2025 Food Industry Summit Speakers

President, Global Retail, Circana

Rob Hill leads Circana’s Global Retail team, overseeing engagements for greater than 1000 retailer partners spanning more than 20 industries and classes of trade tracked by Circana (formerly IRI and NPD). Rob and his team are focused on helping Circana’s clients understand their marketplace performance to maximize their business success by working with data assets that include POS, Supply Chain, Loyalty, Audience Creation and Media activation and measurement.

Hill's experience in developing marketing effectiveness, price, promotion, and assortment strategies through data, research, and strategy, across a variety of retail clients, gives him valuable perspective in an evolving retail landscape. Hill and the team combine this perspective with Circana data, technology, analytics and insights when identifying and presenting Retail Thought Leadership Trends or go-to-market strategies to partners and the industry. 

Prior to joining Circana, Hill spent nearly 30 years in the retail industry-leading data strategy for clients such as Walmart, L’Oréal, Colgate, Mars, Hershey, Ahold, J & J, Church and Dwight, PepsiCo and CVS. Additionally, Rob was the General Manager of Global Beauty Group, a developer and supplier of retailer exclusive beauty lines. Additionally, he served as Nielsen’s Executive Vice President of Business Development and then as the US Lead of Nielsen’s Retail Services Group where he played a key role in designing and deploying data sharing and joint analytic and collaboration programs between retailers and manufacturers. Hill started his career in operations at Aldi Foods.

“Content Guy" / Prime Storyteller, Author & Co-Author

For more than 40 years, Kevin Coupe has been bringing to audiences all over the world a wealth of experience, sharp storytelling skills, provocative and contextual insights, unique worldview and "serious irreverence" about the world of business and consumers.

He is the author of “Retail Rules! 52 Ways To Achieve Retail Success," a guidebook for competing effectively and efficiently on Main Street, and co-author, with Michael Sansolo, of “The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies,” which uses film narratives to teach about leadership, marketing and surviving the workplace.

More than 23 years ago, he launched MorningNewsBeat.com, providing “business news in context, and analysis with attitude” to more than 25,000 subscribers all over the world, finding critical, relevant and resonant lessons not just in the world of retailing, but also in sports, popular culture and a wide range of other businesses. An independent survey recently ranked MNB as the “top industry news and information site.”

And, Kevin is an adjunct faculty member at Portland State University in Oregon.

In addition to speaking at hundreds of conferences in the U.S. and abroad and reporting from 49 states and six continents, Kevin has been a daily newspaper reporter, magazine writer/editor, video producer, bodyguard, and clothing salesman. He has supervised a winery tasting room (happily), run two marathons (slowly), driven a race car (badly), learned to box (painfully) and acted in a major (but obscure) motion picture. 

He is married with three grown children and lives in Connecticut.

Global Crisis Management, Weber Shandwick’s North America

Errol Cockfield is a global crisis management expert and C-Suite advisor with deep experience across public affairs, media and societal issues. He has counseled the leaders of top corporations to help protect their reputations and advance brand goals at key moments of change.

Cockfield is the head of Weber Shandwick’s North America Crisis and Issues team. He has extensive experience in litigation support, brand safety, supply chain and regulatory affairs across various sectors including food and beverage, personal care and apparel.

Prior to Weber Shandwick, Cockfield led retained accounts in leadership roles at Brunswick Group and Edelman - two of the world’s largest critical issues agencies. He specializes in designing issues campaigns to impact stakeholder sentiment, managing proactive and defensive media relations, and running tabletop exercises for C-suite teams. He is also a media trainer and executive coach. 

A journalist by training, Cockfield has deep knowledge of the changing media landscape. In addition to his consulting experience, he helped lead communications at NBC News. He was principally in charge of external relations for MSNBC as the news division evolved to a multi-platform digital destination.

Earlier in his career, he served as press secretary to two New York governors and was chief of staff to the majority leader of the NY State Senate. He is a graduate of Stony Brook University and serves on several nonprofit boards. 

CEO, Flashfood

Nicholas Bertram is the CEO of Flashfood, an app-based marketplace that connects consumers with fresh food at great prices, while reducing the amount of food grocery stores send to landfill.

Bertram has more than 20 years of experience in the retail industry where he dedicated his career to achieving sustainability, innovation and growth for companies including Jewel-Osco, Walmart and most recently as president of The GIANT Company, an Ahold Delhaize brand.

In addition to his role at Flashfood, Nick is also an independent director for PECO, past chairman of the Pennsylvania Chamber, and a volunteer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.