Founder and CEO

The PUR Co., a better-for-you confection company

Jay Klein is a born entrepreneur who lives by a philosophy that with hard work and perseverance, everything is possible. Jay’s vision was to develop a chewing gum free from chemical sweeteners, and safe for individuals with any allergies or dietary sensitivities.

The PUR Company launched in 2010 with PUR Gum after leading a team of professionals at Drivertise International, the first company Jay started in 2001. After he succeeded in selling his first pack of gum, he challenged himself to transition his small accomplishment into a full-fledged business, which has now become the #1 selling aspartame-free brand worldwide with a second product line, PUR Mints, launched in 2015. In 2016, The PUR Company was ranked top 10 on Profit 500’s list of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies and #1 in Manufacturing.

Vice President, Research and Development, Dairy

Danone North America

Stewart Townsend is the Vice President of Research and Development for dairy for Danone North America, based in White Plains, NY. Stewart joined the company in 2010 and oversees the Product, Process and Packaging Development functions for dairy for the region’s R&D Division.

Stewart begun his career at Mars Incorporated, and has since gained extensive experience in the food industry holding positions of increasing responsibility in the UK, Canada and the United States.

Manager of Strategic Insights

Nielsen Health & Wellness

Katherine leads the analytics behind many of the thought leadership efforts and industry presentations for the Nielsen Health & Wellness Team, and supports clients in understanding and answering their most critical health & wellness related questions across Retail, Food, OTC, Personal Care, Pharma, and Healthcare.

She works closely with the Nielsen strategic partner, Label Insight, to collaborate and provide granular ingredient and nutritional information and recommendations, to support clients in identifying where growth can be found in an ever evolving and challenging grocery retail landscape.

Marketing Director

Imbibe

In addition to leading Imbibe’s strategic marketing efforts, she is focused on ingredient and product trends in the food and beverage industry in order to provide valuable insights to brand owners and help them create successful products.

Most recently, Dembitzer has concentrated on sugar reduction strategies and helping Imbibe’s clients develop clean label products.

Professor emerita of Nutrition in the Department of Family, Consumer and Nutritional Sciences

St. Catherine University

Adjunct Professor in the Department of Food and Science and Nutrition

University of Minnesota

She is an internationally recognized expert, speaker and author in nutritional science with a focus on the global intake and health impact of carbohydrates, fiber and whole grains. She’s also the go-to resource for food safety and has authored the book, Food Safety (Eagan Press). As a leader among her peers, Dr. Jones led the Whole Grains Task Force and the Glycemic Carbohydrate Definition Committee and is Past President of the American Association of Cereal Chemists International.

Elizabeth has more than 10 years of experience as a regulatory and business reporter for trade press. She covers the food and beverage industries, including innovation, start-ups, health, wellness, nutrition, FDA and dietary supplements.