Microbiological risk and resilience in dairy and plant-based production seminar

Bertrand Emond, Campden BRI

Bertrand has a wealth of knowledge, experience and connectivity from working here at Campden BRI since 1988. Bertrand has a Master's in Food Science & Technology (Dijon, France) and a Master's of Business Administration (Bath, UK).

Bertrand is passionate about supporting the industry in the areas of skills, knowledge, training, learning and development, competency and achieving culture excellence through behaviour change. He won the 2020 BRCGS CEO Europe Award recognising his commitment and contribution to food safety and the 2014 Heinz Award for Excellence for Leadership in Collaborative CPD for the Industry (in particular for his role in supporting competency and CPD, promoting the food industry as a career of choice, and providing collaboration between all stakeholders).

Sukalpa Dey, Novonesis

Sukalpa Dey is a Food Scientist and industry leader with nearly two decades of international experience in microbiological risk management, food safety, and resilient manufacturing across dairy, plant-based, and fermented food systems.

He is based in Cork, Ireland and currently works as Technical Account Manager – Food & Beverage (UK & Ireland) at Novonesis, where he provides advanced technical support to Dairy and food manufacturers on Fermentation and BioProtection. His work involves recommending starter culture selection, Bioprotective cultures, enzyme systems, process parameter optimization, and hygienic design inputs. Sukalpa has extensive hands-on experience in dairy manufacturing, with expertise in controlling Listeria monocytogenes, yeast, and mould in ready to eat and fermented products.

Prior to his current role, Sukalpa held senior operational and technical leadership positions in dairy and cheese manufacturing, including Plant Based Cheese Manufacturing.

Sukalpa holds a B.Tech in Dairy technology from India, an MSc in Food Science (First Class Honours) from UCC, Cork and is formally trained in Advanced HACCP, ISO 22000 auditing, and Lean Six Sigma. He is a regular technical speaker at industry workshops and serves as a judge at the International Cheese Awards and World Charcuterie Awards UK, bringing a rare combination of manufacturing excellence and commercial insight.

Rob Limburn, Campden BRI

Rob has worked in Microbiology here within both Methods Research and Industrial Process Microbiology. He has been working in the food industry since 2004 and also has experience in allergens testing and authenticity testing.

Suzanne Jordan, Campden BRI

Suzanne has worked here at Campden BRI since 2005, following nine years of PhD and postdoctoral research experience in food microbiology and molecular biology of food microorganisms.

Suzanne is the lead for third party microbiological method validation studies for AOAC, MicroVal and NordVal, is a Retailer-approved Method Review Co-ordinator, and is involved in several research and contract projects for developing and evaluating new methodology. Alongside this, she is an industrial PhD supervisor for a project on the of fine-tuning dietary fibre to target gut microbiota accessibility.

During her career to date she has participated in multidisciplinary research projects involving European partners, developed expertise in a range of molecular techniques, and presented her research at an international level and in peer-reviewed journals.