The network of the confectionery industry
The network of the confectionery industry
25th International Confectionery Congress
19–21 November 2025, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Berlin
The International Confectionery Congress in Berlin is a major highlight for the industry. With over 500 participants, the congress is the leading platform for dialogue between retailers and manufacturers – featuring inspiring presentations, lively discussions, and top-level networking.
Speakers
Tobias Bachmüller is managing partner of Katjes Fassin GmbH + Co. KG. The lawyer began his career at the Boston Consulting Group and later worked as general manager at Kraft Jacobs Suchard, where he won the German Marketing Award for Milka in 1994.
He joined Katjes in 1996 and played a decisive role in shaping the brand. In 2019, he received the German Marketing Award again, this time for Katjes.
He is president of the European confectionery association CAOBISCO, the association of the European chocolate, biscuit, and confectionery industry.
Max Burianek heads TikTok Shop in Germany. He previously gained extensive experience in strategy consulting, e-commerce at Amazon, as CEO of united-domains, and at TikTok Shop in the UK. His focus is on helping German sellers reach new target groups via TikTok Shop and successfully expand their businesses.
CrispyRob (Robert Brosowski) is one of Germany’s most successful YouTubers. Known for his creative formats, authentic humor, and over 2 million subscribers, he has made a name for himself far beyond the platform. With his own snack brand, “Rob’s,” he shows how content creation, community building, and entrepreneurship can go hand in hand.
Constantin Gillies has been editor-in-chief of TrendScanner since 2019, having previously worked as a senior researcher for the information service for 20 years. The graduate economist is one of Germany’s leading digital experts and a sought-after keynote speaker on topics related to the digital economy, management, and technology. Constantin Gillies writes for German and international publications, including Handelszeitung (Zurich). He has published numerous books, which have appeared in multiple editions, and is the winner of the German Prize for Innovation Journalism.
Even as a tech-savvy boy in the 1960s, Matthias Horx was interested in the mysteries of the future. After a career as a journalist and publicist, he became the most influential trend and futurologist in the German-speaking world. He has published more than 20 books and founded several futurology companies, most recently the “Future Project,” a network for thought leaders. As a staunch European, he divides his time between Ireland, Frankfurt, and Vienna, where he lives with his family in the “Future Evolution House.” Together with his wife Oona and their children Tristan and Julian, he is developing the next generation of futurology.
Hilmar Hübers, born in 1973, is Chief Operating Officer of Lekkerland SE. In this position, he is responsible for supply chain management/logistics, category management/purchasing, digitalization, smart stores, strategy & transformation, and information technology.
He joined the company in 2020 from the REWE Group after Lekkerland became part of the REWE Group. He began his career at the REWE Group as a member of the management board of REWE Markt GmbH before being appointed to the divisional board for retail in Germany. In this role, he was most recently responsible for the Customer & Analytics division.
Hilmar Hübers holds a degree in industrial engineering and worked for ten years in a management consultancy after completing his studies.
From January 2026, he will take over as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board of Lekkerland SE.
Die Diplom-Psychologin, Vortragsrednerin, TV-Expertin und Buchautorin Ines Imdahl wurde 2022 mit dem „40 over 40 – Germany’s Most Inspiring Women“ Award ausgezeichnet.
Die vierfache Mutter & Unternehmerin gründete 2011 zusammen mit Jens Lönneker die tiefenpsychologische Forschungsagentur rheingold salon (www.rheingold-salon.de), ein international forschendes Institut für Markt- und Kulturpsychologie.
Ines Imdahl forscht, berät und spricht zu den von ihr schwerpunktmäßig erforschten Themen der Alltags- & Kulturpsychologie, Zielgruppen wie Frauen, Gen Z oder 50+, Medien- und Werbewirkungspsychologie, Purpose, Krisenerleben sowie Kundenerleben. Im Mittelpunkt dabei immer: das irrationale Verhalten von Menschen, der Mind-Behavior-Gap. Besonders am Herzen liegen ihr die Themen Gendergleichheit & Nachhaltigkeit.
Christoph Krauss ist Associate Partner und Consumer Goods Lead bei Prof. Roll & Pastuch, eine auf Pricing, Vertrieb und Strategie spezialisierte Beratung mit Sitz in Köln, München, Berlin, Osnabrück und Zürich. Er verfügt über mehr als 20 Jahre Erfahrung in Marketing und Vertrieb bei führenden Konsumgüterherstellern sowie in der Beratung von Kunden in den Bereichen Vertrieb, Strategie und Pricing. Herr Krauss hat sich insbesondere auf Kunden im B2C-Bereich fokussiert.
Alexandra Megid has been Group Marketing Director at biscuit manufacturer Bahlsen since July 2024, where she has overall responsibility for marketing. Prior to this, she spent more than five years in an international role as Vice President Healthy Snacks for the Corny brand at Schwartauer Werke/Hero.
She describes her 13 years at Coca-Cola GmbH as particularly formative, where she initially headed market research before moving to marketing as Brand Director.
Sonja Meise is the founder of Foodnewsgermany, the leading platform for new supermarket products with over 200,000 followers on Instagram and over 10,000 on Facebook. She has been observing and documenting international confectionery and snack trends for years and is considered one of the most influential voices in German-language food influencing. With a keen sense of trends, a strong visual style, and a global perspective, she regularly brings surprising product ideas and inspiration to the industry.
From KitKat madness in Japan to Oreo overload in the US to snacks from China that will leave you amazed, Sonja Meise takes you on a visual journey through the weirdest, tastiest, and most surprising snack ideas in the world.
