Our Expert Teams

Dr. Gernot Strehl joined Zwilling in November 2012. He graduated in physics at the Technical University of Berlin in 1996. In 2002 he obtained his doctoral degree from the Technical University Clausthal after working on two European projects. In 2003 he benefited from a postdoctoral scholarship at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France. In the following years he worked for Schmidt + Clemens with centrifugal cast high alloyed steels and forged tool steels.

At Zwilling he is responsible for product compliance on a global level with a special focus on food contact and chemical legislation. Within the Senior Expert team in FEC metals & alloys as well as ceramics and enamel are his key interests.

Inga Buschauer joined Fissler GmbH in August 2019. She is responsible for Product Compliance and REACH Compliance.

After completing her studies (Lebensmittelchemie/ food chemistry) at Technical University in Kaiserslautern in 2009 she worked in the Product Compliance Department of a printing ink manufacturer with focus on food packaging inks. In 2014 she promoted the certification of this printing ink manufacturer according to food safety management as HACCP-officer.

From 2010 till 2019 she gained experience in association work by participating in the EuPIA PIFOOD Technical Committee.

Dr. Michel Mamrot is in charge for product compliance, product quality and social compliance at the Amefa Group since 2018.

2016-2018 Quality Manager at framas Kunststofftechnik in Vietnam, responsible for quality standards, process implementations, quality control, test laboratory and management systems.

2011-2016 PhD and Postdoc at the University of Wuppertal with focus on quality engineering.

Dorothea Schaser joined the Quality Management Department at the ZWILLING group in August 2019. She is responsible for product compliance within the group. She completed her master degree Sustainability Management at Schumpeter School of Business and Economics (University of Wuppertal) and gained broad working experience in several international companies. During her time at Bayer Group, she was among other things responsible for the development and implementation of cost sharing approaches with reference to REACH. .

Most recently, she worked as a Product Compliance and Sustainability Manager at the Prym Consumer Europe GmbH. She was in charge of national/international regulatory affairs and process implementation with a particular focus on product risk management systems.

Sandro Tarozzo has been a Senior Expert for FEC from 2020. He graduate from Professional Institute for Industry. He joined in Alcatel Cables as Production and Planner Manager from 1988 to 1997. From 1997 to 1998 as plant manager in Elettronica Conduttori.

Since 1998 he holds the position of Quality Manager, Integrated System Manager and Regulatory Compliance Manager for Chemicals and Food Contact for the Bakeware business of Guardini.

Degree in Oecotrophology (nutritional science & home economics) from University of Applied Sciences in Mönchengladbach, Germany.

Worked for TüV Rheinland in Shanghai (laboratory, technical expert).

Since September 2013 at Kuhn Rikon AG in Rikon, Switzerland (laboratory, compliance).

Paul Englert has been employed as Head of Regulatory Affairs from the Swiss Industrielack AG in 2019, being responsible for product compliance of non-stick coatings with chemical and food law. After completing his studies at the Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, he received a university degree in chemistry, and achieved the German approval for bringing dangerous chemical products on the market, due to his extra studies in toxicology and chemical laws.
As a recipe developer, he has been able to build up 10 years of expertise in the material optimization of the laser marking properties of plastics, most time as a project manager of state and privately funded university research studies.

In the course of his career in the plastic converting and automotive industry Paul Englert has focused on chemical product safety and is involved in leading positions with regulatory topics of plastics, adhesives and coatings for almost 20 years.

Bianca Warkentin has been working as a food chemist in product safety at Weilburger Coatings GmbH since July 2022.

She completed her Master of Science (Food Science and Economy) at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, with the thesis “Analysis of antimicrobial surface coatings on water dispensers”.

Parallel to her studies, she was able to gain valuable experience in the food and non-food sector. In addition, Bianca has acquired the qualification as a quality management representative.

 

 

Actual function : Regulatory affairs and product coordination on high temperature and non stick coatings.

Special focus : Global food contact regulations chemical regulations globally indoor air regulations.

From 1978-1982 : Education as paint lab assistant at Weilburger Lackfabrik.

Since 1982 : Weilburger Lackfabrik, now Weilburger Coatings in several R&D functions like Coil coatings for bakeware, Non stick coatings, Global Technical service, Lab Manager for high temperature and non stick coatings.

