About us

Our goal: to unite all operational decision-makers in the food industry and the entire value chain for joint future shaping.

Vision for the industry

We aim to unite all stakeholders in the food industry across the DACH region to become responsible and future-proof shapers of healthy nutrition, sustainable supply, and responsible future development. We are committed to promoting responsibly produced, healthy, and enjoyable food. Furthermore, we dedicate ourselves to raising awareness within the industry—across the value chain—and, in the long term, among consumers and schools on topics such as healthy eating habits and responsible food production.

Our mission: Uniting all stakeholders

Our aim is to promote and actively shape direct, personal and future-proof dialogue between all stakeholders, operational designers and decision-makers along the entire value chain as well as experts in the food industry with a focus on nutrition, responsibility, sustainability and digitalization.

Our breakthrough for industry development

The last few years have acted as a catalyst for a wide range of changes affecting both society and the industry. This has prompted us to drive forward our own evolutionary process in order to better respond to the changing needs of trade, industry and start-ups. When the association Symposium Feines Essen + Trinken e.V. was founded over 30 years ago, the focus of the event was already on nutrition - albeit initially with an emphasis on quality, enjoyment and taste: Symposium Feines Essen + Trinken. This initiative soon developed into the key dialog platform for the food industry in the DACH region, bringing together relevant decision-makers from trade and industry at its annual highlight event. For decades now, the symposium has stood for productive industry dialog at eye level directly at the product.

And now we are taking the next step to the next level: we are continuing to develop the dialog platform by creating new formats and events and opening up comprehensively to all stakeholders along the entire value chain. In terms of content, we are expanding the core topic of nutrition into the holistic context of sustainability, responsibility and digitalization in order to better reflect the scope of the food industry. This entire process is also reflected in our new name: Symposium Food + Drink.

Learn more about the events of Symposium Essen + Trinken 2025 and 2026 here.

EVENTS

Symposium: Connected Collaboration

As Symposium Essen + Trinken, we operate holistically, independently, practically, and always from the industry for the industry. To achieve the greatest possible impact, we have involved various active contributors—many of them volunteers—with whom we collaborate on different levels to advance our mission. To provide a clear overview of all actors' contributions, we have organized the various committees and participants of the symposium into a structured framework.

Register now for our industry events.

Participation

Register now for our industry events.

Symposium Essen + Trinken GmbH

Cécile Möhring

Managing Director
Symposium Essen + Trinken GmbH
and Partner with c&p creative project GmbH

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Natalie Gerits

Partner and member of the board
of the association SFET e.V.

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Karl-Heinz Dautzenberg

Deputy Chairman of the Board and company representative of the SFET e.V. association

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Matthias Zwingel

Chairman of the Board and company representative of the SFET e.V. association

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We are supported by our numerous partners:

Symposium Essen + Trinken GmbH

c/o Design Offices Macherei München
Weihenstephaner Str. 12
81673 München

Copyright 2024: Symposium Essen + Trinken

With heart and soul: For nearly 20 years, Cécile Möhring has been passionately committed to the Symposium Essen + Trinken, bringing success through her operational execution skills. Since May 2023, as Managing Director of Symposium Essen + Trinken GmbH, she has been steering the various events and formats of this dialogue platform into the future. Previously, she managed the Symposium’s operations and numerous other successful projects in the food industry and other sectors as Head of Operations & Events at Söllner Communications AG. In September 2023, Cécile Möhring joined the 360-degree communications agency c&p communication | creative project GmbH as Managing Partner, which has inherited the legacy of the former Söllner Communications AG, where she serves as sole owner and Managing Director..

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Natalie Gerits has been working in the FMCG sector for well-known companies in the consumer goods industry for over 30 years, both nationally and internationally. After completing her studies in business administration in Cologne, she worked for Johnson & Johnson, H.J. Heinz, Dr. Oetker and Bolton Group, among others. Most recently, she was Managing Director of the Lambertz Group. Natalie Gerits has been a partner in NGF rocks - We rock your markets for more than four years. During this time, she and her team have successfully managed national and international companies with a wide variety of business concepts in the FMCG sector. She has opened up new markets for her clients throughout Europe and implemented up-and-coming FMCG manufacturers in the national and international retail landscape. Natalie Gerits also supports topics with socio-political relevance, such as sustainability. She is Chairwoman of the Board of SUSY/Central Agency for Green Commerce GmbH.

As a shareholder of Symposium Essen + Trinken GmbH, her aim is to actively shape the megatopic of nutrition for trade and industry in a sustainable, transparent, high-quality and responsible manner on the dialog platform.

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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 enriched the Management Board with his expertise for over ten years. Karl-Heinz Dautzenberg is largely responsible for the composition of the marketplace and the start-up platform as well as the guest country presentations. 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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