Marina is a food engineer and specialist in New Food Product Development. She has been working as a food consultant since 2019, leading projects with plant-based companies, from startups to big corporations. In 2021, Marina co-founded Solucionaria, a food consultancy focused on R&D, innovation and regulatory affairs for the food and beverage industries. She has experience in the quality and food safety areas. Working in R&D is her dream job, because it is dynamic, creative, and challenging. Another area she focuses on is trends and launches on the local and global markets, giving insights to companies on how to create or improve their products. The plant-based market is here to change the food industry for the better, and she hopes to help that happen in the best way possible.

Tawanda Muzhingi is a food scientist, nutritionist and a development expert working with Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA)’s Plant Based Foods Institute (PBFI) as the Director of International Programs. Tawanda joined PBFI from Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International’s Innovation Advisors Group when he was an Innovation Advisor in the Food and Agriculture practice. Prior to RTI, Tawanda worked at the CGIAR with the International Potato Center (CIP) and the Roots, Tubers and Bananas Program of the CGIAR as a Senior Scientist and Flagship Leader based in Nairobi, Kenya. At CIP and RTB Tawanda led the market systems development, nutrition sensitive agriculture and commercialization of roots, tubers and banana crops. Before joining CIP, Tawanda worked for 10 years at the Jean Mayer United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Services (ARS) Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, in the Carotenoids and Health Laboratory at Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA. Tawanda obtained his Ph.D. Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition and M.S. Food Policy and Applied Nutrition from the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston, MA, USA and Bachelor of science degree in Nutrition from the University of Zimbabwe. Tawanda is also adjunct professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing & Nutrition Sciences at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC. Tawanda is co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at a startup YESBreadCo based in Bloomington, IN.