Geneva Sugar Conference 2026

Stefan Uhlenbrock, Associate Director, S&P Global Energy

• Sugar market dynamics: Stock levels, supply and consumption trends
• Price volatility, raws and the white premium: Current drivers and outlooks

Stefan Uhlenbrock, Associate Director, S&P Global Energy

Alexander Godow, Chief Operating Officer, Nordzucker

João Filipe Abreu, Chief Executive Officer, RAR

Moderator: Stefan Uhlenbrock, Associate Director, S&P Global Energy

• Resilience in a shifting landscape
• Policy clarity vs. market reality
• How to stay competitive amid global price pressure
• Diversification strategies for European sugar companies

• Procurement strategies: how industrial buyers are adapting to price swings, freight challenges and shifting trade flows
• Sourcing Preferences: What factors drive buyer decisions, quality, certification, traceability, or trade terms?
• Balancing Cost and responsibility: The growing importance of ESG, supply chain transparency and low-carbon sourcing in buyer decision-making
• Sugar demands from the buyer’s perspective

Katie Whalen, Global Head of Sugar Sourcing, Mars

Paulo Rodriguez, Head of Procurement Ingredients, Cloetta

Corinna Olearo, Head of Commodity Research and Price Risk Management, Nestlé

Moderator: Jason Spaziante, Managing Editor, Agriculture & Food Pricing, S&P Global Energy

• Rise of component hedging in sugar contracts
•  Advantages of OTC sugar derivatives for hedging vs fixed-price contracts and futures
• Getting longer trades off than available in futures curves (e.g. cal29/cal30);
• Importance of fusing technical and fundamental analysis in trading decisions, Price forecasting, Liquidity management in high volume execution (risk vs. order-based trades)    

Keval Dhokia, Commodities Director, Coca-Cola

• Domestic pricing and trade flow dynamics
• Are exports back on the cards?

Marc Corvaisier, Global Head of White Sugar Cash Trading, LDC

Toby Cohen, Vice President - Market Analysis, ASR Group

Sulian Lize, Europe Sugar Analysis Lead, Tereos

Jip Kostense, Senior Market Analyst, Cosun Beet Company

Toby Cohen, Vice President - Market Analysis, ASR Group

Moderator: Stefan Uhlenbrock, Associate Director, S&P Global Energy

• Environmental regulations and impact on growers  
• Free Trade Agreements: Impact of FTAs on sugar market access and competitiveness.
• Unlocking new markets through the bioeconomy and innovation

Koen Dillen, Head of Sugar Unit, European Commission

Elisabeth Lacoste, Director, CIBE

Moderator: Jessica Edinger, Manager Sugar Analytics, S&P Global Energy

• Innovative pathways to support customers

Geert Van Aelst, Head of Sustainability, Südzucker 

• Sustainability strategy and objectives

• Progress on Scope 1 & 2 emissions reduction

• Renewable energy investments, including wood-based steam production

• Use of HVO 100, pesticide reduction, and agricultural collaboration

Andrea Rota, Head of Sustainability, Swiss Sugar

Geert Van Aelst, Head of Sustainability, Südzucker

Andrea Rota, Head of Sustainability, Swiss Sugar

Nuala Fitton, Senior Principal Analyst, S&P Global Energy

Moderator: Patricia Luismanso, Executive Director - Agriculture Research & Sustainability, S&P Global Energy

Stefan Uhlenbrock, Associate Director, S&P Global Energy

Stefan Uhlenbrock, Associate Director, S&P Global Energy

• Yield and area projections: what weather, market, and policy signals are telling us
• Input cost and agronomic pressures: Rising expenses for fertilisers and crop protection impacting grower margins.
• Climate risk and pest patterns are shaping cultivation decisions, which precision-agriculture and crop innovation tools are being adopted?

Christopher Papworth, Sugar Board Chair, NFU, UK

Timothé Masson, Director of the Economics Department, CGB

Michał Gawryszczak, Director of the Office, Association of Sugar Producers in Poland

Hendrik Vandamme, President, CBB (Confédération des Betteraviers Belges)

Moderator: Marina Malzoni, Principal Analyst, S&P Global Energy

Yiorgos Vittis, Senior Principal Analyst, Head of Agriculture Costs and Margins, S&P Global Energy

• Beyond commodity sugar, how can European processors successfully diversify and capture value in specialty, organic, and functional ingredient markets?

Doriana Milenkova, Senior analyst - Farm Inputs and Sugar, Rabobank

• Inside the global sugar trade: shifting export trends from major producing countries
• Market volatility & risk: Debating the short-term market outlook and the effectiveness of hedging strategies against supply deficits and currency moves.
• Trade barriers & sourcing: Analyzing the impact of national export quotas and regional import duties on global trade flows and supply security.
• Climate risk & resilience: Quantifying production exposure due to intensifying weather patterns and investment in climate-smart supply chains.

Niraj Shirgaokar, Managing Director, The Ugar Sugar Works

Bruno Boszczowski, Head of Sugar Research, ED&F Man

Karim Salamon, Head of Analysis, Wilmar

Pramod Kute, Head of Sugar Production Research, COFCO

Moderator: José Orive, Executive Director, International Sugar Organization

• How are new TRQs and Free Trade Agreements fundamentally shifting competitive pressure between UK cane refining and domestic beet production?
• Beet production risk: Analyzing the outlook for domestic sugar beet
• UK-EU trade dynamics: Assessing the reality of UK-EU sugar trade flows and domestic sugar price benchmarking
• Policy & demand shifts: Quantifying the long-term effects of evolving consumer demand on industrial sugar usage

Gerald Mason, Senior Vice President, Tate & Lyle Sugars

David Wilford, Head of AHDB Sponsorship, Arable and Horticulture Sectors, Agri-Food Chain Directorate, DEFRA

Moderator: Stefan Uhlenbrock, Associate Director, S&P Global Energy

• Industry considerations on what a fair price will be?
• Addressing prices in the mid and short-term
  The sugar cycle: Will we see a repetition of previous years?

Stefan Uhlenbrock, Associate Director, S&P Global Energy

Jessica Edinger, Manager Sugar Analytics, S&P Global Energy