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Stacy Bates MS, RDN, LD, CDE

Director, Wellness Nutrition Strategy, H-E-B

Stacy Bates is a registered dietitian and author with over 17 years of expertise in nutrition communications, marketing, education, business development, health services operations, and leadership. Currently, she leads H-E-B’s Wellness Nutrition Strategy, bridging the company's core food retail business with its expanding Healthcare Services division. At H-E-B, registered dietitians play a crucial role in improving nutrition literacy and health choices for Texans. Her contributions to retail health and wellness earned her the title of 2016 Progressive Grocer Dietitian of the Year. 

Prior to her career as a dietitian, Stacy gained significant experience in food science, nutrition, and marketing through various roles in both industry and education. She passionately advocates for how food can enhance overall health and well-being. Stacy is a member of the Academy of Nutrition, serves as Chair of the FMI’s Health and Wellbeing Council, and is part of the International Fresh Produce Association’s Foundation Board. 

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Craig Boyan

President & CEO, H-E-B

Craig Boyan is the President and Chief Operating Officer for H-E-B.  He is also a member of the H-E-B Board and a Trustee of the H-E-B Investment Retirement Plan. Craig joined H-E-B in 2005 as Chief Strategic Officer and was an advisor to H-E-B for two years before joining the company. Prior to H-E-B, Craig worked at the Monitor Company, a global consultancy based in Cambridge, MA.  Craig founded and ran Monitor’s New York office. He graduated from Harvard College, cum laude in economics, and he was a member of the Harvard varsity heavyweight crew team. He also received an MBA from Columbia Business School. Craig is on the Board of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), he is Chairman of the Board for Junior Achievement of South Texas, Chairman of the 2015 United Way Campaign in SA, on the Board of Trustees for Texas Biomedical Research Institute, and he is a member of the Trinity University Business Advisory Council.

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Jeremy Gosch

Chairman of the Board and CEO, Hy-Vee, Inc.

Jeremy Gosch serves as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Hy-Vee, Inc., a nearly $14 billion grocery retailer, operating more than 570 retail locations across the Midwest. Gosch started his career with Hy-Vee in 1995 as a part-time clerk at the Coralville, Iowa, store and was named store director at Eldora, Iowa, in 2002. He led stores in several communities before joining Hy-Vee’s executive leadership team in 2012 as assistant vice president, operations, for Hy-Vee’s northeast region. He was promoted through various executive leadership roles in merchandising, marketing, strategy and operations before being named president, chief operating officer, in 2021. In 2022, he was promoted to CEO and vice chairman of Hy-Vee, becoming only the fifth CEO in the company’s history. In 2024, Gosch was appointed chairman and CEO of Hy-Vee.
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Suzanne Monford

CEO and Chairman, Heritage Grocers Group, LLC

Suzanne Monford currently serves as Chairman & CEO for Heritage Grocers Group. She is an internally recognized retailer, with a proven track record of transformational leadership with industry-leading food retailers. Prior to joining Heritage Grocers Group, Suzanne spent more than 25 years in leadership roles in the US, Australia and the UK including CEO of PCC Community Markets, the nation’s largest chain of co-op grocers, Group Vice President and President for the Kroger Company, CEO of Andronico’s Community Markets, and CEO of Cheers Inc.  She has twice been awarded TWIG from Progressive Grocer, as CEO of Andronico’s Community Markets, and later for the Kroger Company. Across her career, she has pioneered innovation in digital retailing, ecommerce, concept design and go-to-market strategies; she has been named Top Woman in Retail Tech, as well as Top Disruptor for those efforts. Suzanne serves on the boards of directors for the Heritage Grocers Foundation/Cardenas Markets Foundation, FMI- The Food Industry Association, California Grocers Association and Clean Harvest Farms. 
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Krystal Register MS, RDN, LDN

Vice President, Health & Well-being, FMI

Krystal Register, MS, RDN, LDN is the Vice President of Health and Well-being at FMI - The Food Industry Association.  She serves as the lead coordinator and subject matter expert for nutrition, health and well-being policy, programs, activities, operations, media response and communications across the food industry for FMI members and community collaborators.  Krystal was a retail dietitian with Wegmans for 12 years prior to joining FMI and made significant contributions to company-wide wellness programs, consumer health messaging, and local media in the National Capital Region.

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Leslie Sarasin

President and CEO, FMI

Leslie G. Sarasin is the president and chief executive officer of FMI, the food industry association, which represents more than 1,500 member companies in the United States and around the world. Under Sarasin's leadership, FMI has become a forward focused and member centered organization committed to help supermarkets excel in their role of feeding families and enriching lives. Her synergistic style and determined spirit of collaboration has infused FMI with a renewed commitment to help its members address the critical industry issues of the day - food safety and the emerging importance of health and wellness. Prior to coming to FMI, Sarasin was president and CEO of the American Frozen Food Institute.
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Hunt Shipman

Principal and Director, Cornerstone

Hunt Shipman has more than thirty years of federal government and private sector experience in Washington.  Before joining Cornerstone, he was a senior executive for the largest trade association serving the food and beverage industry, where he led the association’s government affairs and communications programs. From 2001 to 2003, Hunt was Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and served as the acting Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at the United States Department of Agriculture.  In this capacity, he led three agencies with over 18,000 employees stationed around the world which administered more than $31 billion in programs. The Department of Agriculture appointed Hunt to serve as its principal negotiator with Congress for the 2002 Farm Bill and he later helped lead the Department’s implementation of that statute. Hunt also served as the staff director of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Professional Staff Member at the Senate Appropriations Committee, and on the personal staff of Senator Thad Cochran.