35th IAOM MEA Conference & Expo 2025
19:00 - 21:30
WELCOME RECEPTION
Park Hyatt Jeddah – Marina, Club and Spa
08:00 - 09:00
ON-SITE REGISTRATION & BADGE COLLECTION
Hilton Hall Foyer
09:00 - 16:00
EXPO OPEN
Hilton Hall
09:00 - 09:10
WELCOME SPEECH
Eng. Abdullah Ababtain
Conference Chairman, IAOM MEA 2025 | CEO, First Mills (Saudi Arabia)
09:10 - 09:20
OPENING SPEECH
Ali Habaj
Regional Director, IAOM MEA
09:20 - 09:25
IAOM MEA REGIONAL LEADER AWARDEE
TBA
09:25 - 09:30
IAOM MEA MILLER OF THE YEAR
TBA
09:30 - 10:15
KEYNOTE ADDRESS - THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITIES OF THE FOOD SYSTEM TRANSITION
Dr. Ian Roberts
Chief Technology Officer, Bühler Group (Switzerland)
10:15 - 10:30
IAOM MEA 2025 SPONSORS' APPRECIATION
10:30 - 11:00
COFFEE BREAK & NETWORKING
Hilton Hall
11:00 - 12:00
PANEL DISCUSSION - REGIONAL GRAIN TRADERS' – OPPORTUNITIES & RISKS
Moderated by Dan Basse
President & Founder, AgResource Co (USA)
Eng. Abdullah Ababtain
CEO, First Mills (Saudi Arabia)
Mauro Barbieri
COO & Interim CCO, SABIL Company (Saudi Arabia)
Pieter Defoor
Founder & CEO, Commo18 (Belgium)
Ahmed ElSebaie
General Manager, Egyptian Swiss Group (Egypt)
12:00 - 13:00
BEYOND WHEAT FLOUR - OPPORTUNITIES FOR MILLERS
Panel Q&A
Moderated by Salim Makhoul
General Manager, Crownzym (Lebanon)
LEGUMES: SOLUTIONS FOR DRY FRACTIONATION OF PROTEINS
Eric Emmert
Senior Sales Manager, Hosokawa Alpine (Germany)
FUELING THE FUTURE: HARNESSING THE POTENTIAL OF PULSES AND SIDE STREAMS
André Kunadt
Area Sales Manager Milling Solutions – Middle East, Bühler Group (UAE)
FLAKING IN FOOD AND FEED: OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES AND INNOVATIONS
Marius Hermes
Managing Director, SCHULE Mühlenbau GmbH (Germany)
13:00 - 14:00
LUNCH BREAK & NETWORKING
Al Qasr Ballroom
Sponsored by:
14:00 - 15:30
QUALITY CONTROL AND BAKING
PANEL Q&A
Moderated by Rachid CHAMCHAM
General Manager, AgroLab (Morocco)
THE BAKING PROPERTIES PREDICTION PROJECT
Lutz Popper
Scientific Director, Mühlenchemie GmbH & Co. KG (Germany)
INFLUENCE OF VARIOUS PROCESS PARAMETERS DURING LABORATORY GRINDING ON WHEAT FLOUR QUALITY
Markus Löns
Product Manager, Anton Paar TorqueTec GmbH (Germany)
MILLING CORRECTION 360: BALANCING EXTRACTION & FUNCTIONALITY THROUGH TARGETED TREATMENTS AND TESTING
Salim Makhoul
General Manager, Crownzym (Lebanon)
STRATEGIC APPROACHES TO SPECIALTY FLOUR FORMULATION IN SAUDI ARABIA
Erij Temimi
R&D Project Manager – Formulation & Ingredients, AIT Ingredients (France)
REDUCING MILLING COSTS THROUGH SMARTER WHEAT SOURCING
Fabien Varagnac
Founder, Grains & Flours Insights (France)
15:30 - 16:00
COFFEE BREAK & NETWORKING
Hilton Hall
19:30 - 22:30
TRADERS' COCKTAIL DINNER
Rixos Obhur Jeddah Resort & Villas
Sponsored by:
09:00 - 16:00
EXPO OPEN
Hilton Hall
09:00 - 10:30
MARKET OUTLOOKS SESSION
Moderated by: Dan Basse
President & Founder, AgResource Co (USA)
FRENCH MARKET OUTLOOK
Roland Guiragossian
Algeria & Middle East Manager, Intercereales (Egypt)
U.S. MARKET OUTLOOK
Ian Flagg
Regional Vice President, U.S. Wheat Associates (Netherlands)
AUSTRALIAN MARKET OUTLOOK
William Reid
Head of Wheat Trading, CBH Group (Australia)
BLACK SEA MARKET OUTLOOK
Indrek Aigro
Head of Grains, Copenhagen Merchants (Denmark)
CANADIAN MARKET OUTLOOK
Xavier Magi
Commodity Strategist, ME Solaris (UAE)
10:30 - 11:00
COFFEE BREAK & NETWORKING
Hilton Hall
11:00 - 12:00
KEYNOTE ADDRESS - BEYOND HUMANS: WORKING WITH THE AGENTS AMONG US
Nell Watson
Pioneering Ethics & Machine Intelligence Researcher (UK)
12:00 - 13:00
WHAT'S NEW IN MILLING TECHNOLOGY
GRAIN COOLING
Simon Kolb
Projecting & Sales Manager, FrigorTec GmbH (Germany)
PRACTICAL MAINTENANCE FOR TEMPERATURE MEASURING SYSTEM
Tobias Diener
CEO, Agromatic AG (Switzerland)
CRONOS – THE ONE AND ONLY INDEFINITE CHILL FLOUR MILLING ROLL
