Fairtrade Foundation’s LJ Loftus becomes latest World Confectionery Conference keynote speaker

The World Confectionery Conference unveils its latest keynote speaker, LJ Loftus, Head of Supply Chain and Programme Management, Fairtrade Foundation.

Experienced in global partnership management and team management with a demonstrated history of working in international development, LJ (pictured left in photo) joined Fairtrade in 2011 and has held many roles including Senior Global Partnership Manager and Head of Commercial Partnerships.

She has worked across cocoa, sugar, vanilla, coffee and banana supply chains as well as leading some of Fairtrade’s global partnerships.

LJ was appointed Head of Supply Chain and Programme Management in November 2018, and leads a team focused on building supply chain business partnerships and the programme management of projects at origin.

She has a deep knowledge of the cocoa industry, and she has visited Côte d’Ivoire and seen for herself many of the challenges that cocoa farmers face.

LJ’s work over the next year will focus on farmers and workers who deserve to earn enough to achieve a decent standard of living, so they can send their children to school, eat nutritiously throughout the year, have some savings for unexpected setbacks, retain future generations in farming and allow elders to retire with dignity.

Skilled in partnership management, strategy and sustainability, LJ has strong internal and external relationship development skills, plus a BA focused in English Language & Linguistics from University of York.

LJ is passionate about sustainability and fairness, and in her free time she enjoys meeting and hearing from the farmers within the Fairtrade system as well as spending time with family and friends.

Neill Barston, editor of Confectionery Production magazine, welcomed her addition as a keynote speaker for the World Confectionery Conference.

He said: “Having gained a significant level of international industry experience with the Fairtrade Foundation, LJ Loftus is well placed to offer some excellent insights into how her organisation can make a real difference working with sector partners in delivering broader sustainability goals within the cocoa trade.

“The challenges facing the confectionery sector remain particularly prominent in terms of ensuring ethical sourcing of supplies, so we look forward to hearing more from LJ on this critical subject at our debut conference in Brussels this September.”

 

Visit the World Confectionery Conference at www.confectioneryconference.com for more details, or contact Assistant Events Manager – Kyra O’Sheen directly, at [email protected]

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