (H index = 20), she has participated in several national and European research projects and R+D+I contracts in the field of food quality and authenticity. Her field of expertise refers to the development and optimization of analytical methods and their application for the evaluation of different aspects of food quality and authenticity, in particular in the field of olive oil, and with special emphasis to the study of chemical markers of virgin olive oil sensory characteristics.

Her work focuses on olive growing and virgin olive oil quality, production and physico-chemical characteristics. Lecturer in a wide range of master courses, she collaborates regularly with different Spanish universities and international organizations. She is also regularly invited to participate as sensory judge in both national and international olive oil competitions (Los Angeles, Japan, etc.). Co-author of more than 20 articles on impact in the field of the virgin olive oil, as well as different books or chapters of books such as the "Manual of Tasting and Pairing of Olive Oil". Since 2011, she is the leader of the CITOLIVA virgin olive oil tasting panel.