Baking & Snack - July 2019 - 111

SPECIAL REPORT
Meeting Preview: AACCI

At Cereals and Grains 19, attendees will learn about global
food systems from inside and outside the industry.
by Karlee Renkoski

AACC International (AACCI) will provide a forum to
further educate the industry about global food issues
through discussions with various scientific experts and
knowledgeable speakers, all of whom can be found at
Cereals and Grains 19, scheduled for Nov. 3-5 in Denver.
After Cereals and Grains sold out in London last
year, AACCI brought the event to the Sheraton Denver
Downtown Hotel, which has more space. The area is
easy for attendees to travel to and is connected to the
seed and baking side of agriculture by serving as a hub
for breeding companies, breweries and Ardent Mills.
Approximately 1,000 people will attend the event,
which Sean Finnie, Cereals and Grains 19 program chair
and senior manager of R&D at Bay State Milling, said
offers a good balance - big enough to attract scientific discussions and small enough to maintain intimacy.
"The most important thing at Cereals and Grains 19 is
the networking and building of friendships, both professionally and personally," he noted. "The personal nature
of the conference makes it stand apart from others."
Part of this intimate element is the fact that members
drove the direction of the program. Subjects and speaker ideas were sent in at the beginning of the year to the
program team, which reviewed the topics and chose the
overall theme based on relevance and conversational potential. This year, it's all about global food systems.
"We're reaching deep into the current and emerging
issues of our membership and feel that the conference
will bring new ideas, approaches, conversations and
solutions to the members, their science, their company
and career," Mr. Finnie said.
Within the overall theme are daily topics, which in-

clude food safety, innovation in the value chain, and This year's AACCI meeting
health and wellness. On the first day, Nabeeha Kazi, ex- has more space and an
connection.
ecutive director of No Wasted Lives, will speak on build- agricultural
AACCI
ing sustainability programs to fight hunger. The second
day brings in Hamed Faridi, chief science officer at
McCormick & Co., and experts from IBM to talk about
artificial intelligence. On Nov. 5, Karen Nelson, PhD,
president of J. Craig Venter Institute, will discuss microbiome with personalized medications and nutrition.
In addition to a variety of sessions and exhibits, there
will be four optional pre-meeting workshops on Nov. 2.
These include Enzyme Chemistry and Applications in
Brewing, Grain and Grain Based Food Safety, Chemical
Leavening Basics, and Protein Highway.
For the first time, AACCI will offer post-meeting
tours in the US. On Nov. 6, attendees can participate in
a seed and brew tour at the Limagrain Cereal Seeds, a
malthouse and brewery, as well as a bread and brew tour
at the mill at Whole Foods Bakery.
"The tours are developed with the thought that some
hands-on experience will bring added value to the people who join as well as another unique opportunity for
networking and building professional and personal relationships," Mr. Finnie explained.
To provide even more discussion, AACCI is including
meals in the registration fee this year. "The hope is that
people will use the luncheons, breaks and happy hours
to take advantage of meeting and growing from the connections of being with 'like' people," Mr. Finnie said.
"Time and again, attendees find endless ways they have
benefitted through the relationships developed through
attending the AACCI - Cereals & Grains 19."

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