Nitin Bansal | Vice President, Olam Spices

Nitin Bansal is Vice President of Olam Spices responsible for Olam’s Global Pepper & Tropical product lines based in Vietnam. Nitin joined Olam in 2007 and was managing Olam’s business in Edible Nuts & Spices in China before moving to Vietnam in 2014 to assume his current role. Prior to joining Olam, he was working for 6 years in a business management role in other companies in India and China.

Nitin holds an MBA in International business from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi.

Alice Bayles | Global Buyer (Indian spices, Egyptian herbs, cardamom, and ginger), McCormick Global Ingredients Limited

Mike Bray | General Manager, BCFoods North America

Mike Bray has been working with BCFoods since 2003. Mike started his career with BCFoods as a Sales Manager and for the past 3 years has been the General Manager for the BCFoods North American division, helping to oversee the operations, sales and P&L. Mike Graduated from Cal State Chico with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and an emphasis in Marketing.

John Minardi | Vice President of Sales, Managing Partner, Accurate Ingredients

John Minardi is Vice President of Sales and Managing Partner at Accurate Ingredients/Ingredient Resources Inc. John joined Accurate as an equal share partner in 2021 and has an extensive background in the food ingredient segment while working for companies like Jain Farm Fresh Foods Inc., Nu-Tek Food Science, Olam and Conagra over the last 19 years. John holds bachelor’s degrees in International Business and Biotechnology and has been a member of ASTA since 2010 and joined the Board of Directors in 2022.

Guillermo Molina | Chief Commercial Officer, sabater USA, Inc.

Guillermo Molina is Chief Commercial Officer for Spices (CCO) at Sabater USA, Inc., a subsidiary of sabater. Guillermo joined the company in 2003. During his tenure with sabater, he has worked in purchasing, sales, and operations. Guillermo was born and raised in Murcia, studied International trade and business administration, and received an MBA at ENAE Business School.

Jayakrishnan Nair | Agriculture Development Director, McCormick Global Ingredients Limited

Jayakrishnan Nair is Agriculture Development Director with MGIL. He is responsible for managing the sustainability initiatives in India and carries over 30 years of experience in handling supply chain operations with expertise in commodity procurement & backward integration in agriculture commodities.

Before joining MGIL, Mr. Jayakrishnan was heading the procurement for McCormick’s India rice business. He has also worked with the joint venture operation of McCormick in India operating by the name AVT McCormick and during this tenure he got the opportunity to be the Key Account Manager for McCormick which was over & above procurement ranging across global sourcing, domestic commodities, ingredients, packaging, indirect & building the strategic differentiator through Backward Integration.

Mr. Jayakrishnan holds a Post Graduation in Business Management from a prestigious business school in India – Indian Institute of Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Computer Science from the University of Bombay.

Tom Overby | President, Nedspice US

Tom Overby is President of Nedspice US, an affiliated company of Nedspice Group, headquartered in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Nedspice is a leading global supplier of fully processed spices and food ingredients with production plants strategically located in Vietnam and India.

Tom has been in the spice industry for over 40 years; starting his career with the RT French Company upon graduation from Missouri State University in 1977. Tom has held increasingly responsible positions in manufacturing, planning, purchasing, sales/marketing, joint venture operations and has traveled extensively to source markets during his career.

Tom served on the ASTA Board of Directors for 6 years and was ASTA President from 2000-2002.

Ramón Sabater | China Manager, Qingdao Sabater Food Co. Ltd.

Ramón Sabater is the China Manager for Qingdao Sabater Food Co. Ltd. a subsidiary of Sabater Spices Group in China with its headquarters in Spain. Ramón joined Sabater Spices Group at the end of 2014 and represents the fourth generation of this family to run the company. Ramón was born and raised in Murcia, Spain and got his Business Administration degree from the University Carlos III in Madrid, Spain.

Suvan Sharma | CEO, Jain Farm Fresh Foods

Suvan Sharma is CEO at Jain Farm Fresh. Apart from food business responsibilities, Suvan takes keen interest in talent nurturing, future leaders development and growth, strategic initiatives of food business and long view. Suvan Sharma has been with the company for more than 27 years, lived and worked in different countries. He has played an active role in organic and inorganic growth, mergers, and acquisitions of the company’s food business.

Suvan Sharma has a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and a Masters in Business Administration.