We were thrilled to host Conti Connect, bringing together our network of partners, leaders and top innovators in the food and agriculture space.
Our industry finds itself at a crossroads. To continue feeding a growing population, we need to do more with less. This requires innovation in the food space and technology to grow and develop crops. Recent geopolitical events have also put the spotlight on food and ag and have highlighted food supply chain vulnerabilities in new ways.
This presents a unique opportunity to bring together great people, technology, and capital to help build the future of the world’s food system and think differently about partnerships and competition.
Bringing people, ideas and resources together to help feed the world has been our purpose for over 200 years, and businesses have a powerful role to play to ensure the sustainability of our global food supply and security.
We were honored to welcome Jim Messina, political strategist and CEO of the Messina Group and Fabrizio Freda, CEO of The Estée Lauder Companies as keynote speakers, along with many inspiring panelists and contributors.
Key insights from Conti Connect include the importance of being a part of the discussion to promote collaboration in business and in politics. As Jim Messina quoted, “You are either at the table or on the menu”.
Fabrizio Freda spoke about his experience being the first non-family leader to be brought in as CEO and discussed how he balances driving long-term, profitable growth while continuing to uphold and build on the heritage and values of the family and The Estée Lauder Companies brand.
We also heard from many founders and CEOs of companies on the forefront of cutting-edge technology in agriculture and human health and learned how startups and big companies can work together to promote broad change at a faster pace.
The power of fostering strong partnerships with long-term alignment and maintaining those relationships over time was a constant theme throughout the conference. The whole is more than the sum of the parts when you can collaborate with like-minded partners.
A big thank you to all who participated. We can’t wait to see the ideas and conversations that came out of Conti Connect come to fruition and look forward to continuing to connect the dots!
