Pepper News

Laura Shumow has been with the American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) since September, 2018. She works with the ASTA Board of Directors to set the strategic direction of the association and with the ASTA staff to ensure the goals are met. Prior to joining ASTA, Laura worked at the National Confectioners Association as the vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs. In this role, she also oversaw the Chocolate Council, a decision making body that handles issues specific to the cocoa and chocolate industry. She has a strong background in domestic and international regulatory issues, and a proven track record of success addressing challenges related to the supply chains of food ingredients sourced from developing countries. Laura received her master's of health sciences from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and bachelor's degree in food science from the University of Wisconsin. She is an active member of several professional societies, including the Institute of Food Technologists, where she serves as past chair of the Food Laws and Regulations Section.

Dr. Sidi Rana Menggala is agriculture researcher in spices production (harvest and post-harvest) with a background in Bio Engineering. His research is framed in an interdisciplinary framework, involving the study of human and environment connection, and links theoretical paradigms to experimental methods of research regarding spices from Indonesia. Recently he is involved in the development of spices value chain development across multistakeholder from private sector to local government of Indonesia.

Mike Liu has been the Chairman and CEO at BCFoods, since 2007. In 2017 he was elected president of the China Spice Association (CSA). Under Mike's leadership, BCFoods has become a leading global food ingredients supplier with manufacturers in China, an operation and R&D center in Chicago, global ingredients partners, worldwide distribution platforms, and 3PL services. As the founding president of CSA, he works with CSA colleagues for China's national food ingredients standards and cooperates with international professional associations to host the China Spice Conference. He was a professor at Shandong Agriculture University, Taian, Shandong, China, from 1985-1996, a visiting scholar at Texas Tech University from 1996-1998, and a Research Scientist at the University of California, Davis, from 1998-2000.

Van Vannal is the Executive Director of the Cambodian Pepper and Spice Federation (CPSF) which was established in November 2018 by the key focal points of the Cambodian pepper sector such as Cambodia Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (CPSA)/Grow Asia, Cambodia Institute for Research and Rural Development (CIRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries.

Furthermore, Vannal is a serial entrepreneur with his ultimate goal is to support all stakeholders in building a robust business environment for the agriculture sector in Cambodia. He has a wide range of professional experience in FMCG, Education, Hospitality, MFI, IMS and Agriculture. He takes on the leading role of a national level coordinator for promoting the Cambodian pepper for the benefit of the local producers, processor and exporters.

He will share his insight on the Cambodian Pepper Sector to all the participants of the 51st Annual Sessions and Meetings of the International Pepper Community.