This year, Competere took part in the Sustainable Development Festival promoted by Asvis (Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development), with an online event on 18 October at 3:00 pm.

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Food security and sustainable nutrition: the role of vegetable oils and their resilient cluster

OCTOBER 18TH, 3:00 pm CEST 

Pandemic, Russian-Ukrainian war, energy emergency and disruption of commodity supply chains. The emergencies, which have exploded in recent years, have exacerbated two chronic crises such as climate change and the unbalanced distribution of food resources. Financial speculation, in turn, has affected the cost and supply of agricultural commodities. This is the case for wheat and vegetable oils, which are essential for a healthy and balanced diet in terms of nutrients and caloric intake.

On October 18th, Competere hosted a smart brevity roundtable to demonstrate the resilience and sustainability of vegetable oils and their key role in feeding the planet while respecting the environment, biodiversity, and human rights.

The roundtable was held during the Sustainable Development Festival organized by Asvis:

• the vegetable oils supply chain contributes significantly to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by ensuring economic and social development in producing countries.
• Vegetable oil crops ensure improved socio-economic livelihoods in terms of working conditions, infrastructure, gender equality and wages, resulting in reduced poverty rates, increased quality of education and improved access to food and health systems.
• By adopting sustainable production standards, verified through internationally recognized certifications, the supply chain operates with respect for the environment and workers’ rights.

SPEAKERS

Mac Marshall, Vice President of Market Intelligence, United Soybean Board

Karen Rosales, Executive Director, Grepalma

Carlotta Trucillo, Legal Advisor, Assitol

MODERATOR

Pietro Paganini, Presidente, Competere.eu 

REWATCH THE EVENT 

Pills from the event 

Mac Marshall, Vice President of Market Intelligence, United Soybean Board

Karen Rosales, Executive Director, Grepalma

Carlotta Trucillo, Legal Advisor, Assitol

>> Download the key takeaways <<

Download the flyer

SPEAKERS BIO

Mac Marshall serves as the vice president, market intelligence for the United Soybean Board. In this capacity, Mac works with USB leadership to evaluate and establish long-term strategic initiatives in support of advancing domestic and international market opportunities for the U.S. soybean industry. He also serves as an industry source of market information and analysis. Prior to joining USB, Mac served as global market analysis and trade lead at Bayer Crop Science, where he worked on international market access issues as part of a global agricultural policy team. Prior to Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto, Mac worked in Monsanto’s global strategy group with a focus on commodity market analysis in support of the company’s long-term strategy setting and understanding of near-term market dynamics. Before joining Monsanto in 2014, Mac served as a staff economist at the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics with a focus on agricultural commodities, in addition to serving as the supervisory economist leading a team of economists covering service industries. He holds a B.A. in economics from Vassar College and an M.A. in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University. 

Karen Rosales, Executive Director of Guatemala Palm Oil Growers Association – GREPALMA. She has a Master’s Degree in Business with a specialization in International Business Administration. Because of her strong interest in sustainability, she got a Specialization in Human Rights, companies, natural resource extraction and sustainability policies. Actual member of the Agroindustrial Council of the Chamber of Agriculture of Guatemala and Vicepresident of the Central American Association of Oil Refiners and Producers. She is a Lead Auditor in the Principles and Criteria of RSPO 2018.

Carlotta Trucillo has been part of the Legal Area of Assitol, the Italian Association of vegetable oils, since 2013. Starting from a legal background, she has become increasingly involved in the legal and economic aspects of vegetable oils sectors, following the statistic and public policy branches of the association. She has developed a comprehensive and clear vision of the role of vegetable oils in the food, feed and energy markets, exploring them, inter alia, under the view of environmental impacts, circular economy and sustainability. 

Pietro Paganini is an economic and (geo)political analyst and disseminator, and the Chair and Founder at Competere. Pietro serves as Adjunct Professor in Business Administration at Fox School of Business – Temple University of Philadelphia (2015), and as Adjunct Professor in Business Administration at John Cabot University, Rome (2008). He served as Visiting Professor for the MPOB-UKM Endowment Chair, The National University of Malaysia (UKM) (2021). He served as General Director of Fondazione Luigi Einaudi. He is the founder of the Italian Institute for Privacy – Istituto Italiano per la Privacy e la Valorizzazione dei Dati – where he seats in the Board. He is a regular contributor to the Italian national newspapers and international publications and media, in which he has continuously advocated for an open society and innovation policies. He is regularly hosted in TV and radio talk shows on main Italian and international broadcasters.