Session On The Financial Side Of Coffee

Mike Nugent of UBS will address the convention in a session called "the financial side of coffee" in which he'll share his 35 years of knowledge and unprecedented experiences in today's changing marketplace. As an investment professional, Nugent says he is still digesting how to react to the changes, and his thinking is a rare insight into an expert's mind at work.

In China, coffee consumption is rising sharply among a huge and formerly untapped market. The Chinese don't yet have checking or savings accounts, but are developing a taste for coffee.

With such closed societies springing open, new wealth and potential economic power require new financial models to gauge the size of consumer demand.

Echoing coffee's influence beyond the beverage, the convention also features addresses by two top executives from among the industry's most prominent players -- Jim Nolan, the new CEO of Sara Lee Coffee & Tea Foodservice, and Jon Luther, CEO of Dunkin' Brands.

Jim Nolan, newly at the helm of Sara Lee Coffee & Tea Foodservice following a major restructuring, will discuss the challenges presented by the changes. With such a sea change in corporate structure, Nolan will discuss how a transition becomes a transformation requiring fundamental strategy and mindset shifts around core values.

Jon Luther, chief executive of Dunkin' Brands, will examine how companies can meet growing customer demands by tapping their passion for brand. Luther's experience at the helm of one of America's largest retailers will illustrate his distinctive approach to this emerging consumer reality

Also on the agenda are sessions covering the many facets of coffee's wide-ranging influences across many disciplines. Offerings include U.S. participation in the ICO and resulting new transnational dynamics, sustainability in a post-crisis environment, breaking research on coffee's health benefits, a sneak preview of 2006 American consumption attitudes, new industry product developments and trends including single-serve technologies and micro roasting, and first-hand insights into public perceptions toward coffee by practicing trade journalists.

Among the convention's many general and breakout sessions will be:

--ICO in a New Era of US Membership

--Navigating Organizational Transformation

--Great Companies Need Great Passion: What it Takes to Lead in the Competitive Coffee Industry

--The Sustainability Imperative Beyond Crisis

--The Latest Findings about Coffee & Health

--Financially Speaking about Coffee

--Coffee Journalists' Roundtable: Top Trends to Watch

--Preview: National Coffee Drinking Trends Survey

--NCA "Coffee Delivers" Promotional Campaign Update

--Single-Serve Roundtable

--The Micro Roaster Movement

--Crisis in Container Availability and Other Steamship Issues

--Latest Trends in Packaging

--New Product Development Trends

--Cupping Workshop

The topics are led by some of the industry's leading experts and executives conducting sessions in areas they know best. Among them are:

Jim Nolan, CEO, Sara Lee Foodservice; Jon Luther, CEO, Dunkin' Brands; Nestor Osorio, executive director, International Coffee Organization; Mark Linscott, Assistant US Trade Representative - US ICO delegation chief; The Honorable Dan Burton (R-Ind.), U.S. Member of Congress; Michael Nugent, UBS, coffee industry analys; Sabrina Vigilante, Rainforest Alliance; Paul Rice, TransFair USA;and Sally Vater, Ph.D., chair, NCA Scientific Advisory Group.