PANELISTS

Mario C. Bauer | Entrepreneur & Advisor | Vapiano & Curtice Brothers Organic Ketchup

Mario C. Bauer is an entrepreneur and advisor to Vapiano. For almost a decade he was responsible at Vapiano as an executive for international growth & partnerships. He and his team have opened and continue to operate over 200 restaurants in 33 countries around the globe. While growing up in his family’s restaurant in Austria, Mario developed an entrepreneurial mindset from a young age by founding several startups such as Bagel Station (bagel & coffee shop concept) or Papernomad (sustainable ipad sleeves). His current adventure is Curtice Brothers, an organic boutique ketchup cooked in Tuscany, where he can live up to this credo, that in life only two things matter “Love & Food”.

Kris De Coster | Business Unit Manager International Markets | Burger Brands Belgium

Kris De Coster has an 18 year career in the restaurant and distribution sector at Carrefour, Campanile hotels and Autogrill, amongst others. More recently he has been working at Quick Restaurants for the last 8 years. During his career at Quick Restaurants he has been responsible for franchise relations in Belgium before embarking on the international development of the brand. He has managed the development of the brand in Turkey, Russia, The Middle East and North Africa as well as the French overseas territories. Since the take over of Quick Restaurants by Burger King, he is managing the hand-over and sales process of the international markets.

Daniel Spinath | Founder & Managing Director | Crepeaffaire

Daniel Spinath is the Founder and Managing Director of Crepeaffaire, the market-leading international crêpes concept, and the Co-Founder/Director of Frizzenti, the leading wine on tap company. He started his career with Regent International Hotels, followed by senior marketing, strategy and general management positions at Citibank, Procter & Gamble, H.J. Heinz and Viacom around the globe. Prior to founding Crepeaffaire and Frizzenti, Daniel was a Management Board Director at Eurotunnel PLC/SA.

Judd Williams | International Development Director | Boparan Restaurant Group

Judd Williams is International Development Director for the Boparan Restaurant Group. The group owns a portfolio of well-known branded restaurants including, Giraffe, Ed’s Diner and Harry Ramsden’s fish & chips. BRG is also the UK & Ireland franchise partner for Slim Chickens which made its debut in London in March this year. Judd has held leadership roles in both franchisee and franchisor businesses, brands including Starbucks, Sainsbury’s and Costa Coffee. He led Costa’s entry into many European, Middle Eastern and South East Asian markets, working closely with franchise partners and leading support teams based in Dubai, Delhi and Singapore.

Jacob Neal | Director | Avalanche Enterprise

Jacob Neal is the COO of Avalanche Enterprise and alongside the CEO has taken Avalanche Enterprise to the Global Market in the space of just three years. Avalanche Enterprise is a digital marketing agency specialising in it’s work with franchises of all sizes. Working both with the senior teams in franchises to attract and retain more franchisees, develop brand awareness and with individual franchisees to increase traffic to each branch. From a university bedroom in 2017 Jacob is managing global clients and a team across 3 countries. Avalanche Enterprise works to consistently connects you to future business on a global scale.