David Balaguer
Sales Director, Fundiciones Balaguer S.A. (Spain)
WHEN HEAT SPEAKS: WHAT ROLLER TEMPERATURE REVEALS ABOUT EFFICIENY
Alexis Noël
Head of Product Management Smart Factory, Bühler Group (Switzerland)
THE IMPORTANCE OF COST EVALUATION IN A MODERN FLOUR MILL – OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN BAGGING
Ingo Jonas
Vice-President – EMEA, Premier Tech Systems and Automation (Germany)
HEAT TREATMENT IN FLOUR MILLS: A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO PHOSTOXIN FOR EFFECTIVE PEST CONTROL
Michael Albers
COO, First Mills (Saudi Arabia)
13:30 - 14:00
LUNCH BREAK & NETWORKING
Al Qasr Ballroom
Sponsored by:
14:00 - 15:15
FEED MILLING & ANIMAL NUTRITION
Panel Q&A
Moderated by Julius Ndunga
Mill Manager, Bakhresa Grain Milling Ltd. (Rwanda)
GRINDING FEED AS FINE AS FLOUR: ENHANCING NUTRITION & PERFORMANCE
Oliver Braegger
Area Sales Manager, Bühler Group
SUSTAINABLE VALORISATION OF GRAIN SIDE STREAMS BY MEANS OF SPECIAL MILLING
Eric Emmert
Senior Sales Manager,
Hosokawa Alpine (Germany)
PELLETING OF LONG-FIBRE AND EXPANDER TECHNOLOGY – SPECIALITIES FOR THE ANIMAL FEED INDUSTRY
Dr. Mohamad Yassin
Microbiologist, AMANDUS KAHL(Germany)
FEEDING THE SUPPLY CHAIN – STRATEGIC RESERVES FOR FEED MILLS
Shujjat Alikhan
Vice President, IMGS Group (UAE)
15:15 - 16:00
COFFEE BREAK & NETWORKING
Hilton Hall
09:00 - 16:00
EXPO OPEN
Hilton Hall
09:00 - 10:00
PANEL DISCUSSION - AI’S INFLUENCE IN GRAIN TRADING AND ANALYSIS
Moderated by: Dan Basse
President & Founder, AgResource Co (USA)
Ismail Jatti
Head of Manufacturing Excellence, Modern Mills Company (KSA)
Ali Magboul
CEO, ASM Process Automation (UAE)
Sunil Maheshwari
Vice President Specialty, Siemer Milling Company (USA)
Anas Shaar
General Manager, EGI (Lebanon)
10:00 - 11:00
AI AND THE FUTURE OF MILLING
Panel Q&A
Moderated by Ibrahim Al-Hazaa
Executive Director, Al-Hazaa Investment Group (Jordan)
HOW CAN MILLING BENEFIT FROM AI, IOT, AND SMART AUTOMATION?
Martin Ellegast
CEO, Wingmen Group GMBH (Switzerland)
HARNESSING AI TO OPTIMIZE FLOUR MILLING QUALITY
Alexis Noël
Head of Product Management Smart Factory, Bühler Group (Switzerland)
BEST PRACTICES IN FEED AND FLOUR MILLING – AUTOMATION PERSPECTIVE
Ali Magboul
CEO, ASM Process Automation (UAE)
11:00 - 11:30
COFFEE BREAK & NETWORKING
Hilton Hall
11:30 - 13:00
WHAT'S NEW IN MILLING TECHNOLOGY
NEW GENERATION TORQUE MOTORS FOR ROLLER MILLS
Seyit Ali Topaç
Sales Manager, IMAS (Türkiye)
PRACTICAL REPORT ON THE EFFICIENT USE OF PNEUMATIC CONVEYING IN MILLING PLANTS
Paul Bruckmann
CEO, MIAG GmbH (Germany)
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD FOR SAMPLING GRAIN AND LATEST INNOVATIONS
Charles Loubersac Dhotel
Sales Director, TPLG – TOUT POUR LE GRAIN (France)
FROM ONE FLOUR TO ANOTHER: OPTIMIZING CHANGEOVERS WITH EDGE
Danilo Carloni
Milling Advisor, OMAS Industries (Italy)
MAIZE FLOUR & GRITS PROCESSING TECNOLOGIES
Erhan İNCİOĞLU
Sales & Marketing Manager, Tanış (Türkiye)
BUCKET ELEVATORS – THE HEART OF YOUR OPERATIONS & RISK MANAGEMENT OF THIS ASSET
Hank B. PAUL
Market Development Manager, BS&B Pressure Safety Management B.V. (Belgium)
RHEOLOGY IN FLOURS MILLED FROM VARIOUS WHEAT SAMPLES USING DIFFERENT ROLLER GAP SETTINGS
Zeki Demirtaşoğlu
CEO, Bastak Instruments (Türkiye)
13:00 - 13:30
CLOSING REMARKS
Ali Habaj
Regional Director, IAOM MEA
ANNOUNCEMENT OF IAOM MEA 2026
13:30 - 14:30
LUNCH BREAK & NETWORKING
Al Qasr Ballroom
Sponsored by:
DISCLAIMER: The organizers reserve the right to delete, modify, or alter items from the program or any aspect of the conference timetabling and delivery at their sole discretion and without prior notice.
Neither the host organization nor the meeting organizers will accept any liability for any loss or inconvenience caused to any party caused as a result of such changes.