Nele Odzuck has been Group Vertical Director Consumer Goods for Client Solutions at TikTok since 2024. In her role, Nele and her team drive growth in industries such as fashion & luxury, beauty, healthcare, food & nutrition, and retail. She joined TikTok in 2020, where she built up the e-commerce and omnichannel team in Germany. Nele brings over 10 years of experience in the fashion, agency, and technology industries. She began her career in the London fashion industry, where she developed digital strategies for international brands before moving into the agency world (WPP), where she managed accounts for renowned clients such as Bose, adidas, Dell, EY, and others. She was named one of W\&V’s Top 30 under 33 in 2025 and was also recognized as K5 Head of Live and Social Commerce in July 2025.
Günther H. Oettinger is an exceptional politician who can look back on a long and successful career. Among other things, he was a member of the state parliament and Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, EU Commissioner for Energy, EU Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, EU Commissioner for Budget and Human Resources, and Vice-President of the European Commission. In 2019, he retired from active politics after almost four decades. With Oettinger Consulting, the company he founded, he now advises companies, public institutions, and individuals on economic and political matters. Since September 2021, Günther H. Oettinger has been president of the private university for economics and law EBS in Oestrich-Winkel.
Since 2014, Patrick Schlueter has been responsible for GLOBUS Markthalle Koblenz, one of the most successful locations of the family-run retail company GLOBUS Markthallen Holding. Previously, he held management positions at ALDI, Metro C&C, and EDEKA Rhein-Ruhr.
His focus: making the future of food retail tangible on the sales floor – through modern retail technology, customer-oriented category concepts, and a deep understanding of changing shopping behavior.
In 2025, the market hall was named “Supermarket of the Year” (Lebensmittel Praxis, >3,000 sqm) and received the “German Prize for Online Communication” for innovative local social media communication.
Dany Schmidt began his career at Danone and Moët Hennessy before taking on a role at Colgate-Palmolive. From 2010, he was Chairman of the Management Board for Germany and Austria, before moving to Colgate-Palmolive’s European management team in Geneva, where he was Vice President and General Manager for Central Europe West from 2014.
Since September 2022, Dany Schmidt has been Chairman of the Management Board at Griesson – de Beukelaer, where he is responsible for marketing, sales, and innovation. Griesson – de Beukelaer is one of the leading companies in the European sweet and savory biscuit market and produces at three German locations: Polch (Rhineland-Palatinate), Kahla (Thuringia), and Wurzen (Saxony). The product range includes the well-known brands Griesson, De Beukelaer, Prinzen Rolle, LEICHT&CROSS, and Cereola, as well as a wide variety of private labels. As a family-owned company, Griesson – de Beukelaer focuses on sustainable thinking and action. Responsibility for the environment and future generations is part of the company’s philosophy.
Sebastian Schreiber, born in 1972, studied computer science, physics, mathematics, and business administration at the University of Tübingen.
From 1996 to 1998, he worked at Hewlett-Packard.
While still a student, he founded the IT security company
SySS GmbH in Tübingen in 1998, which carries out security audits for a large number of companies.
Since 2000, Schreiber has regularly appeared at trade fairs and conferences in Germany and abroad as a live hacker, demonstrating how IT networks can be taken over, passwords cracked, and data stolen.
He is a welcome IT security expert in print media, radio, and television, for example on Tagesschau, ZDF heute, Plusminus, hr m€x, and SWR.
As a long-standing member, he is also involved in the Association for Security in Business Baden-Württemberg e.V. (ASW BW) and serves on various advisory boards.
Inspiration and idea generator / Strategic consultant to the food, beverage, and near-food industries for 20 years / Over 12 years in management at a food agency / Food expert / Founder of FOOD IDEAS.
Patrizia Stitz has been talking to people about the latest developments in the food market for over 20 years, both as a consultant for brands and companies and on various stages in the role of moderator and source of inspiration. Because it is only through exchange and a continuous willingness to develop further that valuable ideas and concepts with tangible solutions for the food, beverage, and near-food industries can emerge.
After many years in various positions at a renowned food agency, the last twelve of which she spent on the management board and as an authorized signatory for the agency, she decided to strike out on her own and found FOOD IDEAS.
At FOOD IDEAS, creative ideas are turned into strategies, concepts, and solutions for brands and products. In a network of various experts, Patrizia Stitz acts as a partner for the industry when it comes to identifying and evaluating opportunities and new business areas, new concepts, and innovative ideas.
Jens Südekum is a university professor of international economics at the Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE) at Heinrich Heine University. Südekum has been advising Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil since 2025.
The economics professor advocates an active industrial policy and reform of the debt brake, and was one of the masterminds behind the new federal government’s €500 billion special fund. Lars Klingbeil, Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany in the Merz cabinet, receives independent advice from Jens Südekum.
At Mars Wrigley for 4 years, working for Germany (3 years), D-A-CH (1 year), and now recently for Europe & Central Eurasia (ECE).
Focus on category strategy and checkout zone strategies across all channels (food retail, discount, drugstores, convenience stores).
Previously worked on the retail side for a mineral oil company. Head of Purchasing and Category Management Shop and sub-project manager for shopfitting.
Two-time winner of RUNDSCHAU Lebensmittelhandel’s “Best Checkout Area in Germany for the Large Gas Station Category” award.
With 10 years of experience in industry and retail, he understands both sides and always tries to focus on synergy effects (triple win: shopper, retail, industry).
Sponsors
Mainsponsor:
Goldsponsors:
Silversponsors:
Impressions
