Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Arrival Day and Committee Meetings.
10:00 am – 5:30 pm
Registration & Information
10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Manufacturing & Technology Committee (includes lunch)
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Future Leaders Committee Meeting
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Supplier Advisory Committee Meeting
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Phil Talks Whiskey: Bourbon Education & Tasting
Hosted by Phil Kollin
Registration Required
Join well-known spirts expert Phil Kollin for a whiskey tasting and education session. This event is customized to accommodate all Pickle Packers tasters, from the aspiring whiskey warriors to established bourbon brainiacs.
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Welcome Reception (5 mins walk from Embassy Suites)
Tavern on Fourth (Fourth Street Live!)
427 S. 4th Street
Louisville, Kentucky
Tavern on Fourth is the perfect destination for anyone looking to have fun, combining traditional elements of a sports tavern with classic interactive games and beverage offerings. Equipped with indoor bocce ball and cornhole courts, darts, ping pong, shuffleboard, classic arcade games and a billiard lounge, Tavern has something for everyone! With second level balconies overlooking Fourth Street Live!
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Program Begins. Grand Reception in the Evening at the Kentucky Derby Museum.
7:30 am – 8:30 am
Buffet Breakfast
9:00 am
Spouse/Special Guest Breakfast and Louisville City Bus Tour
Registration Required
Guests are invited to sign up for this engaging bus tour of Louisville highlighting Derby City’s rich history, unique culture, and most celebrated landmarks. The guide will share the citys most colorful and larger than life stories that begin with the days of Lewis and Clark, continue through the years of prohibition and through to today where Louisville has been named among the ’52 places to go’ by the New York Times.
The Bus tour will include the Louisville Slugger Museum and Bat Factory, the Big Four Walking Bridge, Old Louisville and St. James Court, the Muhammad Ali Center, Louisville Water Tower, the Heigold House, Waterfront Gardens and More. The Bus tour also includes the opportunity for guests to ‘hop off’ for visits to the Old Forester Distilling Company to peruse the lobby exhibits, visit the shop and enjoy a complimentary beverage. At the second location for a ‘hop off’, Art Eatables, guests will sample produce from a local chocolatier who combines chocolate and bourbon!
The tour includes light snacks and water and will take approximately 2 hours.
8:30 am – 9:00 am
Exploring the Microbial Food Landscape: How Can Fermented Foods Contribute to Human Health?
Elisa Caffrey
PhD Student
Stanford University
Sonnenburg Lab in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Industrialized populations have disrupted gut microbiomes and suffer from high rates of chronic inflammatory conditions. Diet has emerged as one of the most powerful levers available to shape aspects of our health including the composition and functionality of the gut microbiome. The question remains whether these benefits stem from the metabolites produced during microbial fermentation or the microbes themselves.
9:00 am – 9:30 am
Molecular Breeding for Pickling Cucumber Improvement
Yiqun Weng, PhD
Research Geneticist, USDA-ARS
Professor, Department of Plant and Agoecosystem Sciences
University of Wisconsin
Dr. Weng leads the USDA-ARS Cucumber Improvement Program focusing on germplasm enhancement with both classical and modern biotechnological approaches to advance cucumber breeding. This presentation will feature molecular marker technologies for pickling cucumber improvement.
9:30 am – 10:00 am
Practical Ways to Protect Groundwater Quality Near Vegetable Production
Jed Colquhoun, PhD
Professor and Extension Specialist
University of Wisconsin Madison
Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences
Jed Colquhoun’s presentation will provide vegetable processors awareness around groundwater quality concerns and an update on practical, applied research underway that would maintain profitable agriculture while improving water quality.
10:00 am – 10:30 am
Precision Ag. Technology: The Current State of the Industry and a Speculative Look Into the Future
Brian D. Luck, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and State Extension Specialist
Biological Systems Engineering
University of Wisconsin-Madison
In this presentation the current state of Precision Agriculture and Agriculture Technology will be discussed. Current research within the Badger Ag. Tech. Lab involving machinery traffic implications, Sprayer UAV research, and planter technology. In addition, the future of production agriculture will be discussed with an eye toward technology, automation, and artificial intelligence.
10:30 am – 11:00 am
A Review of Hop Products; Applications Within Beer and Beyond
Sami Faour
Global Technical Director
BetaTec Hop Products
Beer brewing is a complex process encompassing mixing four essential raw materials: barley malt, water, hops, and yeast. Hops, the cones of the female Humulus lupulus plant, determine typical beer qualities such as bitter taste, hoppy flavor, and foam stability to a great extent. Moreover, hops have a long history of use as a natural preservative in beer. That knowledge allowed production of natural and naturally derived food-grade hop products that inhibit gram-positive bacteria in various industries such as yeast, spirits, and sugar. In addition, a wide range of pharmacological properties has been described for hop and hop derivatives, namely, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer-related properties, which are of significant relevance to the nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical industry. The presentation aims to review the hop product portfolio and the importance of several of these products in the brewing industry and beyond.
11:00 am – 11:45 am
Powering Pickle Performance through Strategic Marketing
Sherrie Terry
President & CEO
Sherrie Terry Consulting LLC
Sherrie will discuss the importance of strategic marketing in driving profitable growth and building loyalty across the value chain. Topics will include crafting a comprehensive go-to-market strategy, connecting the dots, measuring performance, and innovative approaches to accessing strategic marketing capabilities regardless of company size, proficiency, or maturity.
Sherrie has led some of the world’s best-known and beloved brands, including Vlasic, Chiquita, Fresh Express, Banquet, and Dr. Scholl’s. Today, Sherrie helps a variety of B2B, B2C, and B2B2C clients win in the market by providing part-time, interim, or project-specific marketing expertise on a flexible, as-needed basis. She leverages extensive experience in strategic planning, brand and marketing strategy, sales operations, and innovation for both new and existing brands to help clients delight their consumers, customers, and suppliers while building loyalty and driving profitable growth.
Afternoon
Free Time to Explore Louisville
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
Grand Reception
Kentucky Derby Museum
Floor 1, Churchill Downs
704 Central Ave.
Louisville, Kentucky
Parking – Kentucky Derby Museum has access to parking facilities adjacent to the Museum and Churchill Downs at no charge to its clients during non-racing season. Parking, cannot be guaranteed
Dinner on Your Own in Louisville
