Agromeris
AGROMERIS is a consulting firm that focuses on the unique needs of the food and agricultural industry. With over 30 years of experience in the field, our team has advised leading companies in food processing, marketing and agribusiness, as well as government agencies and institutions, on how to assess and strategically consider their next moves in a rapidly changing world marketplace.

Our services include the development and implementation of specialty, organic and identity-preserved sourcing programs; coordination of food and ingredient, processing and packaging; development of strategic business planning and market intelligence; the evaluation of legal and regulatory initiatives and their impact on food and agricultural markets and trade.

Procurement - Strategy - Processing - Regulatory
Peter Golbitz – Founder and thought leader of Agromeris
Peter Golbitz - Founder and thought leader of AgromerisPeter Golbitz has over 30 years of direct experience in the food and agricultural industry covering the production and processing of raw materials into value-added food, industrial ingredients and consumer packaged goods, as well as their marketing and distribution.

Prior to leading the consulting team at Agromeris, Peter Golbitz was the Director of International Business Development at SunOpta, Inc. a leading U.S. specialty and organic soybean and food ingredient processor. At SunOpta, Mr. Golbitz developed and led a number of global initiatives and strategic partnerships in Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America related to food and ingredient processing, marketing and supply chain management.

Mr. Golbitz was the founder and president of Soyatech, a consulting and publishing company that produces the annual Soya & Oilseed Bluebook. He has consulted with Fortune 100 companies and has worked on advisory projects with McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, Arthur D. Little, Boston Consulting Group, The Hale Group and Highquest Partners. He has also worked directly with U.S. House and Senate members, USDA and FDA administrators on food- and agriculture-related labeling and regulatory issues.

Mr. Golbitz’s unique skill set includes experience in analyzing current and future market situations in the food and specialized agricultural value chain as well as the research of consumer and industry market intelligence. His extensive travel for international business development has taken him to nearly 50 countries, giving him a deep understanding of global markets, trends and supply chains. He has chaired 14 international symposia on soybeans, oilseeds, food processing and technology and has been an invited instructor at short courses at Texas A&M University, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and the Vaal University of Technology in South Africa.

Mr. Golbitz currently sits on the board of directors of the World Soy Foundation and the Sustainable Food Trade Association and works on technical committees of the Soyfoods Association of North America and the Organic Trade Association.

Mark Rokala – Regulatory Insights Thought Leader
Mark Rokala Mark Rokala’s work focuses on helping businesses interface with the U.S. government to help them achieve desired project success. Mr. Rokala has found creative ways to utilize current government programs and work to change the scope of those programs to help his client’s reach their business goals.

Mark has spent the past twenty years in Washington D.C. working as a congressional staffer on Capitol Hill, as a lobbyist branding clients, and developing and implementing legislative strategies for trade associations, non-profits and companies. Over that time, he has developed and maintained a very strong network within the food policy and regulatory arena.

He left the company he started, a state lobbying firm based in St Paul, to work for the Congressman that represented his home farm, Congressman David Minge (D-MN). While working with the Congressman, Mark over saw his legislative agenda for one of the most rural Congressional District in the country. Agricultural commodity production and food processing was one of the largest contributors to the economy in the District and the state of Minnesota. He then spent the next couple of years working with Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), then Chair of the subcommittee that funded both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. Mark has extensive experience in both creating programs and understanding how to funds those new programs.

He was also a founding member of a fast-growth, $16 million lobbying firm, which was one of the leading agriculture and food policy firms in D.C. In ten years, the company grew from eight lobbyists to over fifty, with five state offices. While there, Mark worked on food and agriculture policy including attending World Trade Organization discussions on rules governing Ag trade.

Lisa Spicka – Sustainability and Supply Chain Thought Leader
Lisa Spicka – Sustainability and Supply Chain Thought LeaderLisa Spicka has worked extensively in the United States and Latin America in the organic certification, food/ag manufacturing, and sustainability sectors since 1997. She has held operations, project and sustainability management roles for a spectrum of companies, ranging from non-profits to multi-billion dollar brands.

While working with the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA), she worked in several roles, including Latin American Coordinator/Trainer, and a Certification Specialist. A triple-certified food safety program was one highlight of her tenure as Operations Manager at award-winning Cypress Grove Chevre. Finally, while working with Amway, Lisa served as the leader of NutriCert, a sustainability program for the global suppliers of its Nutrilite brand botanicals, and General Manager of Trout Lake Farm.

As founder of Maracujá Solutions, Ms. Spicka uses her diverse background to help her clientsbridge the gap between cutting edge sustainability practices and operational needs while navigating the demands of global supply chains. In particular, Maracujá Solutions helps clients increase profitability and protect their brand integrity through development of sustainability, food safety, organic and supply chain integrity programs. Additionally, Ms. Spicka leads the development and training ofeducation programmingfor leading sustainability and organic organizations such as the Sustainable Food Trade Association.

Ms. Spicka holds a Spanish degree from the University of Nebraska Lincoln, and graduated cum laude from Thunderbird School of Global Management, with a Global MBA in sustainable supply chain management.

Fuld + Company pioneered competitive intelligence and today works with companies globally to deliver the competitive and market insights they need to make better business decisions.

Through deep research, penetrating analysis, strategic gaming and advisory expertise, Fuld helps clients identify and overcome tactical and strategic challenges.

Fuld exposes its clients to insights about their industry, their competition and a changing market in time to act – and avoid surprises and industry shocks.

Fuld offers a full range of advisory services including:

Competitive and Market Intelligence
  • Brand and corporate insights
  • War games and competitive simulations
  • Market analysis, share and sizing
Go-to-market strategies
  • Brand and product position, launch support
  • Product portfolio roadmap
  • New market entry, segmentation
  • Value chain analysis
  • Life cycle management
  • Win / Loss bid support
Corporate strategic planning
  • Early warning
  • Sales force effectiveness
  • Merger / acquisition and licensing
  • Innovation strategy
  • Business model / industry convergence