Food, Packaging and Sustainability Thought Leaders to Share Insights at 2025 Summit

Featuring an exceptional lineup of speakers, the annual Clemson FRESH Food, Packaging & Sustainability Summit will take place March 3 – 5 at Clemson University.

Filled with insights from esteemed thought leaders in both industry and academia, the Summit serves as a dynamic platform for exploring collaborative efforts, innovative solutions and forward-thinking ideas through a variety of presentations and engaging events.

The event’s theme, “Creating Value While Advancing Sustainability” will be brought to life by distinguished speakers, each a trailblazer in sustainability, innovation and leadership.

In addition to waterfall hikes and a tour of the South Carolina Botanical Garden, the list of events and speakers includes:

Aligning sustainability ambitions with the value creation imperative

Sustainability ambitions of companies in the agri-food value chain often stall out or fall short of their intended impact. Yet, in many cases, opportunities are missed to more fully align those efforts with the full agricultural production value chain and to the financial imperative within companies. The good news — companies are invested in sustainable outcomes for the long term. Lee Addams, Partner/Principal and Co-Leader, EY-Parthenon shares that by focusing on articulating and delivering value, sustainability efforts prove their worth within the commercial business and build better relationships with partners in the field-to-consumer chain. Such a value creation approach, supported by emerging incentives and financing mechanisms, can create opportunities for input suppliers, producers, processors, manufacturers/ packaging and retailers.

Building the business case for sustainability

As the business imperative for sustainability continues to increase and evolve, the need to create a culture of change and innovation is higher than ever before. Hear from Charter Next Generation (CNG) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kathy Bolhous, on the intentionality and actions that have led to their leadership position in sustainable films and flexible packaging, including near- and longer-term strategies, investments and commitments.

The making of a sustainable battery plant

In 2023, BMW announced the investment of $700 million to build a new high-voltage battery assembly plant in Woodruff, South Carolina. When completed in 2026, the plant will produce sixth-generation batteries to supply fully electric vehicles at nearby BMW Manufacturing in Spartanburg, the largest plant in BMW’s global network of vehicle manufacturing facilities. By 2030, the Spartanburg manufacturing facility will produce six fully electric vehicles. Located on 315 acres, the Woodruff facility will be more than one million square feet in size and will be state-of-the-art in terms of sustainability, flexibility and digitization. Join Rich Everly, Vice President at BMW Group Battery Line, for a fascinating account of the role that sustainability played in designing the new battery plant, and the seventeen distinct sustainability initiatives that are integrated into the overall construction.

Delivering Value While Maintaining Sustainability

Advancing sustainability goals does not always equal a hit to your bottom line. While costs can arise when adopting and adapting to more sustainable technologies and materials, there are often other areas of value generation that go overlooked. Sustainable goals can produce reduction in energy consumption and emissions and can reduce input costs through recycling and driving circularity. Josh Oleson, SVP Packaging Supply Chain, for global sourcing and packaging services provider TMS, will share examples of the value that he has experienced through sustainable activities for consumer packaging in the foodservice industry.

Contact news@clemson.edu for interview requests or additional information.