Thomas Drahorad is CEO of NCX Drahorad, a service company founded in 1982. For more than fifteen years, Drahorad has been active in the berry category on a professional level, with an international trade activity (export and import) and a series of initiatives to promote and develop the berry category.

He participated as a speaker at the Global Berry Congress in Amsterdam (2019), is the promoter of the Mirtillo Business Day event (2019), of Italian Berry Day (2021) and International Blueberry Days (2023), of the Berry Retail Monitor in the Italian retail sector and is the chief editor of the thematic website Italian Berry (with 20,000 visits per month) and author of numerous publications in the international trade press.

Marcel de Jong is an advisor and pioneer in integrating natural strategies, with over 30 years of experience in creating resilient soils and promoting plant health for sustainable yields in fruit and vegetable production.

Raised on a family farm and after completing 12 years of education at Dutch agricultural schools, Marcel has been deeply involved in ecologically responsible cultivation of fruits and vegetables for decades.

He regularly contributes to professional publications and delivers lectures both nationally and internationally on topics such as: soil biodiversity, balances in soils, relationships between minerals for plant health and optimal produce. His approach is grounded in experience and analysis, combining practical applications with strong support from data and testing methods.

Human resources strategy and social sustainability expert in the agricultural sector. He serves as Social & Environmental Impact Manager at Driscoll’s Morocco, where he works with growers to strengthen social practices, enhance labor productivity, and support the sustainable development of the berry industry. With more than 25 years of experience in human resources management, he focuses on key agricultural workforce challenges, including rural labor attractiveness, workforce mobility, and social performance in farming operations. He is also President of AMDRHA (Moroccan Association for the Development of Human Resources in Agriculture).

Dr. Angel Rebollar Alviter is Professor of Plant Pathology at Universidad Autónoma Chapingo (UACh), Mexico, and earned his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from The Ohio State University. His research focuses on the epidemiology and integrated management of diseases affecting berry and horticultural crops, with emphasis on emerging diseases, fungicide resistance, and evidence-based disease management. He has published extensively in leading journals, including Plant Disease, Crop Protection, and CABI Agriculture and Bioscience, and serves as Associate Editor of Tropical Plant Pathology. With over 20 years of consulting experience, he has collaborated with berry growers, nurseries, and multinational crop protection companies throughout Latin America, developing practical disease management strategies that improve crop health, productivity, and profitability.

Dr Bekker is an applied entomologist and Extraordinary Lecturer and Researcher at Stellenbosch University, where his work focuses on economically important pests of deciduous and soft fruit crops. He also serves as Technical and Research Manager a BerriesZA, the South African berry industry body, through his consultancy, The Gulu Company (Pty) Ltd. In his private consulting work, he supports commercial growers in improving pest and disease monitoring systems by integrating monitoring, crop protection interventions and field data to strengthen long-term management decisions. His research focuses on integrated pest management, applied pest ecology and the development of practical, data-driven approaches that increase the value of monitoring systems and improve crop protection decision-making in commercial fruit production.