Edwige Soton joined Francéclat in 2001 where she is responsible of standardization and regulation monitoring. Francéclat is the French professional economic development committee representing the watchmaking, jewelry and tableware sectors.

She obtained a PhD in materials science and engineering from Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne (France) after being graduated of a master in chemistry from the University of Lyon, France.

Within the senior expert team in FEC, metal & alloys – and particularly alloys used in silverware and tableware – are her key interests.

Kate Sullivan joined PPG in 2022 as Regional Manager, Food Contact Regulatory Compliance, EMEA in PPG’s Product Stewardship Food Contact Community of Expertise. Kate is based in the UK and works within a global team supporting PPG’s Kitchen and Industrial Bakeware business unit.
Prior to joining PPG, Kate spent over 30 years in the metal food and beverage packaging industry, firstly as an Analytical Chemist and then transitioned into managing food contact regulatory compliance support.
Kate has a Masters Degree in Packaging Technology from Loughborough University in the UK.

Dario Dainelli graduated in Chemistry in the University of Pisa (Italy), discussing a thesis on thermotropic liquid crystals. After having spent few years in the academic research, he worked in the plastic converting enviroment for over 25 years, first as R&D laboratory manager, and then as regulatory leader. He covered several roles in regulatory affairs in the Europe-Middle East Region, in Asia-Pacific and finally as a global lead, managing large and diversified global teams. Following up in his regulatory career, in 2016 Dario earned a M.Sc grade in Food Legislation from the Michigan State University. In 2018 he established a consulting company in Brussels, referred as PolicyRegulatory, which provides services to companies, associations and non-govermental organizations (such as FAO, the World Bank etc.) in all fields related to legislation, policies, and technology relative to food contact materials, and chemical substances. Dario supports FEC as Regulatory Advisor since 2019.

Céline Astruc joined Groupe SEB in September 2023 as Compliance and chemical risks manager for the cookware business unit. She is based in France.
Prior to joining Groupe SEB, Céline spent over 10 years in the leather goods and footwear industry as a chemical regulations and sustainable development expert.

Ludovic Guitton has joined La Brigade de Buyer in 2021, as Chief Strategy and Finance Officer. He is in charge of group finance, strategy, and transformation. He has entered the directors’ committe of FEC in 2022, and is coordinating its sustainable development experts team.
After completing his engineering studies at Ecole Polytechnique Paris (mechanics and economics) and Imperial College London (transport engineering), he got an MBA at College des Ingénieurs. He first worked for large companies as project manager, BU director and business control director. In 2015, he joined the investment team of Edify, a private equity holding, and was member of the board of directors of 3 companies (de Buyer, Sirem and Thermo Technologies).

Tobias Gerfin has been CEO of Kuhn Rikon AG, a Swiss family-owned company in the field of cookware and cooking utensils since October 2013. The company’s products are marketed worldwide in 40 countries. Since 2019, he is President of the European Association for Cookware, Cutlery and Flatware (FEC).
After his studies and his doctorate at the ETH Zurich as a natural scientist, he worked at the EPF Lausanne on solar cells. His industrial career led him to Bruker in Fällanden in the field of NMR, Optrel, a leading company for welding helmets, in Toggenburg, and Glas Trösch in Bützberg, where he took over the management of the glass in interior work in 2007. In 2010 Tobias Gerfin was appointed CEO of Stoll Giroflex AG in Koblenz in the office furniture sector.

Aurora Alessia Bosio is QHSE and sustainability manager at Mori 2A s.r.l. since 2019 where she deals with Integrated Management System, ESG, certifications and the Mori 2A Cares project.
In 2022she graduated in Political Science and International Relations with the thesis “Theory and Practice of Stakeholder Engagement. The case study of the Mori 2A Cares project.”
She obtained the Quality Manager certificate in 2020 and the Social Change Manager open badge issued by POLIMI Graduate School of Management in 2023.

