UNFI’s Funk to speak Nov. 4

Michael Funk, co-founder of the leading natural foods distributor UNFI, will be the keynote speaker for the third annual Specialty Food & Agriculture Industry Conference co-hosted by the Business Journal and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

“We feel extremely fortunate to have one of the giants of the ongoing natural foods revolution with us as our keynote,” said Business Journal Publisher Brad Bollinger.

The event will be preceded the evening before by the second-annual Pioneer Awards reception hosted by the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce’s BEST Food Industry Group in cooperation with the Journal.

In addition to Funk, the conference will include two panels. Panel one will focus on regional opportunities for collaboration among specialty foods companies and building markets. The members of that panel are:

Kevin Haslebacher, CEO and general coordinator at Alvarado Street Bakery, Petaluma.

Robert McGee, president of Straus Family Creamery, Petaluma.

Jennifer Lynn Bice, CEO of Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery, Sebastopol.

Kelley Parsons, co-owner of Parsons Homegrown, Fulton.

A second panel featuring specialty food visionaries and innovators will include:

Mark Retzloff, pioneer in the organic and natural foods industry for 44 years, co-founder of Alfalfa’s natural foods in Boulder, Colo., and co-founder of Aurora Organic Dairy.

Susan Shields, senior vice president and chief innovation officer at Jamba Juice.

Funk founded Mountain People’s Warehouse in 1976. In 1996, it merged with Cornucopia to create UNFI.

He was UNFI president and CEO at different periods from 1999 through 2008. He has been on the boards of directors of Sebastopol-based Traditional Medicinals, World Finer Foods and the Non-GMO Project. He also has been on the advisory board of The Organic Center, an industry-focused nonprofit organization.

To register, go to NorthBayBusinessJournal.com/FoodAg15reg or call Linda Perkins at 707-521-5264. Cost is $65 per person or $675 for a table of 10 including company name on the table.

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