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Insights, Impulse und ganz viel Inspiration: Mit einem hochkarätig besetzten KICK-OFF hat das Symposium Essen + Trinken (SET) am 06. März 2025 die Foodbranche auf die gemeinsamen Herausforderungen der Zukunft […]

Es kann kein Zufall sein, dass sich Dicke Food Makes Fun GmbH beim Symposium Essen + Trinken präsentiert: Nachhaltigkeit, Innovation und Zukunftssicherheit sind der neu aufgestellten Branchengemeinschaft und einem führenden Anbieter exklusiver […]

Im Rahmen der inhaltlichen und organisatorischen Neuausrichtung des Symposium Essen + Trinken hat sich eine der bedeutendsten Dialogplattformen der deutschsprachigen Foodbranche auch auf Führungsebene noch einmal deutlich breiter aufgestellt. Um […]

The future is what we make of it. And the future of the food industry will be shaped and designed on March 6 in Munich: Under the motto **"The future is now!"**, [...]

**Ready – SET – Go!** The Symposium Essen + Trinken is gearing up as the dialogue platform for the food industry to be future-ready. **More Symposium – More Future:** Under this motto, the Symposium presents itself [...]

Over the past 30 years, the Symposium Essen + Trinken has developed into one of the industry's renowned dialog platforms in the DACH region. Once a year, the highlight event of the [...]

The Symposium Essen + Trinken will present a top-class program with first-class speakers on 27 and 28 June 2024. The two-day highlight event of the dialog platform will focus on current industry topics: The future is now! [...]

The transformation process continues: after 30 years, the leading independent dialog platform for the food industry in the DACH region has a fresh new look: a new logo, a website with a modern design and the [...]

The annual highlight event of the Symposium Essen + Trinken will celebrate its premiere next year at the Palladium / E-Werk in Cologne. On June 27 + 28, 2024, the popular industry get-together of the [...]

The two-day highlight event in Munich got off to a successful start on June 15 + 16, 2023. As an independent dialog platform, the symposium brought together decision-makers from retail, industry and the start-up scene as well as industry experts from business [...]

The qualified communications specialist and trained event expert has been organizing and talking about events for over 20 years. From 2004 to 2023, she worked for the full-service agency Söllner Communications AG, where she most recently also served as Head of Events and Operations, and since September 2023 as Managing Partner of c&p creative projects GmbH, with which she is successfully leading Söllner AG's core agency business into the future. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

As a proven specialist for events of all sizes, she has worked for numerous national and international corporations to implement complex requirements with efficiency and creativity. She and her team have also demonstrated their expertise in the conception and implementation of a wide range of communication projects.

After implementing the symposium operationally for 20 years and making it one of the most important meeting places for the food industry in a managerial role, she was recently able to take on even more creative responsibility: Since May 2023, the Managing Director and shareholder has put all her heart, passion and commitment into the transformation and future direction of SET, which is set to remain one of the most important dialog platforms in the industry for the next 30 years thanks to its innovative impetus. Together with the other Managing Directors, she therefore advocates the creation of greater synergies and strategic collaborations as well as the strengthening of the industry community as a whole, which can only succeed in establishing a sustainable and successful future for the food retail sector by working together.

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Natalie Gerits has more than three decades of experience in the consumer goods industry and has held key positions at renowned national and international companies during this time. After studying business administration in Cologne, she began her career with global companies such as Johnson & Johnson, H.J. Heinz, Dr. Oetker and the Bolton Group. Most recently, she was Managing Director of the Lambertz Group. Natalie Gerits has been a partner in NGF rocks - We rock your markets for over six years: together with her team, she has successfully managed national and international companies in the FMCG sector, driven the integration of innovative business concepts for up-and-coming FMCG manufacturers and successfully led medium-sized companies through transformative processes.

In addition to her professional commitment, Natalie Gerits provides important impetus in socially relevant topics: The promotion of young talent is particularly close to her heart. She is actively committed to developing and supporting the next generation of leaders - regardless of gender or background. A particular concern of hers is the empowerment of women in leadership positions, which she actively promotes through her initiatives and as co-founder of the SET WOMEN LEAD initiative. In her role as shareholder and Managing Director of Symposium Essen + Trinken GmbH, Natalie Gerits pursues the goal of shaping the meta-topic of nutrition on a dialog-oriented platform for trade and industry in a forward-looking way. Her focus is on sustainability, transparency, quality and responsibility.

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The retail specialist is one of the most influential decision-makers in the retail sector and has decades of experience in key positions, including positions at EDEKA, REWE and KARSTADT Feinkost. He has been contributing his know-how to the board of Symposium Essen + Trinken for over ten years. With his many years of expertise within the industry, he has had a strong influence on the format of the SET. He also works as a consultant for the company he founded, Dautzenberg Consulting.

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As a graduate in business administration, Matthias Zwingel worked as a division manager at real,- Holding GmbH before taking over the family business REWE Zwingel, which was awarded the “Goldene Sahnehaube” award four times thanks to its successful marketing measures for customer loyalty. Matthias Zwingel also received the Silver Badge of Honor and the Golden Badge of Honor from the Handelsverband Bayern e.V. (HBE) for his outstanding commitment. As Vice President, he has been responsible for the HBE and the BVLH Federal Association of the German Food Trade since 2013. He has managed his own food retail company, Zwingel Handels GmbH, with several stores for over 20 years.

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Edmund Pillekamp started his career as a retail salesman. At the beginning of his career, he worked for Hertie Berlin and Munich, Schlecker Süd and Penny Süd + the establishment of Penny Market Italia. Since 1995, REWE Group has benefited from his expertise in various management roles. His position as Managing Director of REWE Markt GmbH Region Süd and Billa Austria from 2018 to 2020 is particularly noteworthy. He is also characterized by his extraordinary commitment: For example, he realized countless REWE Family family celebrations and fundraising projects on behalf of REWE Group. He remained loyal to REWE Group until the end of 2024, working for the company as a project manager in partial retirement from 2021. Edmund Pillekamp is using his retirement as a new beginning: since 2025, he has been contributing his profound and versatile expertise and passion for the food trade as Managing Director of Symposium Essen + Trinken GmbH.

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