Dario Dainelli graduated in Chemistry in the University of Pisa (Italy), discussing a thesis on thermotropic liquid crystals. After having spent few years in the academic research, he worked in the plastic converting enviroment for over 25 years, first as R&D laboratory manager, and then as regulatory leader. He covered several roles in regulatory affairs in the Europe-Middle East Region, in Asia-Pacific and finally as a global lead, managing large and diversified global teams. Following up in his regulatory career, in 2016 Dario earned a M.Sc grade in Food Legislation from the Michigan State University. In 2018 he established a consulting company in Brussels, referred as PolicyRegulatory, which provides services to companies, associations and non-govermental organizations (such as FAO, the World Bank etc.) in all fields related to legislation, policies, and technology relative to food contact materials, and chemical substances. Dario supports FEC as Regulatory Advisor since 2019.

With over 18 years in the global business scene, I bring heaps of experience to the table. As a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a proud member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET), my journey blends technical know-how with a focus on markets, specializing in product verification, validation, and advertising compliance. I’ve implemented my environmental values at Dyson, streamlining verification, validation, and marketing compliance. At General Electric, I played a key role in systems engineering for energy-efficient innovative LED lighting. Now, as the Senior Technical Manager at SharkNinja Europe Ltd, I oversee the verification and validation activities related to advertising compliance for the Ninja product categories.

Academically, I’ve got a Master’s in environmental engineering technology/environmental technology and a Bachelor’s in electrical engineering. Beyond that, I’m fluent in English, Polish, Hungarian, and German. I find joy in contributing to discussions within the European environmental community. When I’m not at work, I’m exploring new places, diving into books and movies, and getting back into airplane modeling. Excited to connect with fellow experts in the FEC’s sustainability group!

 

 

 

 

Alessa Maria Lübke studied food chemistry at the university of Hamburg, Germany and and completed her first state examination in 2021. Her second examination as state-certified food chemist followed in 2022. Alessa is currently working as food chemist scientific regulatory officer at Polymer Comply Europe. Her professional field of activities includes among others several sustainability projects as well as regulatory consulting with focus on REACH and CLP. Since October 2023, she has been supporting the FEC office in Brussels as well as the Sustainability Development Team and the Food-Contact Expert team of FEC.

 

Jean-Yves is in charge of industrial strategy and strategic projects at Groupe SEB since 2021.                                                                                         He graduated from Ecole Centrale Paris in 2008 and worked for Saint-Gobain and McKinsey & Company in end-to-end operations. Among other topics at Groupe SEB, he is looking after programs of regionalization and relocalization of production, as well as strategic sustainability projects.

 

 

 

Kristina Krisciunaite has joined Le Creuset Group AG in 2021 as a Group Tax Director. She is also a member of the Executive Management Committee. She obtained master’s degree in law at the Vilnius University in 1996 and economist’s degree at the same university in 1999. Kristina is a certified Attorney at Law. She has over 20 years’ experience in tax and legal fields at various roles in PwC Lithuania and PwC Switzerland. She worked as a Country Managing Partner and the Chair of the Board at PwC Lithuania. Before joining Le Creuset Group, she led global outbound tax compliance services at PwC Switzerland.

 

 

 

 

I have been in working in Marketing for La Termoplastic F.B.M. since 2013.
After a working experience in multinational beverage company, I joined FBM where I developed marketing department. I am now marketing director and member of the strategic committee of the company, with focus on market, products, and sustainability.
My goal is to support cookware companies and retailers to define trends and be up to date about pot handles, helping in the creation of cookware collection appealing for the market thanks to the components.
I completed Master of Science in Marketing Management at Bocconi University in Milan, after international studies in Italy, Spain, Brazil and United States.
Since January 2024 I am Chairman of Servizi Confindustria Varese entrepreneurial association. In my professional career I held institutional roles as President of the Young Entrepreneurs Group of Confindustria Varese in the three-year period 2019-2022 and a member of the Board of Directors since 2014.

I have built my career in multinational companies operating in B2B markets, filling positions such as Product Manager, Key Account Manager and Commercial Director. As an accomplished and result-driven person, I can leverage on a decade experience in driving revenue growth and leading high-performing teams. My previous experience was at Carl Zeiss Vision Group, where I improved my expertise in developing and implementing sales strategies, fostering key client relationships, optimizing sales processes and teams. My current role as Sales Director at La Termoplastic Srl FBM is a new challenge I decided to embrace as a new opportunity to leverage my competence and skills in a dynamic and fast- paced environment. I hope that this would be a rewarding experience, allowing me to further grow professionally while contributing positively to the goals of the organization.