Jacob Mancini

AVP Restaurants & Breweries, CWB Franchise Finance

Vince Sgabellone, Circana

Vince has worked in many different roles across the food and foodservice industry. From sales to marketing, distribution to product development, from manufacturers to operators. All of this has served him well since entering the research industry with The NPD Group more than a decade ago. In his role Vince combines his analytic abilities and natural curiosity with his expertise in the industry. He helps his clients to understand the market, the competition, and the consumer.

Michael Harbinson, Boston Pizza

As Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Boston Pizza International Inc. (BPI) and Boston Pizza, GP Inc. (BPGP) (the managing general partner of the Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund), Michael Harbinson oversees the financial planning, financial accounting, internal audit, payroll, treasury and investor relations functions for both companies.

Ritou Maloni, Pür & Simple

Ritou Maloni is the Co-Founder, President and COO of Pür & Simple, a proudly Canadian-owned breakfast and lunch franchise. Originally founded in Quebec in 2016, Pür & Simple has become one of Canada’s fastest growing breakfast chains with more than 30 locations from the Maritimes to British Columbia. Ritou is driven by a passion for hospitality that has allowed her and her team to successfully reinvent breakfast, bringing affordable luxury to diners from coast to coast.

Hadi Chahin, MBI Brands

Hadi Chahin is the CEO for MBI brands which includes Mary Brown’s Chicken and Fat Bastard Burrito. Hadi holds a Master’s degree in Restaurant and Hotel Management. He started his career in the USA working for Marriott hotels before he moved to Canada where he held many leadership positions with Sodexo Canada and Compass Group Canada.  Hadi joined MBI brands in 2017 as President and COO for Mary Brown’s and he assumed the CEO role after the acquisition of Fat Bastard Burritos.

Dustin May, Fox & Crane

Dustin May is the President and CEO of Fox and Crane Restaurant Group a leading Canadian franchisor of premium fast causal restaurants. The current portfolio of brands includes Noodlebox, Meat & Bread and Good Taco. Dustin is a values driven leader that is passionate about driving business growth through aligning people and priorities. He has over 20 years experience with multi unit leadership and brand development in the apparel and food service industries.

Ben Osmow, Osmow's

Ben Osmow doesn’t wait on the sidelines for his moment to make an impact, he’s already making changes with his strategic business plan to expand Osmow’s footprint across North America. Overseeing a number of depts. Including Operations, Finance, Legal, Procurement, Project Management, Real Estate & Franchising. He’s a skilled leader with a MBA & a demonstrated history of success in the industry. This success has led Osmow’s to be awarded the Deloitte Best Managed Company for 3 years running.

Axel Schwan, Tim Hortons

Axel Schwan was appointed as President, Tim Hortons Canada & US in October 2019 after serving as Global Chief Marketing Officer for Tim Hortons since October 2017. Mr. Schwan first joined RBI as Marketing Director, Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2011 and was then appointed as Vice President, Marketing and Communications, EMEA for Burger King before advancing to the role of Global Chief Marketing Officer for the brand in January 2014.

Lee Jackson, JLL

Lee's diverse background in food & beverage operations, commercial real estate and technology has organically led him to his position today as a founding business line advisor for JLL Digital Solutions Advisory where his team assess 1000’s of technology solutions. He is a consultant and a connector for the commercial real estate, venture capital, property technology, retail, and food + beverage industries.

Jordan Huck, Notch Financial

Jordan Huck is an accomplished entrepreneur and business executive with a proven track record in building successful businesses. From 2007 to 2018, he played pivotal roles at Veritaaq, as owner, COO, and ultimately as the CEO. Under Jordan's guidance, Veritaaq experienced remarkable growth, with its revenue skyrocketing from $20 million to over $240 million by 2019. As CEO, Jordan demonstrated exceptional leadership, more than doubling the company's enterprise value between 2016 and 2018.

Sam Sokoloff, Cassels

Sam Sokoloff is a lawyer at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP who specializes in franchising and intellectual property related matters. Sam’s practice involves assisting clients with drafting and negotiating franchise and licensing agreements, as well as the protection, enforcement, and licensing of intellectual property rights, and compliance with Canadian franchise legislation.

Naira Saeed, Tim Hortons

Naira Saeed oversees Finance for the North American, Supply Chain and CPG businesses as well as restaurant profitability at Tim Hortons. Over her five and a half years with RBI, she has held numerous roles at Tims including VP of Franchising, General Manager for Ontario East and Canada Finance. Prior to joining RBI, Ms. Saeed spent several years in the finance sector with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and she also worked at the Canadian Central Bank.

Ted Fleming, Partake Brewing

Partake makes award-winning non-alcoholic brews for people who dive into all life’s pursuits and passions. Our refreshing, 10-30 calorie craft beverages don’t skimp on flavor either. Whether you’re moving and shaking, creating or musing, Partake is the perfect complement to all that fuels you. 

Matthew Lattanzio

Matt Lattanzio is a revenue leader with over 13 years of experience in the hospitality and software space. Currently VP of Marketing at Notch, Matt oversees demand generation, content marketing and the business development team. Formerly Director of Marketing at 7shifts and VP of Marketing at Hero Certified Burgers, Matt's passion and understanding of this space has led to repeatable growth in